Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1884-01-24
Pevlln Of Aea DIVIDE.

Alfetto the spanish diver, met with
n remarkable adventure and had very
narrow escape recently while engaged
in diving operations on this coast OF
North Carolina, near the little town OF
Morehead. The Atlanta, one of the
best known coasting vessels in those
parts, was capsized in q squall on the
22nd of september, ard sank just In.
side the bar. The owners Of the craft
contracted with diving company u
have her raised and 10 recover az much
Of her cargo ~ was still sarviceable. Al.
| fotto aud anO her diver were engaged t.
do the work. They made several sue.
cossful dccents, hut the fourth trip the
Spaniard met with tn. adventure Of
which We speak. His comrade signal.
led hastilyto be dawn up, and when he
had been hauled into the boat he relat.
ed how a lfetto had been seized by a
monster " hite shark and carried off !;
hut scarcely had he done speaking when
A fetto rose from the " alter about fifty
yards from the boat, and was insensi
ble, with several holes punched in the
metallic part Of his diving suit. Means
were successful ly adopted TO bring him
round, and next day he told the follow.
ing story:
AS you know, we bad made our
fourth descent, and while my compan.
ion clambered into the vessel, I.awaited
on the ground till he should attach the
cords to draw something out. ! was
Just abyut to signal to be drawn up for
moments rest when [ noticed a
shadowy body moving AT some distance
above me and towards mo. In mo
ment every fsh had disappeared, the
very crustrcean lay still upon the sand,
and the cutie fish scurried away Az fast
w they could. was Lot thinking of
danger, aud my tirst thought, was that
it WAS the shadow Of passing boat.
But sudden.y u feeling OF terror seized
me felt iInpell,d TO flee from some
thing knew not what q vague OF
horror seemed graspips after me such
~ child ttncies wien lcavinga dark.
ened room. BY this time the shadow
had come nearer and taken shape. II
scarcely needed a glance TO show me
that 1t was man-eater, and OF the
largest size. Had | signaiIed to be
drawn up then IL would nave been GER
tain death. All | cuuld do was to IS
main still until IL left. 1t lay off TWEEN.
~ or twenty i've feet, just outside the
rigging Of the ship, lis bod y motion'ess,
It's fins barely stirring tho water about
its gills. |
IL was monster as II was, br TO add
to the horror The pressure OF the water
upon my head made il appear as If
pouring flames from its eyes and mouth,
aud every movement of It's fins and tail
seemed accompanied by display Of
fireworks was sure. the fish was
thirty feet long, and N near that |
could nee LIS double row Of white teeth |
luvoluntarily | shrunk close to the side
o' the vessel. But my first movement
betrayed my presence saw the
shining eyes fixed upon me; it's tail
quiver.d, AZ 1T darted at me like n |
streak OF light. ] shrauk close to the |
side of the ship. saw II turn on one |
side, its mouth open, and heard the
toeth snap as it dashed by me. 1t had
missed me, but only for moment. The
sweep of its mighty tail had thrown me
forward again. There was no escape.
II turned on its back az 1t swooped
nown on me like hawk on a sparrow.
lhe CbSeTbous jaws opeHeu, anu wv
long shing teeth grated az they closed
on my metal harness. 10 had me.
could feel its teeth grinding upon my
copper breastplate as 1t tried to bite me
in two; fortunately It had caught me
just across the middle where was best
protected. Having seized me 1t Went
tearing through the wafer. / was per
fectly conscious, but som how felt no
terror at all. There was only feeling
Of nnmbness. wondered how long IL
would be before those teeth would
crunch through, and whether they
would strike first into my back or my
breast Then Thought of Maggie and
the baby, and wondered who would
take care of them, and II she would
ever know what had become Of me.
All these thoughts passed through my
brain in an Instant but in that time the
connecting air tube had been snapped,
ard my head seemed ready to burst
with pressure while the monster Is teeth
kept crunching and grinding away upon
my harness.. Then ! felt the cod water
begin to pour in, and heard the bubble,
bubble, bubble, as the air escaped INTO
tho creatures mouth. l began to hear y