Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-06-23
ADHENrrREs wrrH sHARks.
a Coast Pilots Arm Broken by a Blow
from sharks TaiI-Dynamite Bait.

Hs,o YORK yaa
Yes, Il was a close shave. and ! got OF
easy with this The speaker, who was
Gulf coast pnot, held up an arm bound
10 spllnls- u came up from Pensacola 10
take a schooner round 10 Tampa. bat /
shall have to lie off for a couple of weeks
or so. II happened in this way: / started
Tor Fort Pickens in light boat under
sail about two weeks ago, and when we
We're half way down, the man with me
speaks up ana says, Captain, sharks is
sorter thick. and I'm logged If they
wern't. Their fms was a-cutung water
all around the boat-for'ard, a-stern, and
on both sides-s0me going one
way and some another. and
should reckon there was twenty a foller-
ing US. ] didn't like the looks Of 'em N.Y.
self, but j saws, they can't damage us in
the dingy.' / hadn't no mOre'n got the
words out Of my lips, when. blim came a
l5-fOOt shark clean out Of the water. We
both gave jump to wind'ard, and the
ilsh struck about a third IN with crash
That almost filed rs, thrashed for a min
ute, sending one Of the oars into the air.
and then swung its head round, and, as
was reaching for the tiller to give il a
knock, the tail came against my arm and
broke 1t clean in two. In a minute more
the shark was overheard. and we s0t there
baling and half scarf TO death.
Accident: IcouIdn't say: most likely
1T was. Sharks often leave the water
when they're chased, and it may not have
seen the boat, but we didn't waste any
time after that, | can tell you. The splash
Of the fish had collected them until the
water was full of 'em. and didn't feel
safe until was on the beach,
''Will they bite:" asked the listener,
VIII a duck swim y replied the pilot.
why, my friend, in July or now, I'd just
as soon try TO swim a lake of red not
pitch as to swim over from Pensacola to
Fort Pickens. There are not so MANY ac-
cidents on record there, because people
know the dangers and look out for them,
but know OF at least half dozen cases.
The last one happened last summer.
A vessel came in port for
a load of lumber, and the Captains
boy, quite a gOOd-siZed lad, in fOoling
about the rigging fell overheard. The
men heard scream and rushed to the
rail, but the only sign they saw was red
cloud in the water. They got out the
boat and finally recovered the body, but
the head and limbs were gone. Another
time soldier tried to desert from the fort
and was eaten by sharks. You see the
brutes follow vessels in from off shore
and get in the habit Of swallowing every
thing that comes along, and when a man
goes over they rush for the splash. Tye
seen 'em moving around on the bottom
like drove of hogs. They generally swim
slowly when not chased, but they can
work up tremendous race when they
are chased, and I've seen one jump twenty
feet into the air.
.Io show you how hard they can bite,7
said the pilot, ~ have seen one take a
piece out Of an oar. Another that was
hauled alongside Of a small boat, took
the cutwater in its mouth and nearly
crushed it to ajelly, leaving twenty Or
thirty teeth in the wood.
"Some time ago a Spanish gunboat
dropped i'll there, and the officers amused
themselves shark fishing. They had quite
circus. They would take a small dvna-
mite cartridge, bind piece of salt pork to
1t, and fix it to a float and wire, and send
it 200 feet astern. Pretty soon a shark
would take it, and they would fire by the
wire, and the fish would fly into a thous-
and pieces. If one was wounded the
others went for him and ate him up"