Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1884-01-30
In the Jaws of a Shark.


has been at work on the wreck of the
Atlanta. near Morehead, thus speaks
OF an adventure had By him few
days ago: AT the time 1 was at the
bottom of the sea, | was just about
to signal to be drawn up for mo-
ments rest, when | noticed a shad-
owy body moving at some distance
above ME and toward me. In mo
ment every fish had disappeared, the
very crustaceans lay still upon the
sand and the cutie fish scurried a
way as fast as they could. | WIS not
thinking of danger, and my irst
thought was that 1t was the shadow
of passing boat. But suddenly
feeling of terror seized me. felt
impelled to fee from something /
knew not what. A vague horror
seemed grasping after me, such as
child fancies when leaving darken-
ed room. By tins time the shadow
had come neaIer and taken shape
1t scarcely needed a glance to show
me that 1t was a man eater. and of the
largest size. Had / signaled to be
drawn up then it would have been
certain death. All 1 could do WAS
to remain still until it left. 1t lay
off twenty or twenty-five feet, just
outside the rigging of the ship, It's
body motionfess, its fms barely stir
ring the water about its gills.
1t WAS a monster as it WAS, but to
add to the horror the pressure Of tho
water upon my head made it appear
as if pouring flames from its eyes and
mouth, and every movement OF it's
fins and tail seemed accompanied by
display of fireworks. | WAS sure
the fish was thirty feet long, and so
near that l could see its double row
of white teeth. Involuntarily l
shrunk closer to the side of the YES
sci. But my first movement betray-
ed my presence. | saw the shining
eyes fixed upon me: its tail quivered
as it darted at me ike q streak of
light. l shrank closer to the side OF
the ship. | saw it turn on one side,
it's mouth open, and heard the teeth
snap as it darted by me. 1t had
missed NE, but only for a moment.
The sweep of its mighty tail had
thrown me forward. l saw it turn,
balance itself, and its tail quivered
as it darted at me again. There vas
no escape. 1t turned on its back as
it swooped down on me like q hawk
on a sparrow. The jaws opened and
the long, shining teeth grated as
they closed on my mental harness.
1t had me. / could feel its teeth
grinding on my copper breastplate
as it tried to bite me in two, for, for
tunately, it had caught me Just across
the middle, where l was best pro-
tected. Having seized me it went
tearing through the water. L could
fee! it bound forward at each stroke
of it's tail. Had it not been for my
copper helmet my head would have
been torn off by the rush through
the water. l was perfectly conscious,
but somehow I felt no terror at all
There was only a feeling OF numb
ness. L wondered how long it would
be before those teeth would crunch
through and whether they would
strike first into my back or nv breast.
Then 1 thought of Maggie and the
baby and wondered who would take
care of them and if 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 and my head seemed ready
to burst with pressure, while the
monsters teeth kept crunching and
grinding away upon my harness.
Then felt the cold water begin to
pour in and heard the bubble. bub-
bic, bubble, as the air escaped into
the creatures mouth. l began to
hear great guns and to see fireworks
and rainbows and sunshine and all
kinds of pretty things, then thought
was floating away on a rosy sum-
mer cloud, dreaming to the sounds
of sweet music. Then all became
blank. The shark might have eaten
me at his leisure and / never would
have been the wiser. Imagine my
astonishment then when l opened
my eyes on board this boat and saw
you fellows around me- Yes, sir,
thought | was dead and ate up, sure
Alfetto was found by his comrade:
a few minutes after the swapping o.
the line. He was picked up insensi
BILE, with several holes punched il
the metallic part of his diving suit
Panama Herald.