The Portland daily press., 1884-02-06
A Divers Adventure With a
panama Herald,

panama Herald.)
Alfetto, the Spanish diver, who 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 was
at The bottom of the sea. 1 was just about
to signal to be drawn up for moments rest
when noticed shadowy body moving at
some distance above me and toward me, In
moment every fish had disappeared, the
very crustaceans lay still upon the sand, and
the cutie fish scurried away as fast as they
could. was not thinking of danger, and
my first thought was that it was the shadl W
OF passing boat. Bat suddenly feeling
of terror seized me. felt impelled to flee
from something, knew Dot what. A vague
horror seemed grasping after me, such as
child fancies when leaving dalkened room.
By this time the shadow had come nearer
and taken shape. 1t scarcely needed a
glance to chow me that it was man-eater
and OF the largest size. Had 1 signaled to
be drawn up then it would have been GER
tain DEATH All could do was to remain
still until 1t left 1t lay off 20 or rs feet.
just outside the rigging of the ship, its body
motionless, its fins barely stirring the water
about It's gills.
1t was monster as it was, but to add to
the horror, the pressure of water upon nv
head made it appear as if pouring flames
from its eyes and mouth, and every move
ment of its fins and tail seemed accompan-
led bya display of fireworks. was snre
thu fish 90 fant
colllaa see Its double row of white teeth. In
| voluntarily / shrunk closer to the side of the
vessel. But my first movement BETRAYED
my presence. saw the shining eyes fixed
upon me; its tail quivered as it darted az
me like streak of light. l shrank closer
to the side of the ship. | saw it rush on one
side, its mouth open, and heard the teeth
snap as it darted by me. 1t had missed me.
but only for moment. The sweep of its
mighty tail had thrown me forward. saw
it turn, balance itself, and its tail ouiyered
as 1t darted at me again. There was no es-
cape. 1t turned on it's back as it swooped
down on me like hawk on sparrow The
jaws opened and tue long, shining teeth
grated as they closed On my metal harness.
1t had me. Iconld feel its teeth grinding
on my copper breastplate as it tried to bite
me in two, for, fortunately. it had caught
me just across the middle, where was best
protected. Having seized me it went tear
ing through the wafer. | could feel it
bound forward at each stroke of its tail.
Had 1T not been for my copper helmet my
head would have been torn off by nv rush
through the water. was perfectly con-
sclous, but somehow felt no terror at ALL
There was only feeling Of numbness. |
wondered how long it would be before those
teeth would crunch through, and whether
they would strike first into my back or
my breast. Then | thought Of Mag
gle and the baby and wondered
who would take care of them and if
she would ever know what had be-
come of me. Ali 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 l felt the cold water begin
to pour IN and I heard the bubble, bubble.
bubble, as the air escaped into the creatures
mouth. 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 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 establishment then when I opened nv
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 comrades few
minutes after the swapping of the line. He
was picked up insensibe, with several holes
punched in the metallic parts of his diving
suit.