River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1884-07-31
In the Jaws of a Shark.
Household Words.

| Household Words.
Alfetto, a Spanish diver, who had
been at work on the wreck OF a vessel,
thus speaks of an extraordinary adven-
ture which he once had: "At that
time / was at the bottom of the sea, and
was just about to signal to be drawn up
for a moments rest, when / noticed a
shadowy 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 away as
fast as they could. was not thinking
of danger, and my first thought was
that it was the shadow of a passing boat.
But suddenly feeling of terror seized
me. | felt impelled to flee from some
thing, / knew not what. A vague hor-
ror seemed grasping after me, such as
child fancies when leaving darkened
room. BY this time the shadow had
come nearer and taken shape. 1t scarce
ly needed glance to show me that it
was man eater and of the largest size.
Had / signeled to be drawn up then it
would have been certain death. All
could do was to remain still until it
left. 1t lay off twenty or twenty five
feet, Just outside of the rigging of the
ship, its body motionless, its fins barely
stirring the water about its gills. 1t
was a monster as it was, but, to add to
the horror the pressure of the water
upon my head made it appear as If
pouring flames from its tail and mouth
and every movement of its fins and tail
seemed accompanied by display of fire.
| works. was sure the fish was thirty
feet long, and so near that / could see
its double row Of white teeth. Involun-
tarily 1 shrunk closer to the side of
the vessel But my first movement
betrayed my presence. | saw the shin
ing eyes fixed upon me; its tail culver
ed as it darted at me like streak of
light. / shrank closer to the side of
the ship. | saw it turn on one side, its
mouth open, and heard the teeth snap
as it darted by me. 1t had missed me,
but only for a moment. The sweep of
its mighty tail had thrown me forward.
| saw it turn, balance itself, and its
tail quiyered as it darted at me again.
There was no escape. 1t turned on its
back as 1T swooped down on me like
hawk on sparrow. The jaws opened and
the long, shining teeth grated as they
closed on my metal harness. 1t had
me. / could feel its teeth grinding on
my upper breast-plate 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 tearing through the
water. I could feel it bound forward at
each stroke of its tail. Had it not been
for my copper helmet my head would
have been torn off by the rush through
the water [ was still perfectly con-
scious, but somehow / felt no terror at
ALL There was only feeling of numb
ness. | wondered how long 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 if she
would ever know what had become of
me. All these thoughts passed through
my Drain III all UlSbdut, Dub III bldb
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 upon my har-
ness. Then felt the cold water begin
to pour in and heard the bubble, bub-
BILE, 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 l thought was
| floating away on rosy summer cloud,
dreaming to the sound of sweet music.
Then all became blank. The shark
might have eaten me at his leisure and
/ would never been the wiser. Imagine
my astonishment, then, when / opened
my eyes on this boat and saw you fell
lows around me. Yes sir, [ thought l
was dead and ate up sure" Alfetto
was found by his comrades few min
utes after the swapping of the line. He
was picked up insensible and with sew
eral holes punched in the metallic part
of his diving suit.