River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1884-03-27
IN THE JAWS or A SHARK.

Tho Marvellous Experience of Alfetto
While Working at His Calling OF Diver
From the Panama Herald
Alfetto the Spanish diver. who has
been at work on the wreck of the At,
lanta, near Morehead, thus speaks of an
adventure had by him few days ago:
At the time l was at the bottom of the
sea. | 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 moment every fish had disappeared,
tho very crustaeeans lay still upon the
sand and the cutie fish scurried away
as fast as they could. j was not think
ing of danger, and my first thought was
that it was the shadow of passing
boat. But suddenly feeling of terror
seized me- felt impelled to flee from
something l knew not what \ vague
horror seemed grasping after me, such
as child fancies when leaving dark
ened room. By this time the shadow
had come nearer and taken shape. lt
scarcely needed glance to show me
that it was maneater, and of the larg-
est size. Had / signaled 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 the rig
cling of the ship, its body motionless,
its fins barely stirring the water about
its gills.
IT was monster as it was; but to add
to the horror the pressure OF the water
upon my head made it appear as fpour-
| ing flames from its eyes 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. mvolun-
tarily / shrunk closer to the side of the
vessel. But my first movement betrayed
my presence. i saw the shining eyes
fixed upon me: its tail quivered as it
| darted at me like a 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 rs 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 quivered as it
darted at me again There was no es-
cape 1t turned on its back as it swooped
down ON me like hawk on a sparrow.
The jaws opened and the long, shining
teeth grated as they closed on my metal
| harness.
1t had me- I could feel its grinding
teeth on my copper breastplate asi
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. / could hear 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 perfectly
conscious, 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
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 be-
gin to pour in and heard the bubble,
bubble, bubble, as the air escaped into
the creatures mouth l began to hear
great guns and to see fireworks and
rainbows and sunshine and ali kinds Of
pretty things, then / thought l was
floating away on rosy summer cloud,
dreaming to the sounds of sweet music.
Then all became blank. The shark
| might have eaten me at his leisure and
I never would have been the wiser.
Imagine my establishment then when |
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 comrades
few minutes after the swapping of the
line. He was picked upinsensible, with
several holes punched in the metallic
part of his diving suit