The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1884-01-23
A CURIOUS WATCH CHARM.
One OF the Suckers Secured In a
Submarine Struggle With
m OCf0NuR.

an Octopus.
That's an odd charm" said q re-
porter to a travelling companion on the
New York Central Railroad.
so 1t isl was the reply, land 1t has
story holding up curious oval OBJ
ject in which was set compass. 1t
formed bowl two inches in diameter,
and was of substance resembling fish
scales, but of rich opal hue. The edge
was serrated. and within them had
been placed a compass If you didn't
know what it was" continued the
owner, you'd never guess, but not to
keep you in suspense, it's the sucker of
an octopus that attacked me once. II
you remember, about four years ago
there was q rumor to the effect that
valuable pearl fisheries had been dis
covered on the Alaska coast; in fact
large jewelry house in New York dis
played some large pearls that it was
claimed came from that locality. 1t
fooled good many, as it turned out to
be dodge to start immigration. and
it caught me for one secured FIVE
men, good divers, and started across
the continent, and got there TO find
that it was swindle. There wasn't
pearl within 1000 miles, and to get
my money back went into the regular
diving business, and after raising
several vessels we squared up and left.
at was during one of these trips that
got my charm. We generally went
down in pairs. but this day we were
working on q small smack that had
sunk, and I took the first spell down
alone, to see what was the matter with
her, She was lying in about forty feet
of water, some of her running gear
atloat showing where she was. We
anchored our sloop to it, put out
moOring, and in few moments was
going slowly down. To feel that you
are strapped to weights and going down
to depth where il blow should cut
your pipe you would BIO anchored for
good isn't pleasant, to say the least
In about live minutes | reached the
deck, and as l wanted drst to find out
what had hit her. walked forward,
swinging myself round the shrouds
and ropes. l swung off and | found
that two of her planks had burst right
out. She was loaded with pig iron,
and reckoned the sea had jerked the
bottom out of her. Having settled this
walked around her to the lee side,
the bottom being hard clear sand,
and there easily stepped aboard and
walked toward the hatch. TWAS wide
open, and as l stepped near it saw
something that / took for rope hang
ing over the coamings. Taking my
boat-hook l gave it q punch, and it
seemed to fall off into the hatch. One
of the main yards was hanging clear,
and, taking 1t, ! swung off and lowered
myself into the hold to see If the iron
had been covered with sand.
down went, my hook in one hand
and the halyard in the other. and when
near the bottom lot 60. In second
| landed on soft yielding mass that,
bound as was, gave me sickening
sensation. 1t moved from under me,
and in moment l seemed to be sur
rounded by the flying arms of some
hideous creature. They clasped my
legs, wound around my body, and fast
ened about my helmet, gradually draw
ing me down and horrifying me SO that
for a moment was utterly powerless.
But at the first alarm had given the
signal to draw me up, and having a
large knife fastened at my waist, at
tackled the monster, cutting it any
where that l could strike. In mo-
ment the animal had lifted itself so
that its body rested against my chest,
and 1t seemed to be about as large as q
-four barrel, with legs extending out
from it, like the legs of spider. l
hacked at 1t with the knife, my armor
preventing it from biting or cutting me,
and soon had the satisfaction of cutting
it fairly in two, so that partly dropped
of, and tore the remaining arms
away. was dragged to the surface
with part of it, however, clinging to
me. was about exhausted with the
work and nervous prostration, and il
they hadn't unserewed my helmet i'm.
mediately I should have dropped; but
afew minutes in fresh air revived me,
and in that time closed my career as
a diver don't think $1,000, 600
would have tempted mo to 90 down
again" .
And the charm?"
This charm. as said, was one of
the suckers that lined the arms, and
had SO en-, into the rubber part of my
sleeve that it had been torn from the
animal III the struggle, and as it was
| rich in color ] kept 1t as curiosity.
When ! reached the surface the men
hauled up half the octopus with boat
hook. tell you it was fearful sight
The arms, when stretched out on op-
posite sides Of the body. measured ex.
actly twenty.seven feet from tip to tip
On their under sides we're these suck.
ers, each one shelly cup with a saw.
like edge. --New York Sun.