Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-04-25
SAVED His PORT LDG.
A 5hark story FrOm the Shores or
the Chesapeaks.
fssas q ls,.s.f a a. lsl . Close C4ii FroaA /.
Ass4- Rating >u.sEx-An A1Chor
s~eopsrs Lively AZ
p~sienre.


T dictates a. lsrnzey a. lae -o4r-eFu P9llcs
station. vas dsals comfortably Ia bis
f ctalF ~allr several alen 50 the aight Fo-
serve were sea.s.i usaF alan taking aolll
alt ii anf.sres ga t4e asssesr. s1su ne ~ them
slflcs iut0 8 shark story. 'Ioin ae
+ : called By al @l9 klos aim. Foassd up
and stsnei - the res. tal ~ the tale sira
I much interest. A. e. eonelus yn ae said;
'Whea Nas aachsf = = s-fsiaz boys. 1
had a closer call from q shark than that
T fsll7~ dld whom Jack Fulaphrsy has 1t
been talking a5oat
"W hat &, aacaar- sweeping, fons"
'IA spiu you that shark story irst and
teil you about aaeh9r-sweeping after
wards
NO, let's have aneh 9r-sweeping nrst
and bring the shark story 10 as an incl
dent"
An right, here goes. Every winter
many vessels lose their anchors aud
every spring aud summer certain persons
10 down the BAY and sweep for them The
business Is more profitable whore -ssa-go-
Ing vessels md holding ground. The
shore along the Chesapeake eapes, ia the
region of the horseshoe and other exposed
t0 ride at anchor dariag winter storms,
/ can oe odtably worked. Fr rqgeutiy he
sea Is too heavy for vessels q stay here.
/ /. j. also Too heavy u se, the aac ors, and
I ct bles are shipped by vessels whicl have 10
seek other quarters or they are parted and
/ the boats driven ashore by the gale. There
Is always good crop oil anchors aud
chains on the bottom alter a stormy win
Ter, and men make money by securing
/ them. The wo K is done in this way. Two
puugies, each carrying crew OF our men,
work together. They start out the latter
| part II Anril n on the lst Of Nav and
| wrrk for three or four months Ia the for
,sard hold OF one OF the pungies a large
/ capstan IS placed The sweeping is done
/ with two-inch rope The pungies are
brought slds by SD. Jog ,thcr. Tue long
/ two-inch rope Is placed haifand-ha on
each punsy. They each hoist sail and
| edge apart, one going little % port and
/ the other 20 starboard, paying out the rope
/ al the time. When the rope is run out its
/ entire len th the vessels drop all and dr tt
/ with the tide or wind. Th- rope SINKS
| and as the vessels drift, forms a loop in Tho
/ center, which scrapes along the bottom
/ When 10 picks up sonnet ething heavy on the
/ bottom the vessels stop. The ends Of the
| rope are then quic ky passed around the
/ head GEAR OF each vessel. run through cleats
| aud made fast on sides opposite 20 what
I they were at first. This has the effect OF
/ drawing the bows Of both vessels toget her.
/ When the vessels meet both ends oi the
i rope are run through d chock on the bow
\ of the one which has the capstan in her
! hold. The ends OF the rope are placed on
1 the capstau aud wound up. As the ropeis
| thus drawn in 10 is passed % the second yes
! sci. which falls astern as 10 is paid cut 10
/ her from the capstan and thus assists in
/ the work. When the first boat IS brought
directly over the object caught by the
/ loop on the bottom an iron messenger is
/ put around the lines, securely closed. and
| sent down by means of a stout line. BY
! humping It aga ms, the object it can cas- Y
/ b. told il g. bc meta below. II il is an
anchor, then both lines are put around the
windlass on the forw ard deck and the men
set o. and heave away until the anchor
! comes % the surface. Sometimes an an
chor may Ia so firmly embedded that the
/ bow OF the vessel has 60 bs hJvte down as
far as p, ible by the ad of the w.ndlass
and the anchor gradually broken out by
| the action Of he swell Of the sea When
tn anchor g brought up the forebaliards
Of the sec nd vessel are hooked on to it
and the priz, hoisted into her hold
Il went anchor sweeping in 1863. We
were out over three months and secured
42.otO weight OF anchors AMI chains. | OF
S2l7 for my share after paying the mess
bills. We got one anchor aud chain that
/ weighed 3,00o pounds. l. had the United
| States Navy stamp upon il. 4 Govern
ment vessel came alongside as oneday and
without saying b your leave gentle
men," hoistei the prize cut of the hold and
went OF. We were lying at Fortress
Monroe at the time.
cone hot day We were becalmed off the
horse shoe. Three OF rs went swimming
in the hay There was an awful lot OF hun
CRY sharks about that summer, but we
didn't think about them as We swan away
from the vessel several hundred yards.
Presently some one yelle1. shark swim
for your lives. menv looked around, and
there. sure enough, was the in Il man.
eater skimming along the top of the water.
jerusalem. hut didn't [ swim II was no
time for fancy strokes, and just dug at
the water with my hands and arms scoop
ing lf up IKE frnp'iter ana throwing
myself hale out Of the wa.er "a plunged
f1rwarl But we couldn't begin 20 swim
with that shark. He was n half-miie away
when we first saw him. aud one of our
boats was coming toward rs. manned by
four men. who were rowing ike giants
Bus the a stance betwe us aud the shark
4 ssppeared with greater rapIditv than the
space between ourselves and the boats
We'll. we reached the hoat AMI wers
hauled In Just "a the shark hal turned or
his hack 20 make q meal 81 nv port leg
He didn's get me. although fels the snar
a. his jaws As he brought them together
He turned over in his isappointmeut
zlsrsd AZ IA half a minute. aud then famed
II to book FOR his dinner IN another quar-
rsr. since that experience I have not esr
fond - an srks.