Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-04-03
INA SHARKS JAWS.
.ns story Of BostOn Diver Who Was
carried on by a Man-Eater.
E,.o,a fbA BOsf0u Herald

t.gvben Capt, sam anu mt htstIolheu part
.a-ship like. We both of us had claims
ainst a man for salt fish. He was a
p,stiue fish dealer, and we heard that he
-,os ooin' up, SO we started for Bosting
and attached the only thing he had left,
~ 'n5 mat was a good-sized diving-bell that
IA taken himself for debt in some way.
mist we thought we'd sell it for old ron,
mi one day we SAVE notice that there
'ros need of a diver IN Florida in the
a..oolin' business; so we fixed the old
- mn. nut it on a smack we owned and
ultn,sd for the Gulf. l tell We, some of
%em cOnch-wrackers opened their eyes
sHbon we nut her over first time. They'd
W. heard of such thing. When thev
nnonted 10 90 over they diYed and could
INV stay down minute or two. When
Un Kent down for an hour it took the con-
osit clean out of me, and We couldn't get
ooe "a 90 down for love or money There
va.r'f mv danger Of opposition.
NV, Wf8tked il for year or so there,
ana one day got word at Key West that
am, el''- was 4 big bark ashore at Sea Horse
Nv tell We, we want long in gettin'
ttera and when we struck the place we
founl thar she'd been carried clean over
tbebataud was in about thirty fathOms
II water, That was too much water for
the helix so we got out an armor we'd
Gonobt and tossed up a cent who should
- down AS luck would have it, it fell
foma The rig l had was made for lust
sncb work, aud for deep water where the
pressure is enough to squeeze water from
Il stoue. The headgear was the thckest
kind Of copper, the arms were braced
with copper preVenters and the chest and
hack the same, and on each part had
+wepty pounds of lead. Rugged in this
WAY. took my pipe and went over the
sidi and in about ten minutes ! was on
deck
@Ye never saw awrack, did ye?" asked
thp sneaker. "No? Wall, it's a dismal
siqbt. She was fine bark, but had been
all hammered to pieces in g0in' on the
reef. so that some of the plankin' had
started and taken a shear right IN at
right angles with the hull, and at first
Looked like masts. With such a lot
sandn' of riggin' it was mighty hard
i pickin' yer way round, and every time I'd
i lake a step I'd git my head almost yanked
Of by loulin' the tube. Bat | kept at it,
and made "a complete survey of the wrack,
and found out how the lana lay, then Went
up. An hour later l had the tOrts and
machinery down with me. The first thing
. 10 40 Was " blON up a olNlC VI INC hulls oO
as to get things out. This | did with a
torpedo, and when went back after the
explosion there was the incest hole in her
we'd want to see. In / went and hooked
H tie tackln' into twenty bales OF cotton, L
reckon before ! went uD.
"Thcre was only one trouble about the
place, and that was the darkness. She
laid on her side, just so that al the light
got came in through the hole had made,
and if it hadn't been for that | shouldn't
have been able to do anything, let alone
work, Ye see, IN hull like that there's
always danger OF the load COMM down on
ye Wan. / was haulin' away, wOrkin'
near the hole, when all at once l was in
perfect darkness, Just as if the lamp had
gone out Of AL creation, and then just as
quick it came again. ] thought the
schooner had swung over at first, aud
paid no attention to it, but in minute
more out vent the light again; then on it
koame, and that COMM and gOin' went on
tor about ten minutes, until finally made
i up my mind to 90 and see what it was.
81 started for the openin', but just be-
fore got to it il became dark again, and
l tanced | saw a dark shape like big
fish dart by; then | thought it might be a
squal outside, and the low clouds that
they have there had been dOin' the shadin'
business. l crept through the hole, takin'
\ care Of my pipes, and grabbed the rope I'd
& left hangin' there to pull me up on the
4 hull, when there came kind of whirl or
A rush, just as if a current of water had
been let in on me from somewhere. /
turned half around just in time to see a
big dsh risin' above me. 1t was too late
1 Ddo anything. I'd left my pike below,
and before / could move a step | saw the
"a dark form rushin' at me. l was in the
most exposed part of the wreck, not
thing to do but face the music, and as |
thought whatever it was it was goin' to
strike me, l turned the best protected
portion toward ii, and that, of course,
N vas my copper helmet.
"There was a kind of rush; then, in
stead Of blow, l felt wrench that al
most twisted my head off, terrible
sdatchin' sound, and I felt myself bein'
borne of bodily by the head. TIE thought
That ! was bein' eaten alive by some h0r-
fible monster came over me, and with a
force that | found afterward must have
been almost superhuman, as it nearly
leIked the Waterman overheard, / gave
The signal on the line"
Here the speaker stopped in his nara
n tive and said:
"Now, reckon Captain Sam had better
70 on. lie kin tell We the rest better than
kin.0
wall, 1 reckon I kim" answered that
Individual ''cOnsiderin' what a fx We
were IN. The first Warnin' we had that
ahltnin' was wrong," he continued, "was
seem Tom Ramsey, who was settln' on a
campstool smOkin' and hOldin' the line,
soa spawlin' over the deck and nigh on
~ overheard. Up he got swearin' that
loeu was drunk or crazy down at the bot
yum Tor yankln' so on the line, but we
anew somethin' was up, so we clapped on
@lne line, and ye'd thought there was a
psIm whale on the other end. IL was
ny as Il Jed didn't want to come up, and
aas aJefkln' and hanlin' to stay where
was Then there came a steady strain
my Dut we stuck to it, and in about
.uIee minutes had him in sight,
wen one OF the hands yelled, a shark s
IVY him3 and ran for the harpoon. The
,sst OF us gave way hard on the rope, and
%S minute the cook, him that yelled, got
AVN with Tire iron, and then right ai0re
yea appeared on the surface With a
I 1S' about Is feet long. The cook let fly
WI. bafp00n, the water few, the men
v NV ana we ierlIed jed fairly out Of the
'sl' ana just as we gave the last lift
vas comm up feet tirst-I see his
NV was damned IN the sharks outh.
s, N.Y. 1oIlIler dropped him as soon as it was
a .oi. I, with the iron, and jed fell on the
r,s. !. e lead. teuye we want long in
sa' uu mat armOr of. l didn't wait 10
e pstslew 1t, but knocked in one side-light
his marine spike, and so gave HIM a
A MORMON IHTPOsToR.
haH