The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1885-09-19

A Fresh Water Shark, the Man-Eate of
Our Lakes and Rivers.
From the Cincinnati Enquirer

Our Lakes and Rivers.
From the Cincinnati Fnauirerl
did you ever hear OF a cat that
was a man-eater?" inquired the En-
| qulrer man OF an authority on such
matters.
"Ies, " was the reply; and very
curious case it was; but first as to
! fish. I've found and seen cats that
| weighed a matter Of 400 pounds and
We're mne teet long, and big enough to
swallow was going to say an OK,
but We'll call it a small COW: and this
| fish was caught in the Mississippi 1t
| seems, according to my informant.
who was one OF the parties interested,
that there was mysterious murder
| some years ago on one OF the river
| plantations. The owner of the place
was a big Shareholder, and at that
time one of the richest men on the
river. By and by the planter went
down to New Orleans and brought
back a Creole wife, one OF the finest
looking women ever seen in the cOun-
try-a beauty, but proud, naughty
and one that ruled with q rod OF
iron. Somehow or other, she got hold
OF the fact OF her husbands preference
for some OF his slaves. Some women
would have raised row on the spot,
but she wasn't that kind. She never
let on by wink or a word that any
thing was up, but one morning the
word was passed around that Milly,
one OF the yellow girls, had run OFF.
The country was secured with hounds
and everything done, but all tonO
purpose. About a month after, an
other girl disappeared, and the same
thing was gone through with. The old
planter was bothered, for he always
treated his hands right, and this last
girl had always been free to 90 when
ever she wished, so there was no need OF
her prancing off in that style. Right
at this juncture a friend OF mme came
into the case as a detective. He was
out of the swell mob, and you never
would have suspected that he was in
any way connected with the depart
ment OF Justice. He went down to the
plantation with a man who was hired
as an Overseer, and later he became
the guest OF the planter. For three
weeks ne lived in the family, but did
not get along at all, and finally one
morning, another girl left in the same
mysterious way. The detective had
discovered that the wife was aware OF
her husbands weak points, but it did
not, OF course, occur to him to assO-
l-ciate her with the disappearance Of
the girls as they were supposed to have
run away, and he was there to find
out Impossible who was helping them
off. One day as he was talking with
her she suddenly tainted, and as she
fell a small and peculiarly cut bottle
fell out upon the floor, and as he laid
her on the lounge and rang the bell for
help he unthinkngly dropped the bot
tie into his pocket. In moment the
girls came, and the lady soon recOv-
cred. The planter was a Jolly host,
always getting up psome sport or pleas
ure for his friends, and the following
| day a fishing party was arranged at
| little bay down the river, and after
| the gentlemen had caught all they
wanted dinner was to be spread on
small island near the shore. The
party was a success, and Just as they
were about to haul up the lines and 90
| to dinner one OF the men hooked an
| enormous catfish that was so game
| that it towed the boat about for an
hour or so before they finally got it
ashore. 1t measured nearly ten feet
in length, and my friend said it was as
bulky as a big steer. NOthlngwOCld do
| but the man must open 1t, so one Ofthe
| bows took big bait knife and made a
slit down the abdomen, and there
rolled out, what do you think? Moth
| ing more or less than the head OF the
| girl that had disappeared the day be
fore. and further investigation showed
that the fish contained the entire
body, that had been cut into four
pieces. The planter was Mortified at
the sight, as it was evident that muir
der had been committed. EXamina-
tion failed to show how, and thestOm-
ach OF the corpse was sent to chem
ist for examination, and my friend,
the detective, went some days later
for the report, and found that the
woman had been poisoned, By the
way he asked, can you tell me
what this is?' and he handed out the
bottle that had been dropped by the
planters wife. 'CuriOusly enough,
said the chemist, that Is exactly the
poison that killed this woman. !
didn't suppose it could be obtained in
this part Of the country The woman
had been poisoned and then cut up and
thrown into the river, with the expec-
tatiOn that the eCurrent would carry her
away; but the catfish had, by some
curious chance, taken a hand in the
game. The detective began to see the
| beginning OF the end, and when he
made his report and gave bottle to
| the planter, thelatter looked at him a
moment and seemed utterly crushed.
| He paid him a large sum for his work,
and twice as much to forget that he
ever came there, and so the murderer
was never punished. The planter and
| his wife were burned to death on the
river a few years after. My friend, the
| detective, Is dead, and, CuriOusly
enough, the plantation Is under water,
actually having been swept out of eX-
| istence by the waters. So all the fig
ures in the crime have disappeared,
and the story, though not much OF
| one. has never been told before. Going
/ back to catfshes, IN Europe they
/ have one called the sheath-tish that
/ attains a length OF twelve to fourteen
! feet and has the nature and habits OF
/ a shark. One was captured IN one OF
/ the larger rivers that contained the
/ entire body OF a large man who had
I fallen overheard. Another ate child,
and various animals OF quite large size
/ fall victims to them. In South Ameri-
/ ca in some OF the tributaries Of the
Amazon, Is found a fish larger than
any OF these referred to. 1t Is a cat
that has whiskers alone measuring
eight feet in length, the fish itself often
running up to sixteen and eighteen
feet. They have been known to wreck
the large canoes used on the rivers,
rising under them orfallinguponth them.
The catfishes OF the South American