Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1885-05-14
THE NORTHWEST
Diver and Man-Eater.

big chin whiskers?" asked the skipper
of a schooner in the Southern trade.
. "Well, he's been with me goin' on 20
wear. off and on; started with me in
the wreckin' business first, and we've
kept a-goin' ever since, through thick
and thin. After the men have had sup
per, I want you to hear him spin yarn
about the time when we wrecked to-
gether on Bonavista reef"
After the meal, the ex-diver came aft
and proved to be a very jolly compan-
ion, "There's only one thing" he said,
'that I've got agin Capt. Sam, and
that's he's always 'tarnally tryin' to git
me to spin that ere shark story. I've
tOld it down east, when we're to home;
and child in Boothbay; I've told it in
Bosting and on the line, and if l had
all the wind / used a spinnin' this 'ere
identical yarn, I'd fill balloon the size
of this schooner and float off"
"Slack up trifie, you're little too
taut," interrupted his friend, the skip
per, with laugh. at hain't cost We
nothin' but wind, and ye're famous all
over the eastern coast as the only man
that ever got eat by q man-eater and
got OH SCOUC 1ree.
''Wall l don't know but you're right,
skipper" returned the hero, land |
reckon I'll have to keep on tellin' it till
Pm put overheard so here goes. And
the veteran story-teller leaned back and
drew heavily on his pipe, until he
seemed lost in the clouds of smoke.
"Ye never saw a wreck, did ye? asked
the speaker. "No? Wall, it's a dismal
sight. She was a fine bark, but had
been hammered to pieces in gOin' on
the reef so that some of the plankin'
had started and taken shear right up
at angles with the hulls, and, at first,
looked like masts. With such lot of
standin' riggin', it was mighty hard
pickin' yer way round, and every time
I'D take step, I'd git my head almost
yanked off by foulin' the tube. But I
kept at it and made complete survey
of the wreck and found out how the
land lay, then went up. An hour later,
I had the tOrts and machinery down
with me. The first thing to do was to
blow up side of the hull so as to get
things out. This / did with a torpedo,
and, when went back after the eXplo-
sion, there was the incest hole in her
ye'd want to see. In went and hooked
the tackling into twenty bales of cot
ton, reckon, before l went up. There
was only one trouble about the place,
and that was the darkness. She laid on
her side, just so that all 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 any
thing, let alone work. Ye see, in hull
4 like that, there's always danger of the
load comm down Oh We. Wall, was
haulin' away, workin' near the hole,
when all at once was in perfect dark
ness, just as if the lamp had gone out of
all creation, and then just as quick it
came back again. ] thought that the
schooner had swung over, at first, and
paid no attention to it. But in a min
ute more, out went the light again
then on it came, and that comm and
goin' went on for about ten minutes,
until finally made up my mind to go
and see what it was, started for the
openin', but just before / got to it it be-
came dark again, and fancied saw q
dark shape, like big fish, dart by !;
then thought it might be squall out
side, and the low clouds that they have
there had been doin' the business. /
crept through the hole, takin' care of
my pipes, and grabbed the rope I'd left
hangin' there to pull me up on the hull,
when there came kind of whirl or
rush, Just as If q current of water had
been let on me from somewhere. |
turned half round just in time to see a
big fish risin' above me. 1t was too late
to do anything. I'd left my pike below,
and, before / could move q step, saw
h. 10 J., e. ;.,1a 81 T II,
the most exposed part of the wreck, not
thing to do but face the music. AS
thought whatever it was, it was goin' to
strike me, so I turned the best protected
portion toward it, and that, of course,
was my copper helmet. There was a
kind of rush; then, instead of blow
[ felt a wrench that almost twisted my
head off, a terrible scratchin' sound
and felt myself bein' borne off bodily
by the head. The thought that 1 was
bein' eaten alive by some horrible mon
ster came over me, and, with a force
that | found out afterward must have
been almost superhuman, as it nearly
jerked the watchman overheard, gave
the signal on the line"
Here, the speaker stopped in his mar
rative and said: "Now, I reckon Capt
Sam had better go on. He kin tell yel
the rest better than kim"
"Wall, ! reckon / kim" answered thu
individual, "considerin' what q fix y,
were in. The first warnin' we had tina
anythin' was wrong,n he continued
twas seein' Tom Ramsey, who was set
tim on camp stool smokin' and hold
in the line, 60 a-sprawlin' over the
deck and nigh onto overheard. Up HI
got, swearin' Jed was drunk or Graz,
down at the bottom for yankin' SO OF
the line, but we knew somethin' wa
up, so we clapped onto the line, ant
ye'd q thought there was sperm whal
on the other end. 1t was just as if Jet
didn't want to come up, and was jerk
in and haulin' to stay where he was
Then there came a steady strain like
but we stuck to it, and in about thre
minutes had him in sight, when one o
the hands yelled: "A sharks got him
and ran for the harpoon. The rest o
us gave way hard on the rope, and in
minute the cook, him that yelled, go
back with the iron, and then right be
fora ,1s Iad annea red on the silrface will