Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-05-07
Diver and Man Eater.
N. Y. Evening Post.

StD'ye see that talllSh man with the
big chin whiskers?" asked the skipper
of a schooner ia the southern trade.
''WelI, he's been with me goin' on
twenty years, off and on; started with
me in the wreckin' business first, and
we've kept a-goin' ever since, thick
and thin, After the men have had
supper [ want you to hear him spin a
yarn about the time when we wracked
1t together on Bonavista reef"
After the meal the ex-diver came
aft and proved to be a very jolly com
panion. "There's only one thing" "
he said, "that I've got agin Captain
Sam, and that is 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; I've spun ii off to
every man, woman and child in
Boothbay I've told it in Bosting and
on the line. and if [ had all the wind
I've used a,spinnin' this ere Identical
yarn, I'd fill a balloon the size of this
schooner and float off" "Slack up a
trlfie. you're leetle too taut1" inteT-
rupted his friend, the skipper, with &
laugh. cit hain't cost ye nOthin' but
wind and ye're famous all over the
eastern coast as the only man that
ever got eat by a man eater and got
of scot free"
"Well, I don't know but you're
right. skipper" returned the hero,
''and I reckon I'll have to keep on
tellin' it till I'm put over board so
here goes" And the veteran story
teller leaned back and drew heavily
III hHA IA
the clouds of smoke.
ii. s..'Ye never saw wrack, did yea"
asked the speaker. ''No? Wall It's
a dismal sight. She was q fine bark,
but had been hammered to pieces in
goin' on the reef, so that some of the
plankin' had started and taken a
shear right up at angles with the hulls,
and at first looked like masts. With
such a lot of standin' riggin' it was
mighty hard pickln' yer way round,
and every time I'd take step I'd git
my head almost yanked off by foul
in the tube. But kept at it and
made a complete survey of the wrack
and found out how the land lay, then
went up. An hour later | had torts
and machinery down with me. The
first thing to do was to blow up a side
of the null so as to get things out.
This | did with torpedo, and when L
went back after the explosion there
was the incest hole in her ye'd want
to see. In I went and hooked the
tackle into twenty bales of cotton, /
reckon. before | 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 it hadn't been
for that should 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
we. Wall, [ was haulin' away, work
IN near the hole, when all at once L
was in perfect darkness, just as If the
lamp had gone out of all creation, and
then Just as quick it came again. [
thought the schooner had swung over
t first and paid no attention. to 1t,
ut in a minute more out went the
light again; then on 1t came, and that
comm and goln' went oH for about
zen minutes, until finally [ made up
my mind to 90 and see what it was.
I started for the openin', but just
before got to it it became dark
again, and | fancied I saw a dark
shape like big fish dart by; then [
.hought it might be a squaIl outside,
and the low clouds that they have
there had been doin' business. / crept
through the hole, takin' care Of my
ipes, and grabbed the rope I'd left
aangin' there to pull me up on the
hull, when there came kind of whirl
or rush, just as if a current of water
lad been let on me from somewhere.
I turned half round just in time to see
! big fish risin' above me. 1t was too
late to do anything. I'd left my pike
below and before could move step
saw the dark form rushin' at me. [
was In the most exposed part of the
wreck, not thing to do but face the
music, and as I thought whatever it
was 1t was goin' to strike me turned