Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-05-07

the best protected portion toward it,
and that. of course, was nay copper
helmet.
''There was a kind of rash; then
instead of blow I felt a wrench that
almost twisted my head off, a terrible
scratchin' sound, and I felt myself
bein' borne off bodily by the head.
| The thonght that I was bein' eaten
alive by some horrible monster came
over me, and with q force that found
out afterward must have been almos}
superhuman, as it nearly jerked the
watchman overheard, l gave the
signal on the line"
Here the speaker stopped ia his
narrative and said: ''Now I reckon
Captain Sana had better go on. He
kin tell you the rest better than [
| kim"
Wall, recken I KIM" answered the
Individual 'considerin' what fix ye
were in. The first warnin' we had
| that anythin' was wrong" he contln-
ued, "was SEEM Tom Ramsey, who
was settin' on a camp-stool smokin'
and holdin' the line, go asprawlin'
over the deck and nigh on to over
board. Up he got, swearin' that Jed
was drunk or crazy down at the bot
| tom for yankin' so on the line, but we
knew somethin' was up, so we clapped
on to the line, and ye'd a-thought there
was a sperm whale on the other end.
It was as if Jed didn't want to come
up, and was a-jerkin' and hauling to
stay where he was. Then there came
a steady strain like, but we stuck to it,
and ia about three minutes had him IN
sight, when one of the hands yelled.
a sharks got him? and ran for a har
poOn. The rest of us gave way hard
on the rope and in a minute the cook,
him that yelled, got back with the
iron, and then right before us Jed ap-
peared on the surface with shark
about eighteen feet long. The cook
let fly the harpoon, the water few,
the men yelled, and we jerked Jed
fairly out OF the water, and just as we
gave the last lift-he was comm up
feet frst-I see his head was jammed
in the sharks mouth. The critter
dropped him as soon as hit was struck
with the iron, and Jed fell on the deck
ike lead. I tell ye we WANT long in
gettin' that armor off. I didn't wait
to unscrew it, but knocked In one side
light with a marine spike, and SO gave
him a little air"
II was pretty near gone" put in the
hero of the tale, ''and it's as Captain
Sam says. The shark-for that's what
1T was-a regular man eater, when L
put my head down took me for a crab,
| reckon, Or some such crltter, and took
NV helmet in it's mouth and started
off with me. Of course, my body
swung off as soon as I lost my feet,
and nay neck got bent on the edge of
the helmet, but I managed to give The
signal. They managed to haul me to
the top with the critter and all, and,
as Captain Sam says, he didn't leave
go until he felt the cooks iron. ]
came to in few minutes and helped
haul IN the critter, and If we didn't
keeI-haul him now it's a cautioa. I've
got his jaw home now. 1t fits over
my head as neat as you please, and
every time I look at it I kin feel that
curious motion Of being lifted up by
the head and carried off.
after that affair [ was knocked
over once by a porpoise, and nearly
run down and done for by a big ray
! that fouled the lines, but I never got
such a fright before Or since as [ did
| hat time. I've retired now; dry
tand's good enough for nae," and the
ex-diver again disappeared in a cloud
Of smoke that grew denser and denser
in the little cabin until all hands
seemed lost IN it.