The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1886-08-05

Nearly Drowned by q Clam Weighing
Three Hundred Pounds.
A..

Three Hundred Pounds.
From Youths Companivn.l
AS ran 1 kept my eyes fixed on
Brown. who was acting in a singular
manner. After every few seconds his
head would disappear beneath the
water in which he stood, then it would
appear again. He seemed TO be strug-
Cling violently. As approached him
he threw up his hands and cried out in
accents that haunt me still: "For
heavens sake, Lieutenant, quick, and
help mel dashed out to him through
water up to my waist.
What is it? What has hold of you?"
/ exclaimed.
Its big oyster or big clam" he
groaned. Il was wading here, and
stepped into it, / expect. Its shell
closed-gripped my ankle-and to save
my life can't get away-and the tide
will soon be over our heads here!" he
added, with something almost like a
sob. He had been struggling here for
fifteen or twenty minutes.
1 had heard of the tridacena gigas,
or monster clam of this coast, and in
stautly realized the danger of his stu
alton. Courage. old fellow!" 1 said.
"I'll stick by you. Here, hold this
paddle and the Ratchet"
I then ducked down under water,
and with my hands felt about his foot
The huge mollusk had what might be
we'll termed a death. grip on him. The
creatures shell was several feet long,
and of proportionate breadth, and the
weight of the shell-fish must have been
- IL Hhe t,1ra We
attached to the coral rock by grisly
byssus as thick as my arm. Raising
myself, / got breath, then, Selling the
paddle, thrust the shaft of it between
the converging edges of the two valves
of the shell, and using it as lever at
tempted to pry the shell apart But
could not open it. Brown, too, duck
ing down, seized hold with his hands
and pulled with all his strength; but,
exerting all our power, we could not
release the monsters hold. Again and
again 1 threw my whole weight on the
shaft of the paddle, and at length
broke it. BY this time the water was
up to my shoulders when L stood up.
Fully realizing that whatever L did
must be done in few minutes more,
else the poor fellow would drown,
snatched the Ratchet from Browns
hand, and, diving, tried to cut under
the shell, to break the creatures an
chorage on the rock. With might and
main cut and hacked-then rose an
instant for breath-then down and at it
again. But it seemed as though L
could not cut through the tough mus
Gle. Four times l dived, and, with
-
at stirs!" at length Brown cried,
bracing his weight upon his free foot
and lifting at it.
Then with a final blow the byssus
was severed, and the buoyancy of the
water aiding us, we dragged the great
mollusk-still fast to Browns ankle
back to higher ground on the reef.
Here the water was waist-deep, how
ever, and I looked anxiously around
for Mac, in the lakatoi To my mex
pressible Joy he was close at hand, and
between us we lifted Brown, with his
now captured captor, into the canoe.
Even then we could not, both of us to-
gether, pry the valves of the shell
apart enough to release Browns foot,
till with knife we had reached in and
completely divided the tridacena-saw-
ing asunder the hinge-muscles at the
base of the bivalve. 1t was truly gil
gantic clam, and, as a poetic retribu-
tion upon it for this attempt on the life
of one of our number, we ate portion
of its flesh for our supper, but found it
rather tough.
Browns ankle was severely bruised
and wrenched, and he suffered for
many day from the vise-like grip of
the huge mollusk.