Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-11-21
YARNS AROrT SHARKS.
The Old Sailor Is OF the Opinion That Not =
Few of Those Told Are Trustworthy.

N'if lUf sun
"Ynu 400 I was ~ ,hn h-;r Nn-;- L--.L
New Orleans for cotton on Fall RiyeI ac-
count There were nine able scaincn on
board and three boys, which was tidy
crew for a crail of that rig. reckon We
WAS about - miles oil Cape Carnyyeral
when il happened The doctor was
scnpin' of some Saltpctrc of OF a chunk of
beef Just abalt the fore riggin 'arly one
mornin', when it slipped somehow and
down IL went. H"lorc any one could
puckcr his mouth the Dustin big shark
I'm tellin' you of, which he'd follcrcd up
for three weeks past, shoots out from
under the starboard quarter and swallcrs
the beef The doctor was pretty mad, but
the old man rivch lie was that close in
his calculatin' that hc was nigh hand tO
what some folk would call stngy, and
beef cost money. He sworc he'd catch the
the shark, and eat him, and he did IL too.
We got up the hook and line, and had u
look at the chain and swivel Ia see all clear,
and then We hcaycs her overheard with q
prime bit OF pork on. We had
long wait, but the next Mister
Shark gobblcd the whole ca
doodle and tried TO make of,
but We brought up with a turn around
the clcat where the starboard main sheet
made fast. Then we got the end ola
spare coil Of manila. TT for topsl halliards
aft, turned runnin bOwlinc into the end
on it, slipped the moose down over the
line, and then over the sharks hose by
workin' him alongside, and ~ got the
noose around the small Of his back.
which il where his tail sprouts. T'otber
end we leads tO tail block in the lee
foreriggin', takes il t0 the capstsn', and
walks around 10 the tune Of 'BOupd away
or the rollin river, which all OF the men
could sing beautiful.
'As was a sayin'. that ere shark had
followed us for three days We'd been
powerful unlucky, somehow, durin' that
ere time with lo-in' things over
board all on account Of that shark.
First, be swallowed proper silk
umbrella what the doctor used 10
keep his beaver hat dry with when he
went ashore. lie wanted Ia aif the nm-
brella, but the wind out Of the spanker
caught il, and over il went all spread out.
Last Of all the mate, Mr. Jameson, had
put big music box on the tafrrail while
IL played the hOrnpipe and the second mate
danced but lurch Of the vessel dumped
il over, and that were only the night be-
fore the one what I'm telling you Of
But we had the shark, and in course we
was n little curious 10 SO how things
would be arranged among the innards Of
him on deck. was for slashin. open the
brute the moment we'd got his tail chop
ped off, but the old man wouldn't have IL.
"Yer too impetchewas, he said, says
he; Just keep it in mind, you may
spile suthin' what's into IT, SO he takes
a knife aud goes at ithisself. lie makes
long slit down the belly and then gradn.
ally makes il deeper, takin' q crO-s-cut on
Yr. Sharks throat in the meantime. He
worked away till about reddy 10 cut tbs
inside skin, and then gets hook into the
flesh on each side the slash 10 we c0uId
open il suddint when We got the werd.
When all was ready he gave final rip,
and there lay the entire contents Of the
stummick befor. us"
Yes" said the young man, eagerly.
"Ye?''
You'd thought the beef had never
been touched. II looked better, II any
thing. than before the doctor lost it,"
"But the umbrella and the music box,
and the other things, said the young man.
.What umbrella"
"why, the silk one the captain lost over
board"
I'm course he lost il overheard, Just ~
! was q sayin' The wind outen the spanker
caught it, and il sailed away like Portu-
gee man-o'-war."
"well, but what kind Of condition did
you find it in when you opened the shark?
Did the ribs get broken? And was the
music box all right and the other things"
"D'ye mean TO ask was them things
into the sharks stummick? Now, look
a-here, young man, don't never y0u be-
lieve anybody what tells you yarns about
sharks swaliering any such things. What
I'm a-sayin' is that that ere beef what
the shark swallered wasn't digestsd my,
and there amt no stummick ever made,
'ceptin' sailor mans, what can get any
nourishment outer the grub what's served
in the West Indy trade.