Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1889-08-08
ALL ABOUT SHARKS.

! ALL ABOUT SHARKS.
! Rav~nous Character u the White -
Hammer Varieties.
1t was reported the other week that
I a sailor engaged in scraping the sides
OF troop-ship in the harbor of Sierra
Leone was drawn into the water and
promptly devOured by a shark. This
Is not an uncommon experience and
the Standard reminds us that boat
man has been bitten in the short time
it took him to dip up a pitcher of
water while his craft was under full
sail We are assured that it Is moth.
ing uncommon for the ravenous fish to
spring foot out of the sea in order to
secure their prey. For miles they will
follow vessel, on the lookout for anv
stray unfortunate who may tumble or
be thrown overheard. and so deep do
they swim under the surface that it re-
quires the practiced eyes of the natives
to detect their presence. Many of the
West India harbors are so haunted by
the white and hammer headed sharks
the least amiable of the one hundred
and fifty different kinds known to 10
olOgists-that it is dangerous to battle
even few yards from the shore with
out an outlook being posted.
Yet the West African negro has been
known to face the brute, not only with
impunity, but even to come off as VIC
tor in the end. All but amphibious,
the swimmer cautiously approaches
his enemy, and then. just at the mo-
ment when the great fish turns over to
seize him-his mouth being so placed
that 1t Is necessary-the daring black
plunges- his knife into its white belly.
The pearl-divers are also sometimes
successful in their attacks on sharks
which try to seize them, though, it is
needless to add, such a mode of combat
is possible only when the monsters do
not come in numbers, and under the
most favorable circumstances requires
a GOODNESS, d dexterity and courage
which are not to be acquired except
by long experience in such perilous
encounters. As a rule, however, it is
seldom that a man who is so luckless
as TO drop among sharks ever appears
again. There is shrek, a white out
look is seen under the surface and fin
above it, a redeemed crest tops the next
swell which breaks against the ships
side. and the hOrrOr-stricken seamen
know that their messmate will be seen
no more.
1t is well ascer,ained fact that the
skeletons of sheen. pigs, dogs and cat
tie which had fallen or been thrown
overheard have been recovered MANY
days subsequent to their being swal-
lowed; and it is on record that in the
stomach Of shark killed in the Indian
ocean u lady's wOrk-bOx was found,
while in another the discriminatory
papers which had been thrown away
by hotly-chased SLAYER were recov-
cred from the NAV OF an involuntary
witness thas euriously brought into
Court ON the barb of pOrk-baited
hook. Ruysch, one OF the most trust
worthy Of the old naturalists. aft rms
that a man in mail--homo lOricatus,
he calls him-was found in the stOm-
ach OF white shark; and it is record
ed by Blumenbach that i'm one case a
whole horse was found. 1t is undenia-
BILE that many have bean killed with
ample capacity for -uca undesirable
contents; and Basil Hall tells of one
out of which was taken the whole skin
of a buffalo, besides a host of other
trifles which had been dropped astern
in the course of tho previous week.
Sailors are full of superstitions
which touch the slperhuman sagacity
and incarnate fienlishness of this fish
how, its senses being acute far be-
yond what we can have any idea of, it
will follow ships for days when a death
is likely to occur. and desert the wake
OF .the vessel when no such good
fortune for it is in the wind. Vatea,
the shark god Is the lord of the ocean
in the Hervcy island mythology, and it
is whispered that even the Chris
tianized Hawaiians will still, when in
the direst extremity, invoke MoOaru.
the shark demon. TO whom their pagan
fOrefathers erected temples and Of
ferea sacrifice. The pearl divers
Of Ceylon employ shark charmers
to protect them while engaged
in their dangerous work. Marco
Polo speaks of these officials under the
name OF the abrema nj, who received
as wages a twentieth of the divers
gains. At the present day they are
called haibandi or shark binders, and
as the divers would not enter the
waters without being certain of their
services the chief operator receives a
government subsidg of ten oysters per
diem. The Tahitians deifed the blue
shark under the name of ..Aukua
maoO." dedicating it to shrines and
priests. and in West Africa rabbits are
sacrificed to u ohm. while. II not sharp
" watched, it has been affirmed that
some of the tribes about the Niger del
Ia will, at fixed times. bind child dec
GRATED with flowers to post on the
beach at low tide and leave it to be
devOured by the sharks which come in
with the flow. drowning its cries with
the noise of drums Newcastle (Eng.)
Chronicle.
Labricaiing. Headlight and Lard oils
at n Collars.
PUBLICATION NOTICE.