Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1889-12-03
a SHARK THAT tn INKS.
Wv ohe charge from . aIan-of- War and
Now Won't Go Near One.

Now Won't Go Near One.
several well nun sea yarns hav,
oeen told by old sh sllbacks reganIins
What they had cen at sea- saiss
Snlei O11eer Jane Brown, of the Pa
cihc mali compan' s st-samer AcapuI
| 60, 70 San francisco Chronicle man
| put tnere Is one thing certain. anc
| that Is, nave reason TO believe that fish
not only have instinct, bat also reason.
ing power"
How do you come to these con-
cluslons7" was asked.
Wen, let me tell you, Now, every
seafarlng men who has freq ented the
port of San Jose, at Gualem liza, knows
that old San Jose Joe hiss b en- IN and
about that port for ths asst thirty
Joe Joe is without ezeee.1sn one of the
of the ocean. He P. afer thirty feet
in length. This w-oIkrrtais>d be-
yond a doubt by the c7ficers of the
Acapulco on the "trip before the last,
when spar measuring thirty feet had
fallen over the ships side Ind old Joe
came along, and after &aelling of it
hoated alongside measursn9 exactly its
length
AS to his age that is roe positively
known, but the barnacle1 on his back
indicate that he has been president of
San Jose waters for al Plumber of
years. The barnacles ale SO old and
erusty as to repel a rifoRall with the
same respective force as sheet of steel
on the side of a man-of-war.
Capt. Pitts, of the Acapulco. has
time and again shot at this monster
and without effect, so far as his back
is concerned. The balls glance off
the old fellows back without doing
him any damage
Yet old Joe carries en7ueh lead in
his carcass to sink an ordrary whale.
as almost every officer whose vessel
anchors In those waters tax, sa whack at
him when he runs his side. and belly
upward, but the bullets dc at seem to
do him any harm"
We'll, about his reaxaainp cana
city2"
''Oh, yes Some yearA 90 an Eng
Iish man-of-war, while Il ing at an
,hor, undertook to desdoy the old |
brute by firing chargeEf dynamite
INTO him. Joe was hit o41 he side and /
about fifty pounds of lark's flesh
orn away, but the shot9iled to kill
lim. II
But now, mark you1 since that |
lme he Will not make hf1 appearance |
n the anchorage near wlare a man-of-
var is anchored. But h6t as soon as
hese vessels leave Joe domes to the
urface again.
He regularly meets tht Arnculco
bout fifteen miles outsid1 am pilots
er aaa. uha 3 satisheH, |
1t q hook Joe's reas6shi I,
Ill him to leave it alone, &nd - ss,~
ariably follows that line of fasoning.
LAS to his capacity to Sow away
rub, that was proved on one occasion
Then the vessel was taking aboard
ome hogs. One of ten hogs, weigh
ng about eighty pounds, fell over
oard, and old Joe, who is ever on the
Tatch, saw the prize, and with one
lunge and a pair of extended jaws
he porker disappeared as though he
lad gone into hole.
Son another occasion we had lot
f mules on board for the government,
nd one of the number died and was
brown overheard. Joe made the ac-
uaintance of the defunct mule, and
fter the lapse of six hours the mule
vas safely slowed thwart ships in Joe's
ecker.
"Yes, Joe is the largest shark known
o US seafaring men. We have tried
o kill the monster by all possible
means, but so far have miserably fall
d. New York Morning Journal.