The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-09-12
CAUGHT ~ SHARKS.

Fmsn the New York Press.
l had Joined the bark NJ. An San
Francisco. We werr bound tn Queens
town with grain, for orders. Our crew
consisted OF eighteen nss,n all told, from
Captain p. down tn myself, the youngest
on boarl. The old hark was o slow going
sAd tub at hest. and IL WINS forty days be-
fore we reached the line: Them we were
heat was INTENSE, swimming overheard
was in order and enjoyed hy AN.
We wcre cautioned ny tire officers tn Cd
Ovcrboard I'm pairs ar i'm large numbers, us
sharks WEIR abundant and rather inclined
tO sample amy ar everything that come
around. Among the mem on hoard WINS n
.iark-hairrd Irishsnan-Mick. we called
him-a fine sinGer ~ good sailor, and u
general Ia vorite with everyone.
and wcr. always toSetner. Those two.
myself and the third mate wesc swimming
together On the third day Of the calm. and
ms all To have one more plunge. The third
mate declined, hut Ben 1.-THE. Scotchman,
Mike stood Oh tin, port ca,hcasI. Ben
was Ott forward On the Inartin9alc back
ropes, while l stoO<i on the side
at the fo~recastlc head, intending tai run To
CROSS ON his breast and then jumped. I
heard the splash and started to run.
Az i reached the rail, | heard n shrek of
terror from Ben, which was es.hocsi by the
s'aptain and third mate, who stood aft. i
managed to stop myself by catching the
down into the water ] saw "a sight that l
ram never forget. A huge shark had Mick
ny the foot and was slowly going down
with him.
The water was so Transparent. so clear.
YOU could sse to "a great distan nee. amy whitc
object, and the struggles of Mick were APP
parent to- all. Everyone WAS. ar seemed
tn bc. paralyzeti. and il WAS well that they
were, for the least attempt to have rs.s-
s,Iesl him would have been futile. us no
imam could dive .lS fnr ar AS fast AS the.
Shark was going.
We watched till nothing could he seen.
ders'd To the ~foc'slc, where in low tones
the subject was discussed. Ben came and
sat on his box; and hiding his face, in his
for ] was only "a lad. and l was chilled
throuRl, and through.
TIN. south and s,,s,. and as ~ ar,.d,,sIiy In.
creased we all felt sure il was the. trades
and that we would have IA chance to get
only lasted forty-civht hours. and we
again came tn u halt. Ben had become
quite moody and s'llcn. and would ever
and anon declare with am air of s.ouvi'-
ton that two ni"rs' men must go before
We could get away.
Ben had been in London "a good many
times and his remarks ~avorrl of that
place. "strik. mo bleeding lucky. re-
member II bloody hooker as wsrs. i'm where
before the blooming 'ulk could reach port.
yer know"
Ben had "a morbid conviction that he
was the next to- ger. and nothing could
shake that belief. He had a nice lot of
things. clothes. etc. and the best of them
lm gave away. tn those of his si'ip'n,tcs hs.
liked. received one ar two articles. that
I put in my chest to give him when We
reached Queenstown. He. also gave M
E:D tn give tn his friends i'm Nislross.. Scot
land. when ] got IA chance. >o SUR. WAS he
that he WAS going tn die.
We lay drifting about for ten days, not
"a breath of air hardly during that time.
On tlN. morning of the eleventh day of
the calTn, when daylight came. we saw
thirty or forty turtles on the surface of the
sca. The first mate, "a big, Rr,IT Norwegian
named johnson. got pernlission from the
captain To get out n boat and try to get
ont tn row the boat. I being one of them,
and we rowed toward two turtles that
were close together and asleep.
We moved slowly. making as little noise
as possible, and the mate in thu. how of the
boat. reached out. caught one by tlic hind
fiipper and had him in the boat in a seq
and the mate remarked that hc would
catch one more and that would be enough.
for now and then "a black. knifc-likc fin
would he seen. and tlIcrs. WAS no need to
tell "a sailor what WAS under il.
At last we saw "a fine, large turtle, and
as we came near IL the mate, who weighed
1FD pounds, told us tn sit over ON the. star
toard side of the boat, Ben and were
IN thu. same tlwitrt. and us We all pushed
over We gave quite Al list tn our craft. The
mate an amidlships. and. leaning over
tire KtlI1wuIe ol INC lnft StNs blbitel' 10
grab for the. turtle. missed il, and falling
over IN our side of the boat with great
foIse, capsizsd il.
There was scarcely time To- yell as We
went over. W.. were in AN awful plight.
A quarter of a mile from thu. ship, SUR
rounded by sharks, and a capsized boat.
No one seemed to think of climbing on to
the boat, but all struck ont for the ship,
and il became "a race for life. ] was
hardly what one would call "a good swim
mer, hut ! will wager that 1 Travelled about
as fast as "A good swimmer could under
the circumstances.
was about half Way to the ship when I
heard n yell and gurgie close. behind ntc.
I almost seemed to jump from the water
;s / Quickened my speed, or tried to. A
moment later another yell greeted our
ears. l did not dare to look around. My
heart was i'm my mouth, and was fast bs-
coming exhausted. Tho ship was only "a
hundred feet away. hut Il seemed to mc !
could not last for the few seconds needed
to the distance.
A swim of "a quarter Of n mile was hard
for AN unframed swimmer to- tlo at full
speed. Our position had not been mo-
ticcd an the ship until some time after il
occurred.
Ihad reached the ships side. bs.fory. the
boat on deck had been lowered tn the
water. and as ] was about to give. up j felt
myself seized 10y the arm. did not
know whether il was IL shark ar man who
had me. and ! did not care. for l became
unconscious. Two hours afterward /
woke up.