The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-01-07
They Thought He Was "fioater''-G Going
Overheard In a Storm Just for a Lark"
Sharks wouldn't Bite Him, but fled at
Ills Approach.

mdle as ne came down 70 Us ie just
smoked through the water Ike a yawl with
her sail SGT 10 stG breeze. All the men
mustered forward 20 got ght Of him, and as
be came alongside be checked h.s way, took
long survey Of our craft, and coolly called
olt.
/ "What ship is tbatr
"TLc American whalcr, Yankee Land, en-
swCrcJ the maie
"Want any haudsH
"Ycs, we'll ship you. replied The captain.
every well, slr--l u come aboard
They throw him rope and ho soon stood
on deck, the only unconcerucd person on The
ship lie asked for q chow Of tobacco, Hrung
tho water out OF bis clothes, and whom the
cook brought hm some grub Doe ala not pe
par over hungry lie refused dr clothes,
Swing that hs felt batter when damp. aud
WHOM bee bad finished eating ho explained;
- uaiac IS Tom Finch quit .ho Eng
isl brig Saxon two days ago can steer o
boat or iasten 90 a whale with the bc.t Of
you Give me lay and let me turn o."
"Ym quit thc Saxon two days agof
quorcd tho cautmu.
"Ncs, sir.'
"t here was sheE
"a matter Of City miles 10 the northwest
SIR"
cat seaT
eyes. f.r.n
F "H3w dl you qmtn
/ "Sa.d Cood-by 10 my watch and jumped
overheard, and have been floating ever
/ SINCE
There wasn't a man I'm the ship who be-
lcvcl his story Indeed. what luteLIs'ht
man would believe boz And yet il was gos
+ pei truth. as we discovered when wo reached
/ Valparaiso The Saxon was there, and half
% dozen Of her crew bad seen him go over
board AS stated
a man tlh bad como aboard Of u.s. There
never was a mermaid. but lo certainly Wa %
norman lle was next TO amphibious. He
was with u5 for sixteen months, and during
tina. time was the wonder of our crew and u
every other crew we met He was "a s.alwart,
good lJolane chap of 80, but bis interior may
have been bu.l On The fish principle Ho
swan as swiftly as some kinds of fish, and
that without seeming % tire him lie could
not hedroWuc.. and DO shark would bite him.
/ said bee WAS a queer IMAM. Tue reader prob
ably agrees with me- / give my word and
honor that every statement | shall mako IS
true, and can be proved true.
Our carpenter was laid up wltha broken
leg. and when Finch announced that be could
use tools h9 became carpenter temporarily.
Altor wc Left Valparaiso, no longer doubling
tLs story 81 his two days float, he gave as "a
marvellous exhibition of his skill as "a swim
luor ln running back TO thosouth westrucE
tie fag end of a cyclone and got terrible
sea. Our big ship was pitched about ike Il
pea and the waves walled mp ON as now and
then until their crests seemed 20 tower lf.y
feet above the rail- Everything was dashed
end double ilsned, and the COOK could not
make Us oven "a cup Of coffee for twenty
hours NhIo We were lying 10 and hanging
ON for lio Finch stripped 20 his shirt enl
pants aud went overheard for "a lark The
best man among us would have been drawued
u five minutes lie was in the water two
hours, and when BIO camo ont he did not puff
as heavily as o man who had run across the
street A hundred times In these Two hours
wo thought ho was lost, but he had no more
fear for himself than as If be was ondry land
i'm the sixteen months / saw him go over
board as many as fifty times, IN all sorts OF
weather, and by day and by night, and Sc.
stated that no shark would bite him. ud
proved this fact q thousand times over. Hlr.
b0r sharks, for reasons best known 20 Them
selves. will sometimes pass a swimmer hy,
but they arc small fry compared % the big
hammer heads and white sharks Of midoccau.
The true man eater is not shore fish, except
IN tropical waters. Whom whaler is en-
gagged i'm cutting iu aud trying ont, and is
drifting Of before the wind, your real man
eater appears. ! have seen them twenty-five
feet long harraclcd up aud moss grown ike
ancient whales, and evidently a hundred
years Old These are the demons OF the deep
who will rush ur0n q raft aul upset it or tear
10 TO pieces. aud who seem 10 feel no pain from
the prick Of a lance We got whale TO the
southwest Of Conception, q hundred miles OF
shore, and F.nca gave us his Grst exhibition
We had az eighty barrel fish lashed mead and
tail 10 our starboard side and we're just hook
ing on 90 .he first blanket piece TO ho'staWay
when three or four monster shlrF~ cared.
The ono who came up astern was OF such size
that the men called out in amazement He
lay with bis dorsal fin above water, and wo
could see every inch Of him 1t was enough
90 give YOU q chill 70 note bis wicked eyes and
bis awful mouth
When Finch saw this shark be said he
would drive hma Thocaptaip ordered
him 70 20 about bis business not wishing Ia
lose man, but Finch waited until the Off
GERS were of their GUARD, and then went
overheard on the lee bow with great splash.
There was O. wild cry from tho crew aud
rush with ropes, but Tom looked up and
laughed and SWAIN around the stern of the
ship. The big man eater had backed OF
about twenty feet at the splash, but two
others, almost as large, bad come up on the
quarters, and there lay three of the wicked
81 lsh IN tic Atlantic ocean Everybody
shouted and gestured, and halt a dozen
ropes ends were thrown TO Tom, but he
would not mind us He SUDDENLY sank be-
low tie surface and made bee line for the
big fish. nnd to my surprise, the Cid fellow
darted aside % escape the collision.
It's truth To tho letter that Tom Finch
drove every enc Of those monsters away from
the ship, and for an hour he padded about in
the water and was unframed. Ia the course
of "a couple " hours the big shark returned.
A piece Oi i.ubbcr was tied up IN am old coat
ana dropped overheard, and he made dash
of hundred feet and boited 10 down like
dash lic then took up his station OH our
quarter, and not over thirty feet away, and
he sailor mounted the rail and made "a long
leap right at him. The shark went OF llke
s reak and SIC saw him no m0rc.-Ncw York
~In