Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1889-07-25
Instinct OF q Sea Monster.

Several well spun sea yarns have
been told by shell-backs regarding
what they seen at sea-" said Chief
Officer James Brown of the Pacific
Mail Company's steamer Acapulco to q
Chronicle reporter recently; ''but there
is one thing certain" continued he,
land that is have reason to believe
that fish not only have instinct but
also reasoning power"
''How do you come to these conclu-
siOns?" was asked.
"Well. let me tell you. Now, every
sea-faring man who has frequented the
that old San Jose Joe has been in and
years. Joe is without exception one
Of the largest sharks ever seen in the
waters of the ocean. He Is over
thirty feet in length. This was ascer-
tanned beyond doubt by the officers
of the Acapulco on the trip before the
last, when q spar measuring thirty
feet had fallen over the ships side
and old Joe came along and after
smelling oft foated alongside, measur-
ing exactly its length. As to his age
that is not positively known, but the
barnacles on his back indicate that he
has been q resident of San Jose waters
for a number of years. The barnacles
are so old and crusty as to reyel
rifle ball with the same resistive force
as q sheet of steel on the side of q
man-of-war. Capt Pitts of the AGA
pulco 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 with
out doing him any damage. Yet Old
II, or.v.so urvf4 7oso ont l1o HI -.
to sink an ordinary whale, as almost
every officer whose vessel anchors in
those waters takes q whack at him
when he turns his sides and belly up
wards, but the bullets don't seem to
do him any harm"
well, about his reasoning capac-
ityf"
"Oh, yes. Some years ago an Eng
lish man-of-war, while lying at an
Choir, undertook to destroy the brute
by firing a charge of dynamite into
him. Joe was hit on the side and
about fifty pounds of shark flesh tore
away, but the shot failed to kill him.
But now, mark you, since that time he
will not make his appearance in the
anchorage near where q man-of-war is
anchored. But just as soon as these
vessels leave Joe comes to the surface
again. He regularly meets the AGA
pulco about fifteen miles outside and
pilots her in. Once anchored he is
satisfied, and seems to delight in feed
ing from the offaL Butno matter how
well you bait q hook Joe's reasoning
qualities tell him to leave it alone, and
he invariably follows that line of rea-
soning. As to his capacity to stow
away grub. that was proven on one oc-
casion when the vessel was taking
aboard some hogs. One Of ten hogs,
weighing probably about eighty
pounds, fell overheard, and old Joe,
who is ever on the watch, saw the
prize, and with one plunge and pair
of extended jaws the porker disappear
ed as though it had gone into q hole.
On another occasion we had q lot of
mules on board for the government
and one of the number died and was
thrown overheard Joe made the ac-
quaintance of the defunct mule. and
AFTER the lapse OF SIX hours the muie
was safely slowed thwart ships in
joss locker. Yes, Joe is the largest
shark known to MS seafaring men. We
have all tried to kill the monster, but
80 far have failed. = San francisco
Chronicle.