Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-05-06
PREHISTORIC SHARKS.
MONSTER MAN EATING FISHES ONE
HUNDRED FEET LONG.

They Were Very Numerous at One Time
and Pretty Lively-sOme Evidence That
Determines Today the Size of the Ex-
tInet Fish of the Past.
If we may judge prehistoric man by his
modern representatives we may assume that
shark fishing was carried on at a very early
day; so very early, in fact, that not the
slightest proof remains or even remnant of
the early Walton. In geological maps of
America, during what is known as the tdr-
tiary age, we find it occupying much more
restricted area than at present. The south
srn states were largely under water, and
Florida was but a shoal beneath the waves.
In the immediate vicinity Of Charleston, s.
G., from the bottom Of the river bed have
been taken the remains Of some sharks so sug-
gestive of gigantic size that the modern man
eater is dwarfed in comparison. The remains
consist of teeth, huge deviated specimens, in
some instances almost as large as a woman's
hand, many times larger than those found in
large sharks of today. The writer once had
the curiosity to arrange a number of these
teeth after the model of a modern shark, and
the result gave fish large enough to swallow
a horse entire; and as for length, 1875 feet must
have been the dimensions of these monsters.
If shark fourteen feet long is sufficient at
the present day to terrify any one, what must
have been the effect of the appearance of this
tertiary giantl Like the great whales, it re-
qlired deep water to float it, and doubtless
was only attacked when by accident it be-
came stranded on the shoals.
HOW THEY WERE CAPTURED.
At such time the fishermen may have put
off in their rude crafts and aided in its cap
ture-perhaps fastening it with cables-iE
driving logs Of wood into its vulnerable parts.
To capture such monsters by any other means
must have been impossible The largest boats
would hardly have withstood the struggles
that must have ensued after an attempt at
capture by spear or harpoon, assuming even
that such weapons were known. Once en-
trapped in shallow water we can imagine that
the sight must have been striking one; the
enormous fish, far more active in this condi.
ton than a whale, beating the water with
blows of itspowerful tail, making frantic and
mighty rushes this way and that, swapping
the great cables like threads, capsizing the
rude boats and spreading terror and destruc
ton everywhere.
A man to one of these mighty sharks would
be almost unnotceable and we can imagine
that such a huge creature must have been
upon continual forage to appease its appe-
tite. A moderate sized whale would have
been legitimate prey, as our ordinary uian
eaters of today have been known to swallow
nearly an entire horse At this time many
strange creatures thronged the ocean, and
doubtless animal life was made much more
profuse than at present.
Amy one who has seen a shark Of large size
moving along beneath the surface can realize
the terror they produce in oil observers.
A MODERN EXPERIENCE
The writer once hooked shark about four
teen feet in length. The brute was towing
the heavy boat at steamboat speed through
the water my man crouching in the stern,
which was high in air. while was engaged
at the bow, in keeping the line in the notch,
a slip from which would have tipped us over
We had rushed up the channel for about half
a mile at this pace, when l CHANGED to glance
overheard, and there, about ten feet from
the surface, were half a dozen man eaters of
the largest size swimming along, keeping up
with us, apparently determined to see what
became of their friend. The appearance of
these huge fishes moving along so swiftly and
with such little exertion had an extremely
disagreeable impression upon income that
never fully recovered from, as have never
enjoysd sea bathing since, even in northern
waters. The attendant sharks judged wero
from ten to thirteen feet in length, and tn z
exact size of the monster that towed us we
never determined, as he finally escaped by
breaking the rope.
SIZE OF CAPTURED SHARKS.
At South Carolina, at the junction of the
Ashley and Cooper rivers, thousands Of these
teeths have been dredged in deepening the
river, not of one species alone, but of many,
showing that here must have been a common
feeding ground for schools of these giants,
that perhaps engaged in warfare among
themselves, and so formed this strange grave
yard Of teeth that thousands of years later
became through a rising of thee coast dry land.
Of the man eaters of today the carcharodon
is the largest, specimen having been cap
tured in Australian waters thirty-six feet in
length; the jaw Of this monster is now in the
British museum. The largest shark, how.
ever, is the phinoden, which has a wide geo.
graphical range and attains length of from
fifty to seventy feet, approximating that of
the great whales; but this huge creature IL
not a menace to the other dwelers of the sea,
having small, harmless teeth, and preying
upon small peagie or floating animals. An.
other shark, called the "bone shark" is oc-
casionally found off our eastern coast, rang
ing from twenty to fifty feet. A reliable
fisherman informed me that his father cap
tured one off the southern coast of Massa-
chusetts which was longer than this. The
schooner was sixty tons burden, and when the
fish was brought alongside and dashed it was
longer than the vessel, or between sixty and
seventy feet. This shark is also defenseless
creature, relying upon small animals for food.
&C. F. Holden in San Francisco Chronicle.