The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1890-08-22
BIG FISH WITH HANDS
An ENCOUNTER OFF HATTERAs
WITH MARINE MONSTERS.
CAPT GHERN TELLS THRILLING YARN
ABOUT AN ADVENTURE ALONG THE
CoAsT-FIsH ThAr GFUsgDTo BIZ
TAKEN BY MRASs OF BoArfiooKs
ONE is FINALLY CAUGHT.


TAKEN BY MRASS OF BoArfiooKs
ONE is FINALLY CAUGHT.
Capt. Gheen, of the schooner Abb,
Gheeu, saw strange things off Cap,
Hatteras on his voyage 10 this port
He does not claim TO have seen the SCI
serpent, bat he did see a number o
monsters OF the deep that put all vel
ere lifted sea stories in the shade. Th,
captain is man whose veracity is no
doubted The captain brought hi
vessel from Rio de Janeiro, and it va
when twenty miles off Cape Hattere
that be ran into a school of sea mon
sters such as he had never before seen
| The monsters were sighted by on
of the crew. They were nearly
hundred yards ahead of the vessel 40,
were apparently rushing toward her
When first seen by the sailors the
Thought the ship was running into
floating island, some of which ar
often seen at sea. They soon change,
their minds, however, when they 90
closer and saw a school of big isl
that no one on board could recogniz
as having seen before. The schoo
opened TO let the ship pass, and thel
at once closed in and followed her
They foated all around her and great
ly impeded her progress.
Although the vessel was going at
speed of seven miles an hour, the men
sters followed along in its wake, an,
several more daring ones seemed t,
clutch hold Of the vessels side and lie
themselves be carried along Afte
they had followed the boat severa
hours the crew began to grow uneasy
as TO their safety, and called upon th,
captain. who heretofore had not beer
aware of the chase.
SURROUNDED BY THE MONSTERS
He sent for his glsss and going af,
made q survey of the school, which b,
describes as resembling q low, rock,
island. He said they were large
than the average sized sharks being
about ten feet in length, and varying
from the size of bucket to a tub il
circumference. They seemed to be
running a race and were having
great battle among themselves.
They had four long arms, on th,
ends of which were claws that resem
bled the hands of an ape. Those arm
like things extended from each side Of
the body. Discovering that they wer,
new species of fish, be Immediately
communicated the fact to the frst
mate with orders to try and capture
some of the strange monsters.
The mate gave orders to the crew,
who were more or less frightened, but
We're waiting the chance to "skeer
the bruies, and when they were told
IT the captains orders they nearly
jumped out of their shoes. The boat
was searched for weapons, and soor
the deck was covered with harpoons
boat hooks, fish hooks aud every o;he,
kind of implement used in catching
fish.
The boat hooks were first used il
their attempt to catch the fish, but un
successfully. The fish seemed to
know what was needed of them, and
they used their "hands" to protec,
themselves from being caught. Groups
of two and three of the monster.
would grab the rod Of the boat hook
and pull it away. Eight of these
hooks were taken from the sailors
The arms OF the fish were about six
feet long, said Capt Gheen.
FISH USE THEIR HANDS.
The sailors became alarmed, think
ing that some i'll omen had caused the
serpents to follow the ship, aud the,
thought they were going 10 be lost
They told the captain that they
thought the ship would never reach
port Some rushed to the forecastle
and Others to the captains cabin in
their attempt TO escape from the sup
posed "Jonahs."
BY this time the 6sh had become
more daring, and would swim along
side the boat and grab the sail tenions
and traces. At last the captain be.
came so eXasperated at the men that
he ordered them to cast the lines
which they use in catching drum and
sturgeon. This the crew reluctantly
did The lines were bated with hugh
pieces of goldfish and cast over the
side. They were handled by the fish
the same as they handled the boathook
They would grab the line with their
"hands and try to tear them apart,
and If one vas not successful two or
three would come TO its aid.
"All the time we were irving 10
capture one of them said the captain,
they would keep up a yell that sound.
ed like the bark of coyote. At last
the men were successful. They had
indeed, caught one of the fish, and
they began to haul him in. When
the remaining fish saw their captured
brother they made great efforts to res
cue him. They grabbed at him while
the men were hauling him up along
the side of the boat, and once or twice
one of them succeeded 10 getting his
claws over the fore rail Al last We
had him on deck, and such a hilarious
yell as the crew gave out at that hap
py moment and the scene on the deck
is indescribable.
MONSTER CAPTURED.
The captured monster flouudered all
over the deck, but his msneuvers were
quickly stopped by The use OF an az;
we soon cut his head off. In apother
half hoar We had caught two more Of
the hugh monsters, but these must
have been young ones, as they were q
great deal smaller in size than the rest,
aud probably did not know how to
eyade the hook.
This was strange monster said
Capt Gheen. "The body was round
and about the size of a small barrel,
and the back was covered with thick
scales, resembling the scalss OF the
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