Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-07-31
MARINE MONSTERS.
THE STORY TOLD By A VERA
CIoUs SEA CAPTAIN.

Hatteras with Long-armed Mon
sters ofthe Deep-severaI OF Them
Captured.
Captain Gheen, of the Schooner Abby
Gheen, now lying at Bulson street wharf,
Camden, saw strange things of Cape
Hatteras on his voyage to this port. He
does not claim to have seen the sea-ser-
pent, but he did see number Of mon
iters of the deep that put all well-cred-
tied sea stories in the shade. The cap
tain is man whose veracity is not to be
doubted. The captain brought his ves-
;el from Rio de Janiero, and II was when
twenty miles of Cape Hatteras that he
ran into school of sea monsters such as
be had never before seen.
The monsters were sighted by one of
the crew. They were nearly a hundred
yards ahead of the vessel and were ap-
parently rushing toward her. When first
seen by the sailors they thought the ship
was running into a floating island, some
Of which are often seen at sea. They
soon changed their minds, however,
when they got closer and saw school of
big fish thatno one on board could recog-
nize as having seen before. The school
opened to let the ship pass, and then at
once closed in and followed her. They
aoated all around her and greatly inn
peded her progress.
Although the vessel was going at a
speed of seven knots an hour, the mon
sters followed along in its wake, and
several more daring ones seemed to
clutch hold of the vessels side and let
themselves be carried along. After they
had followed the boat for several hours
the crew began to grow uneasy as to
their safety, and called upon the cap
tain, who heretofore had not been aware
Of the chase
He sent for his glass, and, going aft,
made survey of the school, which he
describes as resembling a low, rocky
island. He said they were larger than
the average-sized sharks, being about ten
feet in length and varying from the size
of bucket to tub in circumference.
They seemed to be running race, and
were having great battle among them
selves.
They had four long arms, on the end
Of which were claws that resembled the
hands of an ape. These arm-like things
extended from each side of the body.
Discovering that they were new species
Of fish, he Immediately communicated
the fact to the first mate with orders to
try and capture some of the strange
monsters.
The mate gave orders to the crew, who
we're more or less frightened, but were
waiting the chance to s'skeer" the brutes,
and when they were told of the captains
orders they nearly jumped out of their
shoes. The boat was searched for weap-
ons, and soon the deck was covered with
harpoons, boat hooks, fish hooks, and
every other kind of implement used in
catching fish.
The boat hooks were first used in their
attempt to catch the fish, but unsuccess-
fully. The fish seemed to know what was
needed of them, and they used their
hands to protect themselves from be-
ing caught. Groops of two and three
If the monsters 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.
The sailors became alarmed, thinking
that some i'll omen had caused the SER
pents to follow the ship, and they
thought they were going to 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 endeavors
10 escape from the supposed "Jonah."
By this time the fish had become more
daring, and would swim alongside the
boat and grab the sail tenions and traces.
At last the captain became so exasper-
ated at the men that he ordered them to
cast the lines which they use in catching
drum and sturgeon. This the crew re-
luctantly did. The lines were baited
with huge pieces of Goldfish and cast over
the side. They were handled by the
fish the same as they handled the boat
hook. They would grab the line with
sheir hands" and try to tear them
apart, and if one was not successful two
or three would come to his aid.
s.All the time we were trying to cap
ture one of them," said the captain,
they would keep up yell that sounded
like the bark Of a 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 rescue 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 in getting
his claws over the side of the fore rail.
At last we had him on deck, and such q
hilarious yell as the crew gave out lat that
happy moment, and the scene on the deck
| is indescribable.
The captured monster foundered al
over the deck, but his manGuvrcs were
quickly stopped by the use Of an axe; we
soon cut his head off. In another hour
we had caught two more Of the huge
monsters, bat these must have beer
young ones, as they were great dea
smaller in size than the rest, and prsb-
ably did not know how to evade ths
hook.
aThis was a strange monster" said
Captain Gheen. "The body was round
and about the size Of small barrel, ano
the bark was covered with thick scales,
resembling the scales Of drumfish
while the belly resembled the hide Of {
porpoise. The head was about as large
as an ordinary sized bucket, and wa,
horrlfying to gaze upon. The eyes wer'