The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1890-03-14
MAN EATiholsHARks.
An Unpleasant Advsnture with a
School ofrTtsm. .4->1is';

An Onpl0000nG A0V00yuf0 with q
School ofT1ssm. >: 81
/ shall never forget the time when I
was hand in small fishing vessel
that tended the London market SAYS
a writer in the Boston Globe. The
weather was very warm and fish scarce;
some of the old hands thought some
,..nd of destructive fish was playing
havoc, for set our travis where he
would they were skinned as clean as
though the job was done by hand.
One evening two men that went in
dory No. brought the news that
sharks were plenty and we had better
ship to some other berth. The anchor
was catheaded, sails hoisted and o
course laid out that would bring us to
Jetfries bank, which lies about thirty
Or forty miles off Portland. The next
morning ut daylight we were in our
dories and proceeded to set our fishing
gear My partner and took tho out
side on the western end and all went
we'll; we were hauling in fish for half
an hour with every promise Of good
catch. I was hauling the trawl at tho
time, and felt u sudden tug and yank
that very nearly took me out OF the
dory.
I knew 1t was sharks In a minute,
and stopped hauling to SEQ II they
would show up. Suddenly there was a
witch and pull harder than ever.
and hauled away as lively as possible,
knowing hc would bite the line II he
could to clear himself.
Ipulled and he tugged, but kept
tho line coming all the time. First,
he would tow US in one direction and
then in another. SO surmised We had
him by the tail. and told my partner
to have sharp knife ready to cut
away.
After long and hard pull got him
to the top Of tho water and found that
he had taken two good bitches around
his tail and was working hard to ge,
clear The next thing to do was to
get his tail on the rail Of the dory and
cut clear. A strong pull by both of us
placed him at our mercy, then Hooked
overheard to see the kind Of chap we
had, and If anything would make a
fisherman feel blue IL would be look
from that angry man eating shark that
VIC were fast to. He would curl up in
a bow, look ut lis with those cold eyes,
and slap his body about in q very dan.
gcrous manner, but tho line was
strong and We had him secure.
Tho only thing we could do was to
cutoff his tail and let him go clear oil
the trawl, and my partner held onto
one sido of his tail while l used the
knife. In n minute he was clear, and.
with back and belly fins to propcl with.
drove for the bottom, leaving trail ol
blood after him, that know would
cause trouble. He cano up with a
rush, jumping full length out of the
water, and dropped SO close 10 our
dory that the splash nigh swamped
uS. W. naulcq away Clctr VI nlQp auO
after we got our gear we started to
row for tho vessel. After rowing O
short distance We were in tho midst ol
school of man-eating sparks that had
scented tho blood OF their MANNED
relative. My partner was rowing q
new pair of oars and they attracted the
sharks. They made snap after snap al
the blades, and as our dory was deep
loaded with fish they appeared TO think
we would be an easy prey.
So hard did they press us that vhe
new oars had to be taken in and the
fish thrown overheard to distract Il
attention.
We were within quarter milo
the vessel and had succeeded in sh
ing off all but one of them. He wa
small cuss and would purr up alongside
the dory like u cat and never left Us
until we reached our vessel and web
safe aboard,