The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1891-01-09
ATTACKED BY A SHARK.

ATTACKED BY A SHARK.
Thrilling Adventure Of Diver With Hsa.Hat.
Ing Monster Of Hoael1lu.
The water front had something be-
sides the storm to talk about yester-
day. A diver. who gave his name az
Jim Hartley. cruised about AL Whites
all the morning helping to get steam
schooners of the bar, and rewarding
the loungers who placed them there
by telling of wonderful encounter he
had with tiger shark a month ago,
says the San Francisco Examiner.
Hartley said he was deserter from
an English ship. and had learned div
ing in the old country. When his
funds gave out at Honolulu the first
job that presented itself was an ex-
ploration of the sunken wreck Of .
hardware-laden vessel on the outer
edge of the reef. They rugged up
the only diving apparatus in the
island said Hartley, land I tackled
it. They gave me little sloop to
work from, and I found q reliable
fellow for helper. The only weapon
/ had was q big knife, made out
of the blade of a sheep-shears. guess
anyhow, it looked as though it was.
I made two descents. Tho first ono
landed me among lot of sharp rocks
and rough coral lodges that I didn't
like to move around among much for
fear of cutting my air hose, which was
old and not over strong. soon went
up, and on the next good tide made
another descent and this time I
hit the bark just right. I found
a hole In her port bow big enough
to poke house through, and
was startingto 60 around to the other
side when I felt a jerk at both air hose
and signal line, accompanied by
swirl of the quiet, clear water aud
sudden cloud that told the story. I
knew that some big fish had fouled my
connections, but l was not prepared
for what saw when I turned my win
dows upward. A couple of fathoms
over my head was the biggest shark I
ever saw, and man-eater if ever there
was ore. What did 7 dop I dropped
fat on my back mighty quick. I knew
that he would settle down on me in
about a minute and that my chances
OF winning in a stand-up fight would
be slim. had two main fears, one
that he would break my hose and an
other that the fellows in the boat would
see him and commence hauling me up.
If they did it was sure shot that MIR.
Shark would take my rubber suit for
the skin of Kanaka and bite me in
two while I was in mid-water and
had no fighting leverage for my
feet. I was lucky; the man in
the sloop never pulled pound. In
a minute, that seemed an hour, the
shark commenced to settle. Ho hauled
off few feet backward and then came
slowly forward again a good deal
lower down, but still not low enough
to reach me. OF course l had my knife
all ready long before this. He started
to back off again, and the next trip,
thinks !, would fetch him right at me,
mouth on. did not want to meet
him that way, and as he commenced
to move l gave him the knife with
both hands right in the stomach. He
went like shot when the old shears
blade stung him, and sting him 1t did.
for l drove it good aud hard, with
pulling slash that ripped him open for
a good two feet. The whis1 Of hin
forked tail knocked me fat again and
kicked up so much sand that couldu't
see an inch. l gave the line vicious
tug as soon as I could find it. and
away I went for daylight I passed
another ono on the way up. but he
was baby compared with the fellow
down below, which was every inch OF
twelve feet long, as I'm living man.
They got me into the boat and pulled
my helmet of, and as soon as got
drink felt better. I was all OF
tremble for good hour afterward,
and pint of perspiration ran out OF
my boots and jacket when I pulled
them of. didn't want any more OF
it. I made a report to the owners
that convinced them there was
no use trying to wreck the old hulk,
collected my money and worked my
way up here with Captain Grifaths."
APHORISMA