The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1891-02-21
BLOWING UP A SHARP
How Two Men Got Out of a
Serious Trouble.

the Globe Democrat tells this thrill
story: Haynes Darling and Will 1hd. 70
while coming in from Lake Worth aFi mo-
days since, had an experience that mo
fies them IS to the sharks frhI r u,
weight. They had been down to Hi
Worth with a load of lumber in II
sloop, the Water Witch ~ Lad
reached the outer bar to .ntr
the Indian River when obs, ,..t
commotiOn in the sea } mi -
ward. 1t approached ri ". an Z,
they could see that it a. . DE-. K
more sharks fighting am L.. them { l., !,
The combatants approa h near 80
nearer till finally they C ~ d rae
and fighting almost under e sehc u
bowsprit.
Seeing this, and being aid Of >
damage to the boat, Tic &c seiz -
rifle aud fired into the will mass. o..
ing that it produced lii effect. ~
ling joined him, and tle' both ID.
shooting into the sharks. Hardl r.
half dozen shots been frc befort f,n
noticed change. Tie ightine l,d
tigers all fell apart and see led to ha' ev
tent on finding their nv antagoni a.
All at once several of the lrks plum n
directly at the boat and HIT it a resou.s
ing blow with force sufficient to In y
both men fiat on the deck A sec,
rush was made, and then the en- I
school of fish began pounding on d
sch0oners bottom and sides. Back "a
off dozen rods or more, they wo 70
come on with lightning swiftness, .,o
ting the schooner square, making q
CULVER from stem to stern, while Z.
force of the blow would often stun "a,
shark. Soon there were several float
on the waves, stunned by their own u q
rushas, but there were plenty lefty
keep up the fight. Il
At the next run one shark aimed [
high, and he skinned over the rail a
fell on the deck with a sounding whaa
narrowly missing the two badly frigA
ened mariners. The big fish bed
laundering around, and in few Sd
onds he had that portion of the deck :,
h imself. Darling and Thorpe were h.
ly ratified by this time, and hardly KIM
what to do. They fired at the shark al
the deck, but as they were afraid "
making hole in their boat they MISS,
him. He pounded the deck with IL
big fail tail, and tho sailors were afrII
tie shark would sink them
Selling each an axe, they crept Il
close to the laundering monster aJ
dealt him terrible blows. Up went tht
enormous tail. and striking Thorp, y
was hurled dozen feet into the air, fat
ing into the water at the side of the We,
sci. Luckily. the sheets were trailing il.
the water, as the sail had gibed whilt
they were fighting the shark, and he
seized hold and held himself from going
down, but, to his horror, he could not
draw himself up into the boat. Scores
of ugly fins and noses, attracted by the
splash, drew round on tina. side of the
boat, and he began to kick vigorously
and to cry for help. Darling had his
hands full, and it was several minutes
before he could come to his comrades
assistance. Stunning the still struggling
shark with one blow nicely dealt on its
head, he ran over to his friends aid-and
not moment too soon. As he drew up
Thorpe several sharks snapped at him,
and an exclamation of pain from the half
drowned man showed that he was bitten,
while the blood that flowed from his
wounded foot dyed the water around for
yard or more.
Suddenly, with an inspiration, OAR
ling dived down into the cabin. Emer-
cling thercfrom, he held small can of
powder in one hand and coil of fuse in
the other. Swiftly fastening a big piece
of pork around the can, he fastened on
the fuse, wrapping around it a small
piece of rubber coat. Making short
fuse. he fired it, not noting his own dan.
ger. and then flung it into the mass Of
sharks.
Before it had hardly touched the water
big fellow snatched it and swallowed
it with gulp. In a second came a puff
and then pieces of shark were flying Ill
through the air. 1t was perfect shower,
in fact. The others were dszed, it ap-
peared, for second, and then all fed
as if Old Nick was after them. In fact,
they fairly fell over one another in their
fight. Darling then attended to his
comrade whose foot had beer badly biz
ten, but they were so thankful that they
had escaped from instant death that this
seemed only triAe.