Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1891-11-27
TIGERS OF THE SEA.
The Sharks Ferocity illustrated by
Yrue Storvs

/ kTHe StaIyt
There arc about sixty species Of sharks
snown to scientific observers. aad this
nuch-dreaded creature Is found i'm every
sen ploughed by the keel of shin.
Some of them, such as the dog feb, arc
aot more than two feet hrg, while others
are from thirty 10 Fifty feet. But thew
are nearly all ferocious, and the stories
ihat one reads in Marryat's novels about
the many men who have been deycured
by these rayenous creatures are strictly
true. The shark known as the man
sater-a huge beast from Twenty-Five 10
forty feet long-will lie tor DAYS near a
ship, picking up tho garbage that falls
overheard With one snap Of his Jaw.
be can cut the body of man In two.
All the fishermen along our coasts
| Tread sharks, and tell stories ahont thc,k
terocity, but they are not deferred from
hunting them, as tho fish is very val.
liable for the oil obtained from it, There
ire many ways of catching sharks.
Some fishermen trap them in strong nets
held by heavy grapnes and anchors,
many expert hunters fire small bombs
into them, which often kill the fish in
stantly; others pursue them with harl
poems in the same way as the whale is
caught. But the larger number Of sharks
are captured with hooks. They take al
most any kind Of bait, but what thew
prefer most is fat pork, which the fisher.
men put on large hook, TO which is at
tacbed stout bank.line.
A Canadian fisherman who walked
with halt once said to me, " You won.
der, perhaps, why | walk like this.
Well, it comes of shark CATCHING. Dho
day last summer when We could get no
Goldfish either with nets or hooks. we
thought we had better try for dog-fsh,
or, rather, small sharks, for a lot Of Them
had been hanging around US for Il couple
of days. All other fish were scarce. and
that is the reason why the ahotks kent
so close to NJ. When anything was
thrown overheard, shark would thrust
his head out of the water and seize il.
There is lot of oil to be got from sharks
and dog-fsh, and about August the liver
of the dog fish is nearly ell fat. 70 We
put out our lines, stout bank lines they
were, batting them with fat perk, and
patiently awaited thu result. We did
not expect 10 catch any big sharks, but
only the dog-fsh, which we knew were
around in shoals The rest of tho crew
began to haul in dog as fast as ihes
could, because the brutes Ngre hungry,
and snapped at everything they could
eat. also caught two or three dog fish,
and unlocked them. The dog-fsh is
only a couple Of feet long, and It isn't
hard to pull him in, but his fms will cut
you; and his skin, hhder the namt
OF shagreen is used by cabinet makers
and other woodworkers instead DC sand,
paper, it is 50 rough ard hard. Again /
t.iew out MY HOAX Ind line, and this
TIME ri tremendous tugat it. pulled
pretty hard, but couldn't draw the fish,
and one of my mates standing near me
said, you have gut hold Of one Of the
big fellows DO easy with him now, he
will be worth hundred Of these | had
caught big sharks before, and knew how
TO manage, though this was an extremely
savage one. lie dove nearly plumb
down into the sea, and let out line as
fast as was necessary: then he turned
and shot up fol the surface, aud dartcd
~ NHp u.ifCttUn Guu HnulntI TOT nearly
Fifteen minutes, until | tired him ont.
Then | dragged him alongside, not PULL.
Ing, too hard, lei should tear out the
hook, and when | got him to the water
line there was not much life left in him.
We bowsed him aboard and let him
flop on the deck He was thirteen feet
lone, and had mouth large enough to
bite off and swallow half Of mnn.
was foolish enough ID 20 UP by his head
and Begin to take off the rope; but had
no sooner done so than he turned on his
side and seized my log in his jaws One
of my mates grabbed On axe, and running
over, struck the shark five or ak timea
upon the head with all his might. That
stunned him, and his jaws opened But
he had broken the bone az my leg at tho
Knee, and bitten out nearly pound Of
flesh, besides cutting one of the tendons.
That is the reason why | am lame The
best way to make sure about shark is
either to break its skull when YOU get
him aboard, OF fire two or Three bullets
through lis brain HarPers Young
peb,,le.