The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1891-12-11
THE RAVENOUS SHARK.
HUNTING THE TERRIBLE MAN.
EATER OF THE SEA.
Why Fishermen Dread tho Shark-Catch.
ing Thorn for Their Oil-It L.
Very Dangerous and
Hazardous Sport.

There are about sixty species of
sharks known to scientific observers,
and this much-dreaded creature is
found in every sea plowed by the keel
OF a ship. Some of them such as the
dog fish. are not more than two feet
long, while others are from thirty to
fifty feet But they are nearly all
ferocious. and the stories that one
reads in Marryat's novels about the
many men who have been devoured
by these ravenous creatures are strictly
true. The shark known as the man
eater-a huge beast from twenty-five
to forty feet long-will lie for days
near ship, picking up the garbage
that falls overheard. With one snap
of his jaws he can cut the body of a
man in two.
All the fishermen along our coasts
dread sharks says Harper's Young
People, and tell stories about their
ferocity, but they are not deferred from
hunting them, as the fish is very valu-
able tor the oil obtained from it.
There are many ways of catching
| sharks. Some fishermen trap them in
strong nets held by heavy grapnels
and anchors; many expert hunters fire
small bombs into them. which often
kill the fish Instantly; others pursue
them with harpoons in the same way
as whale is caught But the larger
number of sharks are captured with
hooks. They take almost any kind of
bait but what they prefer most is fat
pork, which the fishermen put on
large hook to which is attached a
stout bank-line.
A Canadian fisherman who walked
with a halt once said to me: You
wonder, perhaps, why I walk like
this. Well, it comes of shark catch
ing. One day last summer when we
could get no Goldfish. either with net
or hooks. we thought we had better
try for dogfish or. rather small
sharks, for a lot of them had been
hanging around us for a couple of
days. All other fish were scarce, and .
that is the reason. why the sharks
kept SO close to us. When anything
was thrown overheard. shark would
thrust his head out of the water and
seize it. There is lot of oil to be
got from sharks and dogfsh, and
about August the liver of the dogfsb
is nearly all fat.
So we put out our lines, stout
bank-lines they WERE batting them
with pork, and patiently awaiting the
result. We did not expect to catch
any big sharks, but only dog-fsh,
| which we knew were around in shoals.
The rest OF the crew began to haul in
dog-ish as fast as they could. because
the brutes were hungry, and snapped
at everything they could eat I also
| caught two or three dog fish and un-
hooked them. The dog-fish is only q
couple of feet long, and it isn't hard
to pull him in. but his fins will cut
you; and his skin under the name OF
shagreen, is used by cabinet-makers
and other wood workers instead of
sand-paper, it is so rough and hard.
Again / threw out my hook and &.
line, and this time felt tremendous
tug at it. l pulled pretty hard but
couldn't draw the fish, and one of my
mates standing by me said. You have
got hold of one of the big fellows; be
easy with him now, he will be worth
q hundred Of these I had caught
big sharks before and knew how to
manage, though this was an extremely
savage one. He dove nearly plumb
down into the sea, and let out line
as fast as was necessary; then he
TN, ol o1,d chnf
and darted in one direction and an
other for fifteen minutes, until 1 tired
him out. Then dragged him along
side, not pulling too hard lest should
tear out the hook, and when I 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 long, and had
a mouth large enough to bite off and
swallow the half Of a man. l was fool
ish enough to go up by the head and
begin to take off the rope; but I had
no sooner done so than he turned on
his side and seized my leg in his jaws.
One of my mates grabbed an axe. and.
running over, struck the shark five or
six times on the head with all his
might. That stunned him, and his
jaws opened. But he had broken the
bone of my leg at the knee, and bit
ten out nearly a pound of flesh, be-
sides cutting one of the tendons. This
is the reason why I am lame. The
best way to make sure about a shark
is either to break its skull when you
get him aboard or fire two or three
bullets through its brain"
Domestic Health Hint.
Mr.. Oldchappe-Ho. no? And so
you are married and are keeping house