Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1891-11-19


volume of smoke to curl lazily upward be-
fore he said:
! "Boshl Sharks don't bite"
Then he replaced the cigar in his mouth
and pulled contemplatively. His listeners
looked at him for moment in amazement
| Then one of them said:
! ''That was u strange remark, Hermann. y
81 mean it,, said Mr.. Oelrichs,
"Do-you- mean-tosay in sober earnest
that-sharks- won't bite-a human being2
asked Judge Clancy, with the deliberation
befttng his official position.
CHATS just what mean" replied Mr..
| Oelrichs 81 have given the matter "A great
deal of study, and | know that no shark
has ever bitten human being"
Nonsense" said everybody at once, and
several began to tell Of friends who had
| friends who had seen sharks bite off the
! limbs of unfortunates, some of whom had
afterward recovered and were living Ell
dences of the incorrectness of Mr.. Oclrichs
assertion. At the close of their remarks
Mr.. Oelrichs said quietly;
81 will bet $3.50 that there is not a single
| authentic instance of a man, woman OF
child having been bitten by a shark.
| will give that amount to any person who
will advance the evidence to prove "A single
case of shark bite"
As if to put Mr.. Oelrichs to a test of his
| theory, just at that moment a big shark
appeared in the inlet 1t was in plain sight
of the party on the veranda, and sent a
thrill through every one except Mr.. Gel
rchs. The latter got up lazily and said as
calmly as ever:
"There, gentlemen, is a chance to test
our opinions
Without another word he ran down to
the waters edge, stripped quickly in sight
of his Mortified friends and jumped in bold
ly. The shark was not far away AID
swimming toward Oelrichs AS he came
on, his body was visible from dorsal fin to
tail fin, or two-thirds of his entire length.
The smallest estimate placed upon HIS
length was ten feet The tide was running
flood, but the shark could not get over the
bar in the inlet.
Oelrichs, who is a strong swimmer,
didn't find much difficulty in getting out
to where the shark was visible. AS he
came close to the monster, his excited
friends on the veranda arose from their
seats and stood in painful anxiety, expect
ing every moment to see the mOnstrouS
Jaws close around an arm or leg, or per-
haps ingulf the whole body. A few of the
witnesses grew faint and covered their
eyes, while the more courageous shouted
for boats to go to Oelrichs' rescue.
Even as they stood there the big mass of
fish began to move quickly. In their eX.
citement some of the witnesses thought
they saw the shark turn over and dart for
Oelrichs in accepted style, with the cavern
GUS mouth open and the cross-saw teeth
visible. Was the foolhardy man going to
be the first victim of his ridiculous theory?
Presently unanimous sigh of relief
showed that their fears had been ground
less. Instead of moving toward the daring
swimmer the monster was going i'll the
opposite direction. He was swimming rap
idly, too, and actually appeared to have
been frightened away by the human APP
partition The black back could be seen
going toward the open sea and the won
dering men soon lost sight of him far out
in the tumbling waters. Oelrichs cOntin-
ued to dive and frOlic in the water until
Judge Clancy got sliilf and went out to
him and brought him back.
OF course, Oelrichs felt victorious, al
though he did not say much, but his
friends were still far from convinced. The
fact that one shark had not bitten a man
when he had the chance was no proof that
all sharks would act the same way, they
said Still OelriChs pooh pOOhed al doubts
of his theory, and said that he wOuld make
his offer of $3.50 for an authentic case of
shark bite good at any time. Since then
Mr. Oelrichs has doubled the offer, SO that
anybody who has been bitten by u shark,
or can prove that any one else has suffered
this Inconvenience, can earn $500 by apply
ingto Mr.. Oelrichs at his Office in Bowling
Green.
One of the stories that reached Mr.. Gel
richs' ears came very near to destroying
his faith. Two boys had been in bathing
in New York bay Off South Brooklyn, when
one of them was seized and almost disap-
peared He was rescued with difficulty,
and when brought to shore was almost in
sensible, while blood was pouring from a
large wound in his back. The boy was re-
moved to hospital, where a number Of
physicians examined the wound. Both
boys asserted that it was the result of a
sharks bite, and several of the physicians
declared emphatically that the marks Of
brute's teeth were plainly visible. The
other doctors were not so certain. As soon
as Mr. Oerichs heard of this case he began
an investigation The boys stuck to their
story, and both gave detailed descriptions
of the appearance of the shark. They even
produced witnesses, who declared that
they, too, had seen him.
Then Mr. Oelrchs saw the physicians,
who strengthened the boys story and cor
respondingly lessened Mr. Oelrich's be-.
lief in his own theory. But he was deter
mined to sift the story thoroughly, and 50
he examined the boys back himself. The
scars of the wound We're plainly visible,
and Mr. Oelrchs at once decided that they
never could have been made by a sharks
teeth. He had prepared a careful diagram
of sharks teeth and compared it with
the marks of the wound. The former were
regular, while the latter were not Then
he had the bay dragged where the boy had
been seized, and lot of jagged tin was
found on the bottom Comparisons
proved that the points Of the lin had en-
tered the boys back, and, being bent, had
held him for a few moments until his
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