The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-05-05
THE SEA SERPENT CAUGHT.
ProYlncetOXn Fishermen Make Them
selves Famous for all Time.
MONSTER FOUGHT DESPERATELY.
oooasrs Must Now Admit the Existence
or the Sea Serpent. ~ the Monster
Captured ON tho Cape shows Almost
Thirty Feet OF Evidence.

kPROvIHCETOWN, Mass, May o.-The sea
Dcrpent is dead; that is, a monster, which
n many respects resembles the famous
annual visitor at seaside resorts, was
killed by the weirmen having charge Of
the Beach point weir. They went to their
traps yesterday as usual to remove the
nights catch of fish and were considerably
surprised to see In one Of them q great
pommotion-
The water was lashed into foam and
largo streaks of q yellowish color were
arifting to leeward. They thought they
had caught school of albicore, though it
b early In the season for that fish, and the
crow retur ed 10 the shore for gaffs and
pthsr gear needed usually in taking abb
oora
When the men returned to the trap they
Jaw inclosed In tho pound a mass of dark
boiored ridges covering almost the entire
surface.
Getting nearer their surprise was con-
siderable to find that the weir was not
ellsd with albicorc, but one
Huge Sea Monster.
1t that moment lying quietly at the top.
Neither and of the creature was visible,
but after waiting few moments an ugly.
vic;ous-looking head appeared.
The fishermen resolved on the capture
Of the monster alive il possible. A rum
ming bowline was made and deftly cast,
the moose falling over the head and around
the creatures n eek.
Then began q fierce struggle for the
mastery, the men trying to haul tho mon
ster out Of the trap, and the creature try
Ing to pull the boat and crew into 10. The
struggle was desperate one, and their
poles were soon broken down and tho net
work torn into strings.
Tho creature struck heavy blows with
Its tail, any one of which would have stove
che boat to pisses had IL been struck. IL
was hard to tell which was getting the bet
tsr of the fight, until finally the weirmen
saw that II the combat lasted much longer
their weir would be totally destroyed.
They shot a bomb lance from whale gun
Into the creatures neck, just back of the
head; the lance exploded and broke the
back kbone and
Instantly Killed the Fish.
Il was then towed to the beach and when
the tide ebbed scores of people went to
zee It.
The creature is shaped like huge eel, is
b feet 8 inches In length and 4 feet "a
Inches around the body at the largest point,
which IL just back of the head. The head
ls convex on the top. The mouth is large,
and furnished with five rows Of saw-like
teeth, two rows in the upper jaw which at
mugiy between the thrSe rows In the
lower.
Along the back q serrated fin extends
She entire length from head to tail. The
latter Is shaped like sharks, with the
upper lobe considerably longer than the
lower. There are two pectoral ::and two
anal fms, each trifle over three feet long.
Its color on the back il a dark, muddy
green, gradually changing to a lighter
oolor down the sides, while the belly IL
almost white.
II Has No Equal.
The fish IN entirely devoid Of scales and
possesses . very tough skin nearly .
quarter of an inch thick.
Nsthing like 1t has ever been seen by the
oshsrmen here, and experts in icthyology
gre unable to place It, A small vessel has
been chartered. on board of which it will
- packed in ice and shipped to one Of the
large hsh firms on T wharf In Boston.
Measures will be taken to preserve the
head and jaws entire, but the rest of the
body will be skinned, as 1t would be i'm
possible to preserve such quantity Of
oesh
It's final destination will be either the
emithsonian institute or the fish exhibit
bt the Chicago fair.