Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-02-22


 little Annie, who was thus cast upon the cold charities of the world. But the interest in the matter soon died out; 1t was only the sensation of a few days, md it gave place to later and more eH- ,iting events. Thus the fate of Annie Dupont became shrouded in mystery. The chances are. however, that the poor child died long ago-perhaps in infancy"
 And was this mere newspaper story the only intimation Mrs. Dunbirl1 ever received that she had such relative as Annie Dunont?"
 THE FOI8LES OF SHARKS.
 They Ire Curious About Divers, but Harm
 less aud Like to be scratched.
 Sharks are very common all along the coast of Australia They become moro numerous, larger and more voracious the nearer we go to the equator. Pas sengers who make ocean voyages may often see them from the deck of their ship, but see them in their native ele- ment day seldom passes when I am at work that do not see one of these creatures. They do not seem to recou. nlZe diver when clad in his diving dress as something which is good to eat. Probably he is mistaken for some other great sea monster, with whom the shark would just as soon as not measure his strength.
 At all events sharks rarely give us any active annoyance. At first when we go into new country, they exhibit some curiosity. They sometimes como and inspect us and our work, moving slowly around us with perceptible mo, tion, and smelling us like great dogs It glves one q very horrible feeling of insecurity, I assure you, when one of tEeSe monsters of twelve or fourteen feet runs his nose around your body, and without even solitary 'wag" of his tail to indicate good-fellowship. The shark will swim away right enough when he has finished his inspection-at least, he always has done so with me and, although annoying, can stand it now.
 Sometimes, when you go down of a morning, you will find half-a-dozen big and little sharks, who have evi- dently selected the site of your opera. tlons as camplng-ground. This is awkward. Perhaps they have observed the disturbance at tho bottom of the sea, and iko marine constables they ''arc waiting for the fellow who made it, to run him in.'' This is an awll- ward experience, for these sharks dc not clear off and admit your claim. They say all animals have fear of man; but sharks cannot recognize a man in divers costume. They neither oppose nor assist us in our operations; they simply ignore us. We have to be very careful, then, walking around about these pigs without disturbing them.
 have occasionally used smal crow-bar as a weapon and struck a small shark on the nose when he was annoying me with his persistency. The shark will then turn and go off with a rush. 1 would not, however, lizo tc try my crow-bar on shark ten feet long. After his rush away he might re turn for further investigation. l have had many nasty adventures with sharks when pursuing my occupa. tion; recollcct one thing that gave me considerable shock. I had been en gagged blowing up q reef of rocks so as to enlarge little harbor on the coast. It was my duty to make the hole and N charge was exploded in tho evening after we had left off work. On going down every morning I was accustomed to go over to q certain ledge which wa: always q good resting place for lob stcrs. Morning after morning l had in vnriably found q pair or more of these crustaccanS, which 1 sent to the sur face in d basket.
 On the morning to wkich I now refer l walked straight to the ledge and rar my hand carefully along it's lower side l was surprised to find my hand scrap l ing what l took to be the rock; but
 was surprised still more when l ob served my hand groping within foo of the mouth of great shark whicl | had retired to rest in this cavity. The shark must have been as mucl l alarmed as I was, for it made on, l sprinting from its rcsting-plncc ant disappeared in the dark wall of ocean | The shock to mo was greater than l could have believed and even yet dc | not care to think about it much. It i hardly necessary to say that did no 1 return to that ledge for Holsters fol | some time.
 | On another occasion, a fellow cam, alongside me where was working.
 stopped, of course, and stepped bacl | quietly to let him pass. But he dic l not He came nearer. l then though
 he was curious, but soon found tha another feeling than curiosity was mov ing him. As I retreated he still ad vanced, until I found myself jammet up against the rock I could retreat nc further, and yet the brute came on de terminedly. But instead of approaching me with his long nosc-for you don see his jaws-he turned his side and be gan to rub up against me.
 l had a small jumper in my hand which held with the point outwar, against his skin, as I did not wish t, have has rough skin scoring along m, dress It was something like what ; COW would be rubbing against you. I'm
 iron on his skin was, however, the yer, thing he wanted, as he soon gave me t, understand. I was kept there at leas half an hour scratching that monste l with the sharp iron.
 He took it like pig, bending hi
 body and turning over on his side SO a | k.@, h A, 1,