The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-09-12
FIVE MEN AND AN OCTOPUS.
a Desperate Fight With a Sea Mon
ster Near the Golden Gate.
ZION Dc san Franelseo Eraminer-

rom the San Francisco Examiner.
Inc largest octopus ever caught in the
vicinity of the Golden Gate was brought
IN by Nicholas Panay and his crew Of
four men in the fishing boat Alexandria
They had been fishing near the Duxbury
reef since last Monday morning. and they
were meeting with fair success.
On Thursday they hooked this monster
and battle was the result. Gustav
Antanl was pulling in the long line with
Its many hooks. while his companiOns
We're taking OF the fish and rebating the
/ hooks. Suddenly there came a sJrong,
sullen pull at the line, and the fishermen
thought it had become entangled in the
rocks of the reef.
The hooks used by the fishermen are
yielding and easily bent, so that they can
( De dlsIodged, should they become caught
and Gustav gave pull on the line TO
loosen II. 1t gave way, but there was a
dead weight on it, and the astonished fish
ermep began taking in the line slowly,
wondering what made it drag so heavily
ne soon discovered a long arm shoot up
from the surface of the ocean a few feet
away from the boat, and others soon fol
/ lowed II. The water seemed full of the
/ terri Die snake-like limbs. and the fisher
men knew they had an octopus to deal
4 with. The tentacles of the sea monster
reached higher than the mast of their lit
tie vessel as ii t1oundered about In the
water, endeavoring seemingly to reach
out for its captOrs. The sea was dashed
Into foam, and the little boat rocked and
| careened IN the swirl and threatened
every moment 10 lose its terrified Occu-
pants into the arms of the monster Gus
tav forgot all about his line. He let it 20
| and reached for a Ratchet with which to
defend himself The line paid out few
| yards and the octopus sank, but the
myriad OF hooks caught on the gunwale of
the craft as they few over and the fish
was held.
The capture of such a fish is lucrative,
and the fishermen determined to add it
! to their boat load. Cinnamon are very
fond of the tentacles, and they eagerly
| purchase all that are caught. Gustav
! hauled again on the line and for few
moments he wished that ne had cut it in
| stead. As the octopus was drawn nearer
| it suddenly opened out its long arms
and reached for the fishermen. One of
| its tentacles fell across the deck of the
boat and its suckers gained good hold
| Others went around the keel and almost
| instantly 1t had the boat in its EN- brace.
! A few well directed blows of hatchet
| freed the boat from immediate danger and
/ several feet of one of the long feelers lay
on the deck.
| L
| sharp boat hook to give the death blow,
| should the chance occur. Fishermen who
have battled with this fish say the most
| vital spot in its ill-shapen body is lust be.
| hind and between the eyes. The smallest
weapon thrust into that spot will end the
! life of the most formidable of the sea hor-
rors. Their long sucker-like arms can be
| chopped off inch by inch without produc-
| ing any apparent effect, and the adVan-
| tage gained by the fishermen is small
! So far in the battle the octopus had
| kept under the boat and the fishermen
| had been unable to get in the death blow
! After feeler had been chopped off, the
octopus somewhat released his hold and
the strong pull on the line by Gustav
| hauled the body of the fish up on that
side of the boat. Still the vital spot could
| not be reached; slowly all the remaining
tentacles of the creature began to encircle
| the boat and the position OF the fishermen
! became serious.
An extra boat hook was passed over
the side and it caught into the flesh OF
the octopus, A long, hard, steady pull
| brought the vital SCOT nearer the surface
and, with a swift blow, the weapon
| welded by Panay was plunged deep be
! tween the eyes of the terror Of the seas
Slowly the dreadful tentacles unfoldec
| and the dreaded fish relaxed his hold on
the boat. 1t took all hands to haul him
on board, and they exultingly exhibited
| their capture at the tshermen's market
! tully thirty feet high, and its long arms
! swept the floor. II had not been hanging
| long before a crew of Cinnamon were
| around it, and they soon struck a bargain
| with the plucky fishermen and carried il
! eff