The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-06-09
GIGANTIC SOUNDS.
Stories of the Finding or Mammoth Mem
bers Of the Family.

EVIL AeS Va the lnOA0S Oh u HULL ~ 0AAsr
beers of the Family.
The ordinary squid is a graceful
creature from six inches to a foot in
| length. with a barrel-shaped body, ter
minating in pointed tail. The head
is connected to the body by shor,
| neck and bears ten feet or tentacles,
eight of which resemble those of the
octopus, while the other two are longer
and have suckers at the ends only.
The eyes are large, black and staring;
the mouth and bill are between the
feet, and below them is siphon
through which the squid elects water,
thus forcing itself along. The tenta-
cles are also used in locomotion, which
is almost always tail first
The sguid is very harmless crea-
ture. easily caught and killed. but
when we increase the body length to
twenty feet, the eight rentacles to as
many more, and give the entire animal
length of fifty or sixty feet, we have
giant that is simply terrific in ap-
pearance. The writer measured one
of these big squids some years ago. 1t
measured about forty-eight feet, and
its weight in round numbers must
have been a ton.
Reports had come from various
quarters of these gigantic creatures
up to twenty years ago, but they were
generally doubted, and considered as
fish stories" But finally French
rnan-of-war saw one and put out a
boat, and made fast to it with a .har-
poon. It was SO large and heavy that
the captain was afraid that it would
injure the men and boats and
forbade pursuit. Soon after this
a report came from New
foundland that was followed up by the
capture of monster cutie fish. A
fisherman in coming into the bay of
Notre Dame saw something floating in
the water. and thinking it wreckage
rowed over to it. When alongside what
proved to be squid it threw out sew
eral long arms and seizNd the boat, evil
IDENTIFY, as the men thought, intending
to go aboard. Thoroughly terrified at
its appearance they pulled off, but the
long arms continued to fly around
them and one seized the leg of one of
the men. They cut this arm off with
an AK and drove their harpoon into the
body and finally escaped. This report
was telegraphed to st. Johns and was
discredited. A few weeks later, how
ever, during a heavy gale of wind a
squid went ashore. 1t was first
seen in the breakers by some
men where, like ship on a lee
at shore, it ley clinging by its
long tentacles to rock and
swinging as if at anchor. The waves
finally broke it away, and it went roll
ing in upon the sands. most impress
sive spectacle with its enormous black
eyes as large as dinner plates, it's flying
arms and general extraordinary APP
pearace.
The men waded toward it as near as
discretion permitted, and, striking it
with a harpoon, fastened the line to a
tree, and as the tide went out it was left
high and dry and in an almost perfect
condition. 1t was soon after exam
ined by the writer. and was creature
that when alive was well calculated to
terrify anyone. Its enormous arms, the
lines of cup-like suckers with serrated
edges, the black, staring eyes. the
black beaks, were all features that
might have constituted the makeup OF
some creature of the Imagination
San Francisco Chronicle.