Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1894-11-19
A PROFESSIONAL SHAEKER.
a CURIOUS INDUSTRY ON THE
SOUTHERN COAST.
Zig Schools of savage Eish-Catch-
ing Them in Scincs- cs-iIan-Eatcrs
Towing Boat.

Post, We could see the fins of numerous
sharks moving here and there in the
shallow water.
This is great place for sharks,
continued the old man, who was II
character. "You don't have 70 hunt
them up; they Just come in ready to
be caught. You see this is the
finest land-Iocked harbor of the coast
has sandy bottom, and the sharks
appear to fancy it, for they come in
here in big schools, and we take EN-
in nets, and on lines, and sometimes
we get right in and spear EN-. Some
time ago a big school set in here,
AMI the water was fairly alive with
'em, SO that you couldn't step in the
shoai water without stepping on one
There were too many for net; we
couldn't have hauled it. [ happened
to have a pair Of old sabres, so [
rugged one on the end OF pole us Il
spear and gave the other to mate.
and We lit into EN-. ! reckon they
never experienced Il charge of cavalry
before, but we soon had the beach
covered. We walked out knec-deep
into the water aud let 'em have it
right and left; but, of course, good
many were only wounded, and bein'
big fellows, they ran into us. A mum
ber of times ] was knocked over and
fell headlong into the school.
mo, they didn'ttry to bite They're
what we call oil sharks, and only reach
matter OF six or eight feet. We catch
'em for the oil, and the fins and tails
for the Chinese. The junks stop in
here every once in while and take
what we get
''We catch several kinds OF sharks
here, " he said, i'll reply to my ques-
ton. There's the leopard shark,
the blue shark, the basker, the ham
merhead, and once in n while I've seen
a regular man eater of shore. Theyle
ugly brutes You see 'em swimmin'
along slow and looking big enough to
swallow horse, and like enough they
could If they got the chance.
''Ihe largest shark [ ever caught
here was a tcn-foot shovel nose, and
I've taken hammer heads nearly as
long. They're the chaps that give
you n chase, and ugly faced creatures
they are, too. [ got one up to the
boat once, and it took the cutwater
between its teeth and gave the boat
regular shake"
When the tide was well up the old
man and his mate hauled out dilapi-
dated seine, showed it into heavy
boat, and soon had it across the head
Of the bay, then gradually worked it in.
The sharks II ust have had n premoni-
tion OF what was going to happen, as
they disappeared from view, but soon
boiling Of the water in the vicinity
of the net told that they realized they
were IN the tolls. In came the seine,
the commotion increasing until finally
the men leaped into the water and be
gan tugginS the big pursc-like trap
on the sands. The wafer which had
been boiling now broke into foam
tails lashed the water, ugly scythe-
like fins cut it this way and that and
occasionally Il big fish would leap,
like a salmon, clear of the water aud
escape. Soon number of splashlng,
beating tails and bodies were on the
edge OF the sands in shallow water,
and the men moved tenrlessly among
them, lodging open mouths and snap
ping jaws, and tossing the fish upon
the beach. IT was Il varied collection;
big sharks and llttle; some SIX feet
long, others two TO three feet, all piled
togethcr-a mess of open mouths and
flying tails. Here were several yellow
tails, caught in bad company, u sea
bass and Il host of small Try that had
heen swimming in the shore or feed,
ing ut tue rise of the tide, and all
were rolled over into the sands, where
they lay beating out their lives in the
hot sun.
"We try out the lirers of the sharks
Cor oil, " said one oil the men later.
"cut off the fins, and sometimes there's
demand for skins They use the
skin of young sharks in maxim boxes
sword handles and the like. 1t makes
good leather, too.
Shark hunting to the old fisherman
was labor and directly in the line OF
hard work, but to the layman it is
considered good sport. Among sharks
taken by the writer in various waters
the white shark, SO called, Of tine Gulf
OF Mexico, gave the most sport, and
once caught one which | kept in an
enclosure for SIX months. The sharks
IN these waters were all lnrge, rarely
beng seen less than twelve or fourteen
feet IN length, were extremely bulky
for their length, and made Il most
vigorous fight, often requiring the
united strength OF ten or twelve men
to run them up on the beach.
The method Of fishing there was to
anchor on the edge OF II coral reef and
throw the heavy line into the channel:
then when shark was hooked, tocast
off the anchor and allow the fish to
tow the boat. We often when fshino
from small boat landed thirteen-foot
man-eGters single-handed by ellowino
them to tow the boat about, then
taking them in foot by foot, and 80
towing them ashore.
The sharks are not so worthless rs
h.,