Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1895-12-20

OF winchester, Mass VINO was slttiuF
ON the hotel veranda, ''that l had the
honor Of killing the most valuable fish
that ever swan the seas. / did it single
handed too. aver that this fish was
worth mere at the time Of its death than
the finest sperm whale that was ever
harpomed, although We should really
leave whales cut of the question when
speaking of fish. II was 80 years ago,
and was young and foolish enough to
be deep sea diver. Our diving schooner
and crew had been sent TO Cuba 10 try
10 recover some stuff from Spanish
boat that had foundered of the coast Of
Cuba, Just where / don't now recollect.
II was quite a long trip for Us, and as
he employment Of a diving outfit was
an expensive thing in those days the
boys knew that there must be something
pretty valuable in the hold of the wreck.
was quite close 10 our skipper, and he
told me that there We're several boxes OF
gold coin in the wreck. On our arrival
at the port near where the wreck lay in
80 feet of water the agent of the owners
thing more surprising. 1t was that the
gold had not been slowed in boxes in
the cabin. as was usual, but for some
reason had been bagged and placed in
the hold, being billed as copper washers
This was probably scheme TO avoid
any chance of the spirit of cupidity aris-
ing in the crew. for the treasure was
very great.
As the confidential man, | was Sc
lected to 90 down first and find the mon
ey bags, attach lines to them and have
them taken ont before the other divers
should proceed with the work of taking
ont the other freight that the water had
not harmed. Twas soon in the hold and
was surprised to find that the bags were
only little distance from the hole i'll
the side that had caused the schooner to
founder 1 had been told that there
would be 10 bags, but / could lay my
hands on but IL of them. Finally l
spied torn bag lying near the hole i'll
the hull, and on picking it up discover
ed that it contained few gold coins.
decided that the heavy triple sacking
had been torn open in some way or 9TH
or when the schooner sank. fastened
lines about the / bags that were intact.
and had them hoisted, afterward going
up for air, for our apparatus was not
very good.
lin few minutes l returned to the
hold to search for the scattered coins.
Very few of them were in sight. 1t oc-
Cured to me that they might have been
washed outside the boat, judging from
the position of the wreck and the fact
that the hold was far down toward the
ships bottom. Twas about to crawl out
of the hole when / remembered that it
might hazard the air pipe, so l was
pulled up and let down again over the
vessels side was disappointed not to
find any indication of the gold near the
hole in the schooner, but set to work
digging resolutely in the sand. / had
gone but foot down when / struck the
gold pieces all in lump. picked out
a great handful and turned the light ON
them, for l was lover of gold then,
even though it did not belong to me.
"Just then | saw something that
made the rubber helmet rise from my
head. 1t was man eating shark. l
hadn't thought of one in so long that
had neglected to bring my knife. 1t was
rushing at me. The stupid creature
never stopped to consider that with a
rubber and lead dressing diver makes
a poor lunch. was kneeling beside the
gold. AT the shark 5 onslaught natural
" hung TO the handful of gold as though
to use it as Il weapon. He turned on his
side, opening his horrible mouth. A
feeling of grim humor had come over
me. The cruel goldbugs had sent me
down here to be devoured, after saving
thousands of dollars for them. l would
be a spendthrift at the last. So with all
my force l flung the heavy handful of
coin into the yawning mouth
"The shark must have thought it was
a part of me, for he snapped his jaws
over the golden morsel. l am satisfied
that he broke some teeth. He swan
back little, and then rushed at me
again. had no weapon but the gold,
so again flung into the hideous NAV
enough to buy me home in New Eng
land. / saw him snap and swallow it.
Again and again was the attack repeat
ed, and as often did hurl gold into the
sharks throat Pretty soon he became
dizzy, as it were, for the gold had un-
balanced him, settling i'll the forward
part of his body. Then he writhed i'll
agony, and had to keep lodging his
furry Then, with one terrible shudder,
he sank to the bottom, weighted down
by the gold | tied line about him and
then gave the signal to be pulled up.
Then l helped hoist the shark We cut
him open. Gentlemen, you must take
the word Of an ex-diver that there WAS
$40. 900 in him. Gold had killed him. :"
Silence smeared itself all over the
veranda The pale moon slid behind a
cloud The amphitheater organ slowly
wove a weird chunk of melody. The
chimes began to ring. "Those were
great days, said Mr.. Gaulin sadly
Buffalo Express.
The Lowell Family.