St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-11-16
COVINGTON, ST. TAMMANY PARISH, l
THE DIVER AND THE SHARK

w XANO OANe ~ L .
THE DIVER AND THE SHARK
q Dinner Of Gold Coin Settled the savage
Fish.
81 suppose" quoth James T. Gaulin.
Of Winchester. Mass, who was sitting
IN the hotel veranda, that had the
honor of killing the most valuable fish
that ever swan the seas. did it
single handed, too. l aver that the
fish was worth more at the time of its
death than the finest sperm whale
that was ever harpooned. although we
should really leave whales out the
question when speaking OF fish. 1t
was thirty years ago. and was young
and foolish enough to be q deep sea
diver. Our diving schooner and crew
had been sent to Cuba to try to recover
some stun from a Spanish boat that
had foundered OF the coast OF Cuba,
just where l don't now recollect. 1t
was quite q long trip for US. and as
the employment of a diving outfit was
an expensive thing in those days, the
boys knew that there must be some
thing pretty valuable in the
hold of the wreck. was quite
close to our skipper. and he
told me that there were sew
eral boxes of gold coin in the wreck.
On our arrival at the port near where
the wreck lay in thirty feet Of water,
the agent of the owners Of the sunken
schooner told us something moro sur.
prising. 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 rs copper washers. This
was probab bly, . scheme to avoid any
chance Of the spirit of cupidity arising
in the crew, for the treasure was very
great
"As the confidential man. was Sc
lected to 60 down first. and find the
money bags. attach lines to them. and
have them taken out before the other
divers should proceed with the work
OF taking out the other freight that
the water had not harmed. I was
soon in the hold. and was surprised to
find that the bags were only little
distance from the hole in the side that
had caused the schooner to founder.
1 had been told that there would be
twelve bags, but could lay my hands
on but eleven of them. Finally
spied a torn bag lying near .the hole
in the hull. and on picking it up dis
covered that it contained . few
gold coins decided that the heavy
triple sackipg had been torn open
some way or other when the schooner
sank, l fastened lines about the
eleven bags that were intact. and had
them hoisted, afterward going up for
air, for our apparatus was not very
good.
I'm few minutes I returned to the
hold to search for the scattered coins.
Very few of them were in sight 1t
occurred to me that they might have
been washed outside the boat, Judging
from the position of the wreck. and
the fact that the hole was far down
towsrd the ships DO. to.4l I was about
to crawl ont the hole. when remem-
bcred that it might hazard the mir
pipe, 50 was pulled up and let down
again over the vessels side. / was dis.
appointed 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 . great handful
and turned the light on them, for
was . lover of gold then, even though
it did not belong to me.
Just then l saw something that
made the rubber helmet raise from my
head. 1t was a man-eating shark.
hadn't thought OF one in SO long that
had neglected to bring my knife. 1,
was rushing at me. The stupid crea
ture never stopped to consider tha,
with q rubber and lead dressing Z
diver makes . poor lunch. was kneel
ing beside the gold Az the shark.
onslaught naturally hung to the
handful Of gold rs though 70 use il a,
= weapon. He turned on his side. open
ing his horrible mouth. A feeling o.
grim humor had come over me. The
cruel gold bugs had sent me down hers
to be devoured, after saving thousand.
OF dollars for them. I would be Z
spendthrift at tho last So with ri
my force flung the heavy handfal o.
soin into the yawning mouth.
THE shark must have thought !,
vas . part of me. for he snapped hi
Jaws over the golden morsel. rs though
l could not hear. am satisfied tha
he broke some teeth. He swan
back . little and then rushed q
Inc again. had no weapon bu
the gold. SO again I flung into thu
hideous nav enough to buy me = home
in New England. saw him snap ant
swallow it. Again and again was 1t
tack repeated, and as often did l hur
gold into the sharks throat. Pretty
soon he became dizzy, ~ it were. fol
the gold had unbalanced him. settling
in the forward part Of his body. Thel
he writhed in agony, and had to keel
dodging his furry. Then. with ont
tom. weighted down by the gold.
tied . line about him aud then Ravs
the signal to be pulled up. Then
helped hoist the shark. We cut hin
open. Gentlemen. you must take th'
word of an ex-diver that there wa
forty five thousand dollars In him
Gold had killed him."
Silence smeared itself all over tn,
veranda. The pale moon slid behint
\ cloud. The amphitheater orgaI
slowly wove . weird chunk OF melody
The chimes began tn ring. "Thos<
were great days." said Mr.. Gaulin. sad
ly.--Buffalo Express.
THE WALKER-0RAHAM DUEL
An A1air Ut Boser In which EditoF Ffaal
Pixley Was . sseead.
The late Frank Pixley was goot
deal of . hre-eater when young. i
was not long after he arrived herr
- . Ar~A1