The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1895-05-10
CAUGHT BY A CLAN.
BY CHARLES STUART PRATT.

Zone does not usually regard tn
clam as dangerous animal" re
marked my friend, Jack Ballantine, a
he shook a silver pepper-box over ;
plate of the delectable Little Necl
bivalves ''yet the narrowest escape O.
my life was from clam"
Jack Ballantine was an old school
mate. remembered him as the ad
veuturous spirit among the boys, but
had not seen him since we graduated
from the Latin high school, dozen
years before. till that very day.
Coming down town to business in the
morning, had met him face to face by
the frog pond, and we had engaged to
dine together and bring our life-stories
up to date.
mot being a dyspeptic, or otherwise
impaired in your body" said 1. smiling
across to his sturdy bronzed face, your
terrible clam could hardly have been of
the Little Neck sort"
Hardly" replied Ballantine, with a
laugh. 1.-The clam that captured me
would have made meal for regular
fairy-tale giant. 1t weighed probably
twenty pounds, and its tremendous
shells four or five hundred pounds
more"
You must mean the giant clam of
East Indian waters?" observed /, in
quiringly. II believe the single shells
of that great bivalve are sometimes
used for holy-water fonts in Catholic
churches"
Eyes. and in the islands of Oceana for
babies bathtubS" said Ballantine.
The particular tridacna gigas in ques-
ton. however, with which l had brief
but fearful acquaintance, was alive,
and a dozen fathoms deep in tropic
waters-in the Torres strait, between
Queensland and New Guinea"
So, while we waited the next course,
Ballaatine began the story of his ex-
trra6rdlnary adventure.
81 believe you went to your uncle in
London, after our Latin school ac-
quaintance," remarked l. You wrote
me on arriving there, but not after
ward.'
'fYes. Uncle Ballantine had mining
and pearling interests in Queensland,
and went out almost Immediately aft
er reaching London. / was located at
Cooktown, on the northeast coast"
THE region and the life were full of
interest to me, and soon became fam
liar with mining on land and pearling
at sea. We had quite feet of luggers
vessels of five to twenty tons, two
short masts, and manned with crews of
half a dozen natives, Kanakas, Japs,
Chinese, or Malays, maybe.
lone of our captains was an old Nan
tucket whaler, and / now and then
went out to the fishing grounds with
him.
ION one of these pearling trips we
went up the coast, around Cape York,
into Torres strait. 1t was there ! had
my narrow escape from clam.
almost at the start we struck rich
bottom, and our diver was bringing up
three or four hundred pairs of shells a
day-worth about that number of dol
lars. BY the end of the month we had
a cargo of eight or ten tons. OF course
the mother-of-pearl lining of the shells
is the bread and butter of the business.
The round pearls of the jeweler are the |
cake Tor perhaps | should say the pie, |
being in New England.)
81 always did have an irresistible |
desire to get at the inside of things, and |
see the wheels go round and / had |
long wanted, for once at least, to touch |
1eep-sea bottom, and behold the mar
vels of which had heard.
1.-The captin tried to dissuade me.
He had been diver himself, and knew
from personal encounter the dangers of |
The descent. But as usual, had my
,wn way, though it was nigh to being
Tor the last time.
"At last the face glass was set in
place, and / stepped over the side of
he lugger. slipped of the wet lower
-ound and sank. sank, down, down,
Town, into the depths of waters.
THAT sudden delirious descent was
measured by seconds, yet l lived an