Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1895-12-07

Inc ctoTy ot hu AuNehtuTS III
the Great Days'-SiIence Smeared Itself
All Over the yeranda at the Completion
of the Yarn.
Il suppose" quoth james r. Gaulin
of Winchester, Mass, who was sitting
on the hotel veranda, "that | had the
honor of killing the most valuable fish
that ever swan the seas. l did it single
handed too. l aver that this fish YVES
worth more at the time of its death than
the finest sperm whale that was ever
harpooned, although we should really
leave whales ont of the question when
speaking of fish. 1t was 30 years ago,
and l was young and foolish enough to
be Il deep sea diver. Oar diving schooner
and crew had been sent to Cuba to try
to recover some stuff from Spanish
boat that bad foundercd off the coast of
Cuba just where | don now recollect.
1t was quito IL long trip for us, and as
tie employment of a diving outfit was
an expensive thing i'll those days the
boys knew that thClo must be something
pretty valuable in the hold of the wreck.
| was quite clc"c to our skipper, and he
told mc that there were several boxes of
gold coin i'll the wreck. On our arrival
at the port near whore the wreck lay in
so feet of water the agent Of the owners
of the sunkcn schooner told us some
Thing more surprising. 1t WAS that the
gold had not been slowed in boxes in
the cabin. as was usual, but for somo
reason had been bagged and placed il
the hold, being billed as copper washers
This was probably a scheme to avoid
any chance Of the spirit of cupidty aris-
ing in the crew, for tho treasure was
very great.
"As the confidential man, l was Sc
lectcd to 60 down first and find the mon
ey bags, attach Ines to them and have
them taken cut before the other divers
should proceed with the work of taking
out Che Other frej ght that the water had
rot harmed. Twas soon III the hold and
was surprised to find that tie bags were
only u little distance from the hole i'll
! the side that had caused the schooner to
founder. I had been told that there
would he II bags, bat l could lay my
hands Oil bat II OF them. Finally
apied ID torn Bag lying near the hole i'll
the hull, and cn picking it up discover
ed that it contained few gold coins. l
decided that tie heavy triple saclling
had been torn oven il some way or 9th
CT when the schooner sank. | fastened
| lines about the / bags that were intact.
and had them hoisted, aftorWard going
up for air, for our apparatus was not
very good.
''In few minutes I returned to the
hold to search for the scattered coins.
Very few of them were in sight 1t &C.
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 bottcn. | was about to crawl out
of the hole when remembered that it
might hazard the air pipe, so | was
pulled up and lCt down again over the
vessels side. l was disappointed not to
find any indication of the gold near the
hole III the schooner, but set to work
digging resoluely iii the sand. | had
gone but foot down when | struck the
gold p cccs Ill i'll lump. picked cut
great handful and turned the light on
them, for | was u lover of gold then,
even though it dad not belong to me.
Just then L saw something that
made the l"93er helmet rise from my
head 1t was man eating shark l
hadn't Thought OF ono III so long that L
haze neglected. to br-nS my KNIFE. 1t was
rushing at me. The stupid creature
never stopped to consider that with
rubber ana lead dressing a diver makes
ii poor luHch. was kneellnS BESIDE the
gold AT tho Shark . onslaught natural
ly hung to the handful OF gold as though
to use 1t as weapon. lie turned on ms
side, opening his horrible mouth. a
feeling OF GRIM hulhor had como over
me. The cruel goldbnga had sent me
down here to be do"oaY9d, after saving
thousands of dollars tor them. L would
DO spondtirf5 at TIE last. so with al
my force / tang the heavy hahdful OF
coin into the yaWN,ng mouth.
The ihaEk must nave thought III was
part of me, 1ol 10 snapped his Jaws
that he brri-o some teeth. He swan
back IL little, and then rushed at me
again. had 10 weapon but the gold,
so again flung into the hideous nav