Smyrna times., 1895-10-30
CAUGHT WITH GOLD.
BUT THE MAN EATING SHARK TOOK
$4,000 OF THE BAIT.

81 suppose, quoth James T. Gaulin
Of Winchester, Mass, who was sitting
on the hotel veranda, "that l 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 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 Of the question when
speaking of fish. 1t was 30 years ago,
and | was young and foolish enough to
be deep sea diver. Our diving schooner
and crew had been sent to Cuba to try
to recover some stuff from Spanish
boat that had foundered off the coast Of
Cuba, Just where / don't now recollect.
1t was quito long trip for us, and as
the employment Of 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 to our skipper, and he
told me that there were several boxes Of
gold coin in the wreck On our arrival
at the port near where the wreck lay in
30 feet of water the agent Of the owners
of the sunken schooner told US some
thing more surprising 1t was that tho
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 a scheme to avoid
any chance of the spirit Of cupidity aris-
ing iii the crew, Tor the treasure was
very great.
GAS the confidential man, l was Sc
lected to 90 down first and find the mon
ey 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. Twas soon in the hold and
! was surprised to fnd that the bags were
only a little distance from the hole in
| the side that had caused the schooror to
founder. had been told that there
! would be - bags, but / could lay my
| hands on but II Of them. Finally l
! spied q tOTn bag lying near tho 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 clen in some way or 9th
er when the schooner sank l fastened
lines about the II bags that were intact,
and had them hoisted, aftcrward going
up for air, for our apparatus was not
very good.
In few miEEte5 I returned to tho
hold to search for the scatterod coins.
Very few Of them were N 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. was 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 tho
vessels side l was disappointed not to
find any indication Of the gold near the
hole i'll the schooner, but set to work
digging resolutely in the sand. I had
gone but foot down when l struck tho
gold pieces all in lump. picked out
a great handful and turned the light on
them, for I was lover of gold then,
even though it did not belong to me
Just then l saw something that
made the rubber helmet rise from my
head. 1t was man eating shark. I
hadn't thought Of one in so long that 1
had neglected to bring my knife 1t was
rushing at me- The stupid creature
never stopped to consider that with
rubber and lead dressing diver makes
a poor lunch, was knealing beside the
gold. AT the shark onslaught natural
ly hung to the handful Of gold as though
to use it as a 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 ali
my force flung the heavy handful of
coin into the yawning mouth.
1.-The shark must have thought it was
a part of me, for he snapped his jaws
over the golden morsel. 1 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 a home in New Eng
land. l saw him snap and swallow it.
Again and again was the attack repsat-
ed, and as often did hurl gold into the
sharks throat Pretty soon he became
dizzy, as it We're, for the gold had un-
balanced him, settling in the forward
part Of his body. Then he writhed In
agony, and had to keep dedging his
furry. Then, with one terrible shudder,
he sank 10 the bottom, weighted down
by the gold. 1 tied line about him and
then gave the signal to be pulled up.
Then 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. F."
Silence smeared itself all over the
veranda The pale moon slid behind a
cloud. The amphitheater organ slowly
wove weird chunk of melody. The
chimes began to ring. "Those were
great days, " said Mr., Gaulin sadly
Buffalo Express.