Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-09-05
THE DIVER AND THE SHARK.


THE DIVER AND THE SHARK.
A Dinner of Gold Coin Settled the
Savage Fish.
From the Buffalo Express.
II suppose" quoth James T. Gaulin Of
Winchester. Mass. who was sitting on the
hotel veraEda, 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 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. It was
thirty years ago, and I 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 a
Spanish boat that had foundered off the
coast Of Cuba, just where don't now recol-
lect. 1t was quite a 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 something pretty
valuable in the hold of the wreck. 1 was
quite close to 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 thirty feet of
water. the agent of the owners of the sunk
en- schooner told us something more 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 as copper
washers. This was probably a scheme to
avoid any chance of the spirit of cup!dity
arising in the crew, for the treasure was
very great.
LAS the confidential man, I was selected
to go down first, and find the money bags,
out before the other divers should proceed
with the work Of taking out the other
freight that the water had not harmed.
l was soon in the hold, and was surprised
to find that the bags were only little dis
lance from the hole in the side that had
caused the schooner to founder. I had been
told that there would be twelve bags but
could lay my hands on but eleven of them.
Finally spied torn bag lying near the
hole in the hull. and on picking it up dis
covered that 1t contained few gold coins.
| decided that the heavy triple sacking had
been torn open some way or other when
the eleven bags that were intact and had
them hoisted, afterward going up for air,
for our apparatus was not very good.
The Gold Had Disappeared.
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 out
side the boat, Judging from the position of
the wreck, and the fact that the hole was
far down toward the ships bottom. I vas
about to crawl out the hole when 1 re-
membered that it might hazard the air
pipe. so ! was pulled up and let down again
over the vessels side l 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 l struck the gold
pieces all in lump. I picked out great
handful and turned the light on them, for
l was a lover of gold them even though it
did not belong to me-
lust then I saw something that made
the rubber helmet raise from my head. 1t
was man-eating shark. I hadn't thought
OF one in SO long that I had neglected to
bring my knife 1t was rushing at me-
The stupid creature never stopped to con-
slider that with rubber and lead dressing
a diver makes a poor lunch. I was kneel-
Ing beside the gold At the sharks on
slaught, 1 naturally hung to the handful
Of gold as though to use it as a weapon.
mouth. A feeling of grim humor had come
over me. The cruel gold bugs had sent me
down here to be devoured, after saving
thousands Of dollars for them. I would be
spendthrift at the last So with all my
force I flung the heavy handful of coin into
the yawnirg mouth.
The Coin His Only Weapon.
The shark must have thought it was a
part of me, for he snapped his Jaws over
the golden morsel, as though I could not
hear. I 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 I flung into the hideous
nav enough to buy me home in New
England. 1 saw him snap and swallow it.
Again and again was attack repeated. and
as often did I hurl gold into the sharks
throat. Pretty soon he became dizzy, as 1t
were, for the gold had unbalanced him,
n a fnr oVl ork Dfn r.
Then he writhed in agony, and 1 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 I helped hoist the shark.
We cut him open. Gentlemen, you must
take the word of an ex-diver that there
was $45 600 in him. Gold had killed him."
Silence smeared itself all over the YER
anda. 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.