Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1896-01-06
THE FIELD OF ADVENTURE.
THRILLING INCIpENTS AND OAR
ING DEEDS ON LAND AND SEA.

IhhlLLlN8 lNOll'ENIo AMI ohN-
ING DEEDS ON LAND AND SEA.
A Gigantic Lobster Fights Two Men
Duel on the Frontier-A Panther
Under Her Bed.
y EA serpents are out.done by
~ the mammoth lobster en-
y countered few days ago by
two fishermen of the smack
Three Sisters, of Pictou. 1t was on
the Great Banks of Newfoundland
that the fishermen. encountered it.
The Three Sisters was moored in the
port of Boston the other day, and the
fishermen told their weird tale to o
New York Press man. 1t seems that
the Micmac fishermen have long be-
lieved that the bay of Chaleur was in
habited by monster lobster, which
is said to upset skiffs and drag un-
fortunate victims to watery graves.
'Tom Massey and Bill Reed were
out in dory about hundred yards
from the smack" begins tho yarn, as
told by the mate. "They were fishing
when the boat gave sudden lurch, as
if some one was climbing over the side.
There was cry of terror. Massey
was hanging on the side of the boat
for dear life, while Reed was belabor-
ing great, green, Shiny looking
thing that was waving long feelers
about his head. 1t was the lobster.
Its huge claw had Massey's right arm
fast. Massey hung to the thwarts with
his left hand while the horrid creature
was trying to reach Reed with the
other claw. The heavy skiff lurched
dangerously, and it seemed every
minute as if it would be swamped, and
that the monster would secure its vic
tim.
zone of the other boats quickly
came to the rescue. One of the mon
made crack at the green head with
heavy hatchet. He struck it q
glancing blow. Instantly it let go of
Massey and turned on the men in the
other boat, throwing its heavy body
half over the side. 1t grasped the
side of the boat between the jaws of
one OF its nippers, and the strong
wood was crunched like paper. But
it did not succeed in getting hold of
any of the men in the second boat,
because the moment it let go of Mas
sey, Reed seized pike ok and gave it
blow in the back OF the neck. This
was enough for the monster. It let
go its hold and sank out of sight"
AS Reed himself tells the story, the
big lobster followed cod which they
had hooked, and as they drew it over
the side Of the skiff the ugly shell fish
followed. Reed says that the snap of
its nippers when they came together
sounded like the crack of rifle.
Both Massey and Reed say that the
body of the lobster was over three feet
long, and that its claws were about the
same length too. 81 never saw such
frightful sight as the creatures
eyes," said Reed. ''They seemed to
be drawn way up into it's head, when
suddenly they would spring out fully
eight inches like pipe stem, and
seemed to be in the ends of pair of
long tubes. They snapped and blazed
like fire, and waved from side to side
with horrid movement, as if one of
them was watching me and the other
watching Tom"
The largest lobster she'll known r.
day is in the British Museum, but 1t
measures, when stretched out, body
and claws, thirty eight inches, while
the monster which these fishermen en-
countered was over six feet in length
altogether. Reed says that he is sure
that he broke one of the lobster 8
claws with u blow from his oar, and
he thinks that when he hit it with the
pike he must have touched vital spot.
He thinks that he killed the monster,
and that its shell will be found some
day to prove his statements of its size.