The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-12-23
H. g. Wells, in the London Sun.

". w CHS, III the lOIluOH sun.
Until the extraordinary affair at Sid
mouth, the peculiar species faplo-
teuthis feroX was known To science
only generically. on the strength OF
half-digested tentacle obtained near the
Azores, and decaying body pecked by
birds and nibbled by fish, found early
in 1896 by Mr.. Jennings, near Lands
'Erd.
In no department of geological Sci
ence, indeed, are we quite SO much in
the dark as with regard to the deep
sea Cephalopods. a mere accident, Tor
Instance, it was that led to the Prince
Of Monaco's discovery of nearly dozen
new forms in the summer of 1898, a dis
colery in which the before mentioned
te.!tacle was included. II Chanced that
a cachalot was killed off Terceira by
some sperm whalers. and in its last
struggles charged almost to the Prince
yacht, missed it, rolled under, and dlel
within twenty yards of his rudder. And
in its agony it threw up n number OF
larae objects, which the Prince, dimly
pcrceivinS they were strange and I'M
portant was, by a happy e&pedient,
able to secure before they sank. He set
his screws in motion, and kept them
circlng in the VorticeS thus created
until boat could be lowered Ana
these specimens We're whole ccphtio-
pods and fragments of cephalopods,
some of gigantic proportions, ana al
most all of them unknown to science,
II would seem, indeed, that these
large and agile creatures, living III the
middle depths of the sea, must to
large extent, forever remain unknown
to us. since under water they are 100
nimble for nets. and ii is only by such
rare unloOked-fo for accidents that Specl-
ha al nj ipnl In rho OF
Haploteuthis feroX, for instance, we
are still altogether ignorant of its
habitat, as ignorant as we are OF the
breeding ground of the herring or the
seaways of the salmon. And biologists
are altogether at loss to account Tor
its suddea appearance on our coast
Possibly it was the stress of hunger
migration that drove it hither out ot
the deep But it viii be, perhaps, bet
ter to avoid necessarily inConclusiNe
discussion, and to proceed at once with
our narrative.
The first human being to set eyes
upun n living Eaplutenthis-the hiSt
human being to survive, lhat ~, Tor
there can be little doubt now that inc
. wave of bathing fatalities ana boating
accidents that travelled along the
coast of Cornwall and Devon in early
May was due to this cause-Was re-
tired tea dealer of the name of fisun,
who was stopping at a Sldmouth
boarding house. 1t was in the after
noon, and he was walking along ih'
cliff path between Sidmouth and Lad
ram Bay. The cliffs in this direction
are very high, but down the red race
of them in one place KIND OF ladd"!
staircase has been made. He was near
this when his attention was attracted
by what he at first thought to be
q cluster of birds struggling over q
fragment of food thai caught the sun
light, and glistened pinkish- white. The
tide was right out, and this object was
now only far below him but remote
across broad waste of rock reefs, COW
cred with dark scawced and inter-
spersed with silvery shining tidal pools
And he was. moreover. da22led by the
brightness of the further water.
In II minute. regarding this again,
he perceived that his judgment was in
fault, for over this struggle circled y
numbet of birds. jackdaWs and gulls
for the most part, the latter gleam-
ing blendingly When the sunlight suote
their wings, and they seemed minute
in comparison with it. And his cur
iosity was, perhaps, aroused all the
more strongly because of his first in-
sufficient explanations.
AS he had nothing better to do than
amuse himself he decided to make this
object, whatever it was. the goal of
his afternoon walk, instead of LadrGm
Bay, conceiving it might perhaps be II
great fish ut some sort, stranded by
some chance. and Tapping about in its
distress. And SO he hurried down the
long step ladder stopping at intervals
of thirty feet or so to take breath and
scan the mysterious movement.
At the foot of the cliff he was, of
course, nearer his object than he had
been: but on the other hand. il now
came up against the incandescent sky,
beneath the sun, so as to seem dark
and indistnct Whatever was pinkish
of it was now hidden by a kerry of
weedy boulders. But he perceived that
it was made w. of seven rounded
bodies. distinct or connected. and that
the birds kent up a constant croaking
and screaming. but seemed afraid to
approach it too closely.
Mr.. Fison, torn by curiosity. began
picking his wav across the wave-Worn
rocks, and. finding the west seaweed
that covered them thickly. rendered
them extremely slippery. he stopped,
removed his shoes and socks, and colei
his trousers above his knees. His object
was. of course, merely to avoid stumb-
ling into the rocky pools about him.
and perhaps he was rather glad, as all
men are. of an excuse to resume, even
for moment. the sensations of his
boyhood. At any rate, it is to this, no
doubt, that he owes his life.
He approached his mark with all
the assurance which the absolute Sc
curity of this country against all
forms of animal life gives it's inhabi-
tants. The round bodies moved to and
fro, but it was only when he surmount-
ed the skerry of boulders l have men,
toned that he realized the horrible
nature of the discovery. 1t came upon
him with some suddenness.
The rounded bodies fell apart as he
came into sight over the ridge, and
displayed the pinkish object to be the
partly devoured body of human
being, but whether of a man or wo-
man he was unable to say. And the
rounded bodies We're new and ghastly
looking creatures. in shape somewhat
resembling an octopus and with huge
and very long and flexible .tentacles,
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