The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1896-10-20
CATCHING 4 SHANK.

= .saasias rtfs.-a Fess Lees r~is-s
o. Deck-lt- Thirteen sharkiets.
"On recent trip said a Pltisburg
travelling man. that made to Central
America. the srew and passengers had
quite IN experience with siinrk. We
werc On board the Andes. enc OF the
Atlas line " steamers. She broke some
Important part Of her machinery aud
was entirely unseaworihy Il required
twemy-four hours 10 put her In cdndl-
ton to proceed on our way. The aocl-
dent happened before daybreak. when
we were within Two days Of New York.
During all that time We were floating
about ON the ocean. and. fortunately
for us. the ocean was perfectly calm
When the first daylight came WI dis
covered that we were completely sur
rounded by sharks. Someone suggest
III that we catch u shark.
'"rhe Idea was no more than Matched
before the captain. who was n young
man making his first trip. took the
matter up aud Proceeded 10 work. lie
secured a large hook. attached Il 10 the
end ~ several plies ~ telegraph wlre.
aud then fastened Il 90 the end Of
rope. leaving about live feet of wire 10
prevent the shark from biting Il on.
On the hook he placed huge piece OF
bacon. then he dropped the line IL
had hardly struck the water when he
got a bite The captain made des-
perntc Jerk So did the shark. and the
hook was bent perfectly straight. A
number Of such attempts wefo made.
hut each time with the same result
An old tar who had been Witness 10
/ the attempts tO hook the monster. pro-
iuced an old-fashloncd half-round steel
! file. ana proceeded TO make a hook
| that he said would hold. After quite n
long wait the hook was finished aud
attached to the line, but before going
any further the old sailor gave lnstruc-
lions ~ 10 how he wanted the work
done He made n loop on the end of
another rope. passed the hook aud line
through the loop aud the latter was
: held on deck The hook was haitcd
4 and thrown into the water, and IN an
instant a mighty rush Of sharks was
made 20 get the bacon. The crowd u
sailors pulled on the rope and fastened
the hook In tie upper jaw of what
proved 10 be tifieen-foot shark The
old tar yelled drop your loop II
dropped down the line and passed over
the sharks head, when Il was tight
encd up.
Then began the most desperate
struggle ! ever saw Tor freedom. IL
took all on board 10 pull the mnrine
monster on deck After much time
and patience. as u required both. Ia
give IL time 90 exhaust Itself. the shark
was landed. The passengers made
themselves conspicuous by absencc.
The shark dashed the deck with iis tail
and body until the ship almost trem.
hled. IL was the most exciting scene
ever Witnessed. The shark would open
It's mouth. showing a cavity that a
man could easily crawl into. aud teeth
rs sharp a. needles. the Of the sail
ors. after n long walt. succccdcd IN
getting close enough 90 cut the mon.
stcr's thruat with an AK. After post
norton examination u was discovered
10 be a female, and the mother ~ thlr
teen young sharklets An effort was
made 90 bring some Of the young ones
20 New York but they all died In d
short time. Each OF them was about
three feet long. A. they were thrown
overheard they were gobhled up by
other larger ones. ~ rltisburg Leader