Evening journal., 1898-08-05
QUEER WAYS oF SHARKS.
The Hungry Terror Is ImDudent In
General, but Can't stand a Conn
motion In the Water.

zone horror of sea fighting I believe
our sailors Will be spared In this war;"
said q veteran of the merchant marine,
"and that is the large Chances of be
ing killed by sharks. The whole of
the Caribbean sea about Cuba swarms
with those internal things, and as a
rule, when q man drops overheard, the
chances are that In another minute
nothing viii be left Of him on the sur
face but some red stains in the water,
unless he keeps his presence of mind
and knows just what to do.
"Therc is a way Of helping yourself
when you get into that fix. That's just
why l say that in these modern battles
the danger from sharks is not likely to
be anything like what it was In old
times. Perhaps you are not aware that
a shark is the most timid and nervous
fish of prey that lives, but it is so.
When you find yourself floating about
in those waters and think shark is
anywhere near you just you kick and
splash for all you are worth. If you
don't think there are any sharks about
kick and splash on general principles
that is, II You want to see your home
and your family again. A shark that
Is making straight for his prey will
turn tail and sheer OFF as soon as tho
splnshing begins. Now, believe that
In a general engagement between these
modern ships, that with the tremen-
dous conclusion of the heavy guns and
the churning of the water with pro-
pellers on all sides and an occasional
torpedo raising q disturbance every
now and then in the water, the whole
neighborhood viii be cleared Of sharks.
"In the old days, although the broad
sides made a good deal Of noise, no
doubt, O ship went down much more
quietly than now. just think of the
commotion in the water when the big
fires and the boilers go under. No
shark will stay within mile of such
an upheavnl.
II am not talking mere theory when
say that o shark can be frightened
off by splashing. have seen 1t done,
or, TO be quite exact, saw the man
who did 1t just after he had scrambled
out of the water. He had been In bath
ing in one Of those sea baths they have
in Kingston harbor, where they fence
In a good piece Of water with piles
driven into the bottom close together
One Of the piles had got broken some
how, and q big basking shark had
squeezed through and gone to sleep
in the bath. When the man plunged
in the shark woke up and commenced
TO charge around. BY that time the
man was some yards away from the
steps. lie Immediately turned on his
back and kicked as hard as he could,
and the shark, instead of charging at
him, went into a downright panic and
bumped his nose against all the piles
looking for the hole he had got In by.
II know it sounds like fable 10 say
q shark is timid, because they will do
things that you would hardly expect
q timid fish to do. / myself have seen
q shark leap out of the water close
enough TO q rowboat TO tumble on the
oar blades, but that was my own
dinghy, and my boys knew how TO row,
and didn't make q splash with the
blades or try any of this landlubbery
'feathering' business. Then there is o
place at Port Royal where little flight
of wooden steps goes down into the
water, and they say that British ar-
tillery officer who was sitting on those
steps-or some other steps that were
in the same place-one morning smok-
ing q cigar, had both his legs torn off by
a shark that swan close in shore and
rose ut him as trout rises at a fly. But
all that only shows that q shark is 0
queer, in consistent kind of a fish, and
in spite of all his impudence, you may
depend upon 1t, he can't stand any
thing. that makes q disturbance in tho
water.
"Oh. yes, when the battle is over III
will follow the ship that has any wound
ed men on board-follow 1t for miles
don't know how he knows there is {
wounded man or q sick man on boarC
b ship, any more than can tell how
+ Mother Carey's chickens can read th'
barometer, but he does know. Yol
see, seafaring man has TO be salts
- fled to know a good many things tina
r he can't explain. IN. Y. Sun.