The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-03

were sharks at all, but that we knew no
other fish Of such a size existed One es-
pecially. that gave the boat a resoundiny
blow with its tail as he turned beneath US,
was larger IN girtb than she was and as
nearly as possible of the same length. Now
our boat was feet inches beam amid
ships. and % feet long. Nevertheless, I am
perfectly sure that this shark. vast as It
was could not possibly have swallowed a
man, the shape aud slzbe of its mouth abb
soluteiy forbidding such a thing. He could
nave eaten several men no doubt but
swallow them whole never! But to return.
When at break Of day we succeeded in
raising the carcass again to the surface
amid the fcaming tumult caused by the
sun raVening multitude. more than half of
It was gone. At least forty tons of solid
flesh and blubber had been devoured in a
few hours.
Another story which has been repeated
In nearly every natural history or article
on sharks IS Of an alleged practice Of saV-
ing captains. They are said to have sus-
pended the body Of a negro from bowsprlt
or yardnrm la order to enjoy the sight Of
the sharks leaping up at Il. which they
are said TO nave done TO the hight OF tWen-
~ feet. But a shark does not leap out of
water at an. Neither If Ut did could It bite
while 50 doing for the simple reason that
20 do 50 10 must be over it's prey If right
side up. or under 1t if on its back. A glance
repeated falsehood As an instance Of this
disability / may mention a singular oc-
curreuce during the cutting in" by us of
cachalot off the north coast Of New Yea
land The lower jaw and throat piece had
been lifted, turning the whale on his back
and leaving a great oval hollow of consld-
cradle depth in the carcass There was "A
! nasty sea running which occasionally
broke over the whales body fore and aft
filling the aforesaid hollow with a greasy.
cory mixture. Alongside. the usual con-
course Of frantic sharks fought madly for
Il morsel OF blubber, regardless OF the oc-
casional disappearance OF one of their
number with a split brain-pan.
Now. 1t IS necessary at this stage of
cutting In for a man to descend upon
the carcass for the purpose Of passing a
chain strap through what Is called the
rising piece" or first cut of blubber. One
of our harpooners therefore, jumped into
the foul pool. foolshly discardug the safe
~ line. which hampered his movements.
As he wrestlod with the big links of the
chain sling. a combing sea lifted two of
the sharks, each about seven feet long,
into the cavity beside him. OF course he
promptly turned his attention to his visi-
tors laying hold of one by the tail, to
which he chung with a death grip. For a
while the three were indistnguishable In
the Internal broil Man and sharks with
ed An one inextricable tangle amidst the
foaming slime. 1t impossible to strike
down at any moment. for fear of killing
our shipmate, and 1t really looked as if
we should see him beaten to death be-
meath our eyes. But suddenly exerting
all his remaining strength In one great
effort, the poor fellow flung one of the
monsters out from him at right angles.
Instantly a spade descended like a flash
upon the sharks head, killing him at
once. But at the same moment another
wave Hppered over and swept all three
out of the hollow into the teeming sea
alongside. With a wild yell two Kanakas
sprang after and seized their helpless ship
mate in the midst of the startled crowd
of sharks. Half dozen ropes were flung,
and in two minutes salvors and saved
were on deck The unfortunate harpoon-
or was black and blue. besides being bad
ly strained, but of toothmarks not sign.
AS Plutarch has remarked the deep-sea
shark is a tender parent. For a consider
able time after the young are born lin
the viviparous kinds) they are sheltered
within the mothers body, finding instant
refuge down her throat at the approach
OF danger. Numberless instances are on
record Of female sharks being caught
with from ten TO twenty healthy, vigor-
Gus young ones In some receptacle within
her body, they having previously been
seen swimming about her and disappear
ing down her throat. The friendship OF
the piot-hsh for the shark, too, is a beau
tiful Instance of mutual aid which Is en-
trely true. Therefore, apparently, much
doubt is cast upon ". many refusing to
believe any good Of the piscis anthropop-
hagus as DR. Badham gravey calls him.
Alopecias vulpes or the "thrasher" Is a
shark of aggressive and dangerous char
acter. but certainly not so to man. It's
characteristic feature Is an immensely
long upper lobe 10 it's tail. This il Yields
with wonderful effect when in company
with "A small and fierce species of grampus
(Orca gladiatoD, 1t attacks the peaceful
mysticetae, or toothless whales The
blows 1t deals are incredibly severe and
rapid, cutting long strips of blubber from
the back of the harassed mammal, who.
incapable of fight or flight, soon falls an
easy prey to the combined forces. The
pristiophoridae, or saWfishes, are perhaps
the most terrible In appearance of all tho
shark tribe. They are really "a connecting
link between the sharks and rays, partak-
ing largely OF the characteristics of the
latter. The head Is prolonged into a bony
shaft varying IN length and width ac-
cording 10 the size of the individual, but
attaining 81 length of three feet and a
width at the base Of nine inches. On eth
er side 1t Is furnished with pointed teeth
some distance apart the whole weapon
forming a formidable double-edged saw
carried horizontally. Neither does this
awe-inspiring monster attack man. Ii
feeds upon the soft parts of certain slug
gsh fish, which it disembowels with the
saw. It's teeth are few and feeble, and
unless hard pressed by hunger IL does not
prey garbage But want OF space for
bids the further pursuit at present of this
most interesting subject, only the fringe
of which Il has been possible to touch here.
-s-1p-s
Rare Canine Intelligence.
From the st. Louis Republic