Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-04-10
EATEN BY eHA
TRAGIC FATE OF AN AERoMAl
IN HAVANA fIARBOa.


49,. IN HAVANA E1AREOH
He Made an Ascension Far 1nIsnd Rrsl fs|a$$a
Balloon Drlftod Out TO sen-Whsn
Touched tho Water the sea-wolyss GsRs
him to Pieces in an Instant.
Havana harhor is as jammed sfW
OF man-eating sharks as the Upper c.
noco Is OF alligators," said s Washiuss
ton man who lived for several year
the Cuban capital, "and although is'
Is sorry enough thing to- haYHs
to say. did believe chat SmanS3s
OF the bodies OF the poor felicWa
who lost their lives In the MaisaM&
disaster would be cast up on thSssl
beach. Aside from the big man-eatafl
shat infest the harbors OF the fslaMsEs
IN the South Pacific, close to the lina
don't believe the waters of the Whole
world hold any more ravenous or terO.8
elous sharks than those that make saas
oaonlhg IN Havana harbor q luxury thas
Is lnoulged In only by the most reckIssSa
and toolhardy men. The so-calleass
man-eaters OF northern waters, big anI3s8
ugly as they look, are generally as rms
towards of the sea as coyotes ara no!
the land, and whole school Of sharEs
OF the temperate zone will scoot from a
ievel-headed man who keeps up 81
steady kicking and splashing In thas
water, like pack OF released
rats scurrying from 8 terrieas
But the sharks Of Havana hars
Dor have got taste Of human blood
for scarcely a week passes that soma
silly Havana man or boy does not gsss
himself gobbled up by the man-eatefngs
and the fact is no longer disputed; by@
seafaring men that once shark ae.ss
quires an appetite for human heings
he will risk anything after that to ap.a9
pease that appetite. StssSss
When the city Of Havana YVES cs1e.s
orating, six years ago, the anniversarYs
OF the birth of the young King ofs
Spain, the next biggest feature OF the
blowout after the bull fights was balls
loon ascension by a Spanish aeronautss
named Ramon Margulies was spend
ing the holiday on an electric launchSs
with party of friends, and In the att
erHoon we watched for the ascensfoR.sa
Along about o'clock we saw the bsl-s
loon shoot into the air from one OF Shas
minor plazas. with Margulies. dressed
IN gymnast's tights, hanging by hisgIs
legs from trapeze suspended beneath
the basket. The air was very still, and
the aeronaut had apparently fguredsi
on making reasonably high straight4
up ascent, and then, by pulling the esq
cape valve, to descend within the citYS
or on its outskirts AS he must have
known how thickly the harbor was :in.s
| tested with sharks, he could certainly
| not have seriously entertained tha4
thought of letting his balloon descend
In the harbor.
''At any rate, when his balloon reachsS
ed an altitude of about half mile, we:
could see that it had swan into cur
rent OF air that plainly began to carrYS
it over the harbor. With the aid 4 Oh
our glasses we could perceive the aerss
onaut climbing from the trapezes into
the basket, and, moment or SO after
he disappeared from view. it becamas
apparent to us that he had pulled the
escape valve, for the balloon began tos
rapidly descend, but by the time the
valve was opened the upper air current
had carried the balloon well over thu
waters Of the bay. The engineer nfs
our launch, at my direction, started
four bells for the spot in the water
where we figured the balloon would de-
scend. for we all knew that the aero.s
| naut would not be long in the water be-
fore the sharks got after him, Tha
balloon came down too swiftly. hoWeYss:
er, for the launch to be of any assist
ance to Margulies. We were two hum
dred yards away when the basket sos
the almost collapsed balloon struck thas
water. Just before the basket toucheds
the water Margulies appeared On itssi
edge and dived head first into the har-t5
Dor, In order, apparently to prevent
his becoming entangled with the baa-
ket netting. We saw his head bob rups
once, and we put on all power to reaehS
him with the launch. But when We
saw dozen big man-eaters' fms cleav.S
Ing the water straight for the spot
where the unfortunate aeronaut's head
had appeared. We knew that it was an
| up with him. He did not show at thu
surface again, and when we reached
the spot where he had jumped IL;
we saw nothing but little eddiesss
| of blood on the surface OF the water.
| The sharks had torn him to pieces 5
A Petrahed Ratt7eanare. Wi s$ss
A strange petrihcatlon was recently
| found in Kentucky which closely $res.ss: