Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1898-03-12

/ time, Dub I'VE minutes laIer ne was
| back in his old position. He was thus
I fired upon and driven away three sue
cessiye times, but when he came back
/ the fourth time he took up bis position
astern of the ship and swan so low in
/ the water that the shot failed to reach
/ him.
He hung by the ship from O'Clock
4 At that hour the repairs were about
complete, and the men were laughing
and joking over the persistency of the
! demon, when one Of them fell from the
| yard as they were making sail. He turn
ed over and over in his descent, but
struck the water feet first and was ont
of sight long minute. When be came
to the surface, be shot his full length
out Of water, and the men uttered
cheer to encourage him, and the life
preserver was cut away. The man had
just grasped it when the shark seized
him by the legs, and those who were
looking saw both man and the life pre-
server disappear in the NAV Of the mon
ster. Later on fragments Of the float
came to the surface, but nothing fur
Their was seen of the shark. The incident
was logged and duly reported in New
York
News Of strange things at sea passes
about in maritime circles with wonder
full celebrity. The various adventures
with the demon were soon known far
and wide, and every craft sailing for
India or Ching kept sharp lookout for
him. If he was seen between January
and April, 1864, there is no record of
it, but ON the 18th day of the latter
month, when left the port of St Luis,
in the island of Mauritius, bound for
Bombay, in the brig Charleston, the
monster appeared alongside before we
were so miles out Of port. This was the
first time he had been seen so far to the
south and was distance of 3, 900 miles
from the spot where he had snapped up
his last man. The demon appeared to
us suddenly, as in all other cases. When
sharks are around, their dorsal fins can
be seen cutting the water here and there,
and they seldom come near moving
craft The first thing we knew the mon
ster was running with the ship, and so
close that one could have touched him
with a ten foot pole. We measured his
length by the rail, and then tapeline
gave as exactly 3S feet inches The
only weapons aboard were two navy re-
yolyers, and the captain took one and
the other, and we fired IL bullets fair
into the body of the fish. / am telling
you the plain truth when / say that he
did not swerve an inch or seem to feel
the slightest pain. The bullets certainly
went into him, but when an ordinary
shark can have two or three feet cut off
his tail and still continue to swim about
unconcernedly there isn't much hope of
pistol bullets ending his life.
Knowing that the presence of the de-
mon meant horrible death to any man
who fell overheard, the word was passed
for every one to be very careful of him
self while aloft. The shark picked us
up OF Tuesday morning at 10 O'Clock.
We had fair wind for the north, and
up to Friday afternoon at 2 o'clock he
had not secured a victim. No matter
whether the breeze was strong or weak,
whether it was daylight or darkness,
the demon kept his place alongside.
We tried him with baited hooks, we
stuffed an old suit of clothes and threw
the figure overheard, we put more bull
lets into him and worked all sorts of
schemes to drive him off, but it was not
to be DONE If he sheered off at some
demonstration, it was to return aft after
a moment and take up his old position.
,,l1
peril that all felt uncomfortable and
nervous, and by order of the captain
the men were kept out of the rigging
except when it became positively neces-
sary to go aloft. When Friday came
and no accident had happened, we be-
gan to take heart and hoped to see the
demon leave US. In all those days and
nights he had eaten nothing, and so easy
was it for him to keep pace with us that
one might watch for an hour and not
notice movement of his tail. While
we were hoping that hunger and the
long swim had about exhausted him the
cook got upon the rail on the opposite
side from the shark to draw pail Of
water. A sudden lurch of the ship sent
him overheard. happened to be watch
ing the shark at the same moment.
With the quickness Of thought he was
gone from under my eyes, and, passing
under the brig he seized the cook be-
fore the latter had time to cry out and
before a man had advanced to the rail.
Four or five sailors got there just in
time to see the victim disappear, and as
there was no tinge of blood on the wa
ter they could well declare that the
shark had swallowed him whole.
A month later, 500 miles to the east
ward of Mauritius, the demon arose
alongside the Scotch whaler Albatross
and followed her two days and got q
man who fell from the bowsprit. Three
months later, to the south of Madagas-
car, be got man from Boston ship
called the White Wave, During the
same year, when the English ship Cape
Horn was wrecked off Cane Town and