Evening star., 1898-02-19
EATEN BY SHARKS.
Tragic Fate of Rn AerOnaut I'm
Havana HarbOr

Tragic Fate of nm Aeronnut I'm
Havana HarbOr.
Havana harbor is as jammed full of
man eating sharks as the Upper Orinoco is
of alligators." said a Washington man
who lived for several years in the Cuban
capital, and although 1t is a sorry enough
thing to have to say, L cannot believe that
many Of the bodies of the poor fellows who
lost their lives in the Maine disaster will
be cast up on the beach. Aside from the
big maE-eaters that infest the harbors of
the islands in the South Pacific close to the
line. don't believe the waters of the whole
world hold any more ravenous or ferocious
sharks than those that make sea bathing
in Havana harbor a luxury that is indulgel
In only by the most reckless and foolhardy
men. The so-cailed man-eaters of northern
waters big and ugly as they look, are gen.
orally as rank towards Of the sea as
coyotes are of the land, and whole school
of sharks of the temperate zone will scoot
from a level-headed man who keeps up
steady kicking and splashing in the water,
like pack of released rats scurrylng from
a terrier. But the sharks of Havana har-
Dor have got a taste of human blood
for scarcely week passes that some
silly Havana man or boy does not get
himself gobbled UP by the man-eaters-
and the fact is no longer disputed by sea-
fafing men that once a shark acquires an
appetite for human beings, he will risk
anything afterward to appease that appe-
ute. - -. s,..ts.-..
when the city of Havana was celebrat-
ing, six years ago, the anniversary of the
birth of the young King Of Spain, the
next biggest feature of the blowout after
the bull fights was a balloon ascension
by Spanish aeronaut named Ramon
Margulies. ! was spending the holiday on
an electric launch with party of friends,
and in the afternoon We watched for the
ascension. Along about o'clock we saw
the balloon shoot into the air from one
of the minor plazas. with Margulies. dress
ed in gymnasts tights, hanging by his
the basket. The air was very still. and
the aeronaut had apparently figured on
making a reasonably high straight-up as
cent. and then, by pulling the escape valve
skirts AS he must have known how
thickly the harbor was infested with
sharks, he could certainly not have Sc
rfously entertained the thought of letting
his balloon descend in the harbor
AT any rate, when his balloon reached
an altitude OF about half mile, we could
see that 1t had swan into a current of
air that plainly began to carry it over
the harbor. With the aid of our glasses
we could perceive the aeronaut climbing
from the trapeze into the basket. and, a
moment or so after. he disappeared from
view, 1T became apparent to US that he
had pulled the escape valve. for the bal
loon began to rapidly descend, but by
the time the valve was opened the upper
air current had carried the balloon well
over the waters of the bay. The engineer
of our launch at my direction, started
four bells for the spot in the water where
We figured the balloon would descend,
for we all knew that the aeronaut would
not be long in the water before the sharks
got after him. The balloon came down
too swiftly, however, for the launch to
be Of any. assistance to Margulies. We
dc
basket of the almost collapsed balloon
struck the water. Just before the basket
touched the water Margulies appeared on
its edge and dived head first into the har-
Dor. in order, apparently. to prevent his
becoming entangled with the basket net
ting. We saw his head bob UP once, and
we put on all power to reach him with
the launch. But when he saw a dozen
big man-eaters fins cleaving the water
straight for the spot where the unfortu-
nate aeronaut's head had appeared, we
knew that 1t was all up with him He did
not show at the surface again, and when
we reached the spot where he had Jumped
in we sew nothing but little eddies of blood
on the surface of the water. The sha rks
had torn him to pieces"