The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-01-12
DANGEROUS FISHING.
.,,1,es OF THE SEA DUE TO MA
'' RlNE ANIMALS.


,,.ho fatalities of tho sea than could be
w directly and indirectly 10 marine
trace" oould be collected every year, they
anil1s' make not only Interesting nuo
W VIOLIN reading. In the reai,y paciho
S'aI' % the western ocean we nave puc
waters s, =, Of the dangers of the sea- but
lituv ~ Much the New England towns OF
stroii 70, Narblehead, Swampscott ana
0iouo'. LII show them TO have an extraor-
Otneie ',nmher of widows in proportion
10 m rnv ia particularly true of Gloucester
y hero the widows and orphans Oh hsner-
WIZ nike small army. The fishermen
men lii" In lost ON the Grand banks or the
wero o., hanks of the cod fisheries. They
ueoi ssithor run down by ocean steamers
Were 80 over the banks at full speed, often
tna a.,e 81 che vessels in the fog, or the frail
ni.'n 'sors were destroyed in the terrific
Scn ,es chat sweep over the country.
gan ,aov me- of interest to glance at the
L. Ioes If men who lose their lives in
the effort to provide the country Win salt
god From 1880 to 1881, s'siv were
S,oyned from cod fishermen, leaving
soo widows and between 1000 and o,OOO
arnbans not to speak of other persons de-
"apdent upon them. The loss In insurance
p p.'r,ng this time was about 81, 500, 600,
4 and the number of vessels lost 4l9--a re-
= Ynarkable showing for single line OF
hns,ress The loss of these 200 or more
.,'o, means recital of incidents that can
NOT be eoualed in the annals of heroism.
Tho writer knows of one vessel that was
,r,ro at anchor, with all hands below ex-
ant the watch, that was struck by steam
er All were drowned except the man at
A tho wheel. who drifted "a hours before he
was picked up Another schooner was
calling In the fog when she was suddenly
cansized by steamer that rolled her COM
pletely over, the men dropping out OF their
hammocks to tho ceiling and then 10 the
floor as she quickly righted. The man at
tine wheel was dashed and was found half
drowned
I. Many men have been lost In the fog in
= their dories and nearly starved to death
before they were found, while others are
picked up by outgoing steamers. The
scene when the fishing fleet returns after
great losses is described as heartrending.
Then there Is always the uncertainty, and
many men have been picked up and car
ried to foreign countries.
, The losses from the whaling fleets are
= not so great as formerly, but 80 years ago
they were very noticeable, often amount
ing to several hundred men in year.
The vessels arc sometimes crushed in tho
ice, or q whale kills the men by demolish-
ing the boat A remarkable accident oc-
CURED some years ago, which, while In
fully equipped whaleboat, was observed
1by only one man. The whale had been
Struck and was sounding at terrific rate
of speed when in some way coil OF rope
caught about the foot of the harpooner,
and in second he was gone. The acct
dent took place before the entire crew,
but was so suddenly accomplished that
but one man saw the disappearance.
Many fatalities of the sea are laid to
\ sharks, but accidents from this source are
comparatively rare. In diligent search
for authentic instances of large sharks de.
vouring men found but two that could
be attested to- One was man whose
family knew, and the instance is well
known and remarkable for the ferocity
displayed by the fish.
In 1874 was fishing off the isles of
. Shoals with cod fisherman, who told me
that when his father was n young man
there was large shark that infested the
coast which had on several occasions at
tempted to tip over boats and dine on the
occupants, and once or twice the young
man had been driven ashore by it, The
date correspondent within month with
that of tragedy which occurred about 30
miles south, or at Lynn, and which was
undoubtedly caused by the same fish, A
well known citizen of Lynn went ont with
fishing party, and after short time left
the schooner, taking II small dory, which
ne anchored not 900 feet from the vessel.
suddenly he was heard to shout and those
on the vessel distinctly saw huge shark
throw itself over the dory and sink it,
A making off with the unfortunate man,
>whose cries for aid were Of no avail.
The other one was that of sailor on
the Mediterranean who left a vessel to
take swim in the sea. A shark was seen
swimming toward him by some of the
crew, who started to row out to meet the
swimmer, but before they reached the
spot the shark had seized him and cut
him in two.
Inc little shark, or dogfish, of the New
England coast has not very savory repu
eatiOn In these waters have seen them
IN such schools that it was impossible to
IN, Throw a line over without their biting it,
Ihey appeared to be starving, and on one
occasion bit sail into shreds that was
hanging overheard.
lhese ravenous fish appear so suddenly
'iiat recall one day one could not be
seen IN that portion of coast, and the next
uay the fishermen all gave up their regu-
iar ilshlng and devoted themselves to dog
load
At such times 1t is extremely danger
Jus . 10 tall overheard, and numerous fatal
i,leS point to the conclusion that these lit
VIC sharks are as dangerous as a man eater
oh one occasion some children were play
ng ABOUT the deck of schooner when one
,oll overheard, and by the time the crew
,e"ched tho side the body was surrounded
W ivlng ball Of dogflshes and torn I'm
pieces A fisherman, having left his dory
e eas In cove during run of these
ush, swan out to IL and was caught by
'nein and killed In sight of his friends ON
Che Deach, who could not mid him.-San