The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-10-30
A SHARK STORY.
How Brave War Correspondents Stand
by Each other i'm Time Of Peril

|
The centre of an admirlns group In the
| coy corner Of Park row pharmacy thr
other night was the sure Enough lie
turned war Correspondent" Less fortu-
nate newspaper men. who have
Never seen the road to Santiago,
Never told Sampson how to blockade
well. they looked and probably felt as
| the members of d home guard regiment
would if the rough riders should march
up Broadway. That Is. ike 80 cents. But
they cheerfuly bought drinks ior the
| s. Il. X. W. c.. and listened with becom~
| ing awe 10 his tales of adventures on the
fevcr-blasted soil OF Cuba and on the
| hurricane-swept Caribbean Sea
There were signs of departure when
| the early editions Of the morning papers
| came in. but the War Correspondent
| sprung his piece de resistance, and .
round Of drinks was speedily produced.
Never heard OF the shark we-that -
I-caught off Matanzas during the block
ade. dje?" inquired the returned hero.
"Oh. tell us ali about It. was naturally
| the response Of the stay-at-home crowd.
! wei. he was six feet from tail 70
muzzle Thought I'd never get him
| aboard Skipper OF my yacht said he'd as
soon tackle right whale. Ny! but that
| shark was vicious The minute we got
him aboard l topped him over on his
back"
Weren't you afraid he bite your
| innocently asked the youngest reporter in
| the bunch.
Say, my boy" with a fatherly glance.
don't ever go to war IN the tropics IL
you are afraid Of bullets. fever. or
sharks. but. as l was saying. / twisted
Mr.. Shark oyer on his back and told my
| second engineer to cut the hook out. HIS
| knife slipped and he cut that shark wide
| open. You can guess. even n you never
saw a shark. what he had in his midst.
| Well we threw his works overheard, and
stll the Vicious man-eater showed fight.
| | didn't have time to waste, so We chuck
| ed Mr. shark overheard after his fix
| lures"
There was a pause. The hero gathered
| himself. ar II for nnal burst OF speed.
| and continued:
MAY | never live 10 see another war
| If that six~foot shark didn't swallow his
! insides At one gulp. then duck MS head.
make straight for my yacht. and butt
! her like a mad bull at least half dozen
| times Then he SWAN away. That's all
Men looked at each other with that
twitchlng Of the eye that means well.
Ananias never started with this chap.
There was a low whistle. a sigh from the
youngest reporter. who felt In duty bound
to buy the drinks. and one man Drawer
than the rest ventured to blurt ont:
That's the biggest fish story and the
damnedest lie that was ever sprung in
Perry's back room"
Hold on. Deacon" interrupted the
man who. having come In for a dose of
malaria medicine and had fingered on
the fringe of the group during the recital
of the shark story. Having himself only
recently returned from cuba, where he
as a war correspondent fought and-was
-bled. he received respectful attention.
my friend has told remarkable
story" ne said quietly. but firmly, but
l know he tells the truth"
The s. T.. h. w. c. gasped: What
You can prove that my story is true.
Come off. You weren't within 500 miles Of
the spot when we carved that shark"
Fright You are" responded War Cor
respondent Number Two. but ! saw that
same shark while cruising from Hayti
| 80 Santiago. He was a cOrker for size.
Whom he approached my dispatch boat he
turned turtle. We lowered the wherry
and lassoed the shark Gentlemen
seam running down that sharks belly
showed plainly that he had been ,cut oren
| and sewed up. I take it. by some friendly
shark"
The clerk began mixing n double dose
Of malaria specific. but the man who had
stood FOR his friends fish yarn moved
toward the door saying as he left: yes
that shark was sewed up, probably by
one OF his fellow sharks. one Of the chaps
at Cape Haytien that charged war cor.
RESPONDENTS sos ton for coal Good
night."-New York Sun