The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-08-26

I sf5 -OOS purposes.
Boone. who Is good swimmer and very
fond of the water. went in bathing about
O'Clock yesterday afternoon off small
| wharf which Is built out into the bay al
the lower end Of Staten Island Charles
White "a young man about his own age
was in the water with him.
White had swan ashore and was stand
| ing on the edge of the wharf when Boone
! began leisureay swimming in
There was a sudden rush beneath the
swimmer. mighty force that seemed to
lift him up as on a huge wave. the CLEAN
Of a white belly. one glimpse Of mighty
| jaw. with shining white teeth. and then
Boone felt a savage pull at his right leg.
| He was near the wharf and the big fish
| had pulled him stiH nearer. He grasped
timber and swung himself clear Of the
water. and White grabbed him.
! Boone. when pulled UP on the wharf,
| looked behind him, but the monster dis
| appeared as he looked. White had seen
| the encounter, and he began to question
his companion at once.
| 1T was a shark" said Boone. II saw
him. 1 guess he's nipped me-" He tried
| to stand up and nearly collapsed. As
| he sank fainting to the ground, White
saw blood all over his thigh. The sea
water had restrained irs flow. and the
| shock had come to Boone all at once
when he had reached place of safety.
White summoned help. and Drs. Nc
Nickel and Walker Washington came to
| the wharf and assisted IN carrying the
unconscious man to a shady place. where
they attended to his severely lacerated
L. ia no
the facilities of hospital. and he was
carried on to the train at Pleasant Plains
and thence to Tompkinsvine. He arrived
at the Smith infrmary about p. m, and
was at once taken TO the surgical ward
| where a careful examination of his con-
6ftion was made.
The huge monster had evidently opened
his mouth and taken one snap at the legs
of the swimmer, but luckily had not
| closed his great jaws, The mark of the
bite was clearly defined.
On the inside Of Boone's right thigh was
a cut fourteen inches long that looked like
it had been made with a knife. A great
flap Of flesh had been taken out. On the
outside of the leg there were the marks
of twenty teeth in long row. Each tooth
had pressed into the flesh from half an
inch to an inch in depth. Blood flowed
from every cut. There was also laaeral
tear of the flesh. corresponding in length
to the vicious imprint of the sharks teeth
and parallel to it, Boone had lost a great
quantity of blood
He suffered great agony during the time
eiapslng between his first fainting on the
wharf and his arrival at the hospital.
There the physicians put him under the
influence of ether and dressed his wounds
with the greatest care. The two great
g'ashes IN the flesh of the thigh required
forty stitches and 'antiseptic dressings
were piled high on the ugly holes on the
outside of the leg made by the shark S
teeth
The femora1 artery was exposed, so deep
was the laceration on the inside of the
thigh. Had il been severed Boone would
have bled to death. AT midnight last
night he was resting quietly under the in
fuence of morphine. Trained nurses were
beside him all night.
Mr.. White his companion. was over
come with horror at the experience. aud
not until last evening was he recovered
sufficiently to speak about it.
ut all came so suddenly" he said. that
I had hardly time realize the awful dam
ger Boone was in until it was adj over.
1 was standing at the end Of the wharf
getting ready for a dive. We had been
swimming about ten minutes, I should
judge, and 1 had come ashore to dry my
self in the sun and then plunge IN the
water again. My friend was not far out
and I was watching him.
II saw a great CLEAN of white almost
under him. The big fish must have been
heading toward him from the other Size,
and he rushed upon poor Boone and seem
ed to lift him up. It was just as if the
man was riding in towards me on the top
of wave-on1y the wave was white and
solid.
Boone struck out energetiCally for the
wharf, and leaned over the strngpiece
to catch his hand. 1 saw the great head
and open jaws of the shark close by Boone
and then they disappeared under the
water.
He must have closed his Jaws on Boone's
leg when my friend was swimming and
kicking, and in that way Boone prevented
him from fastening his teeth. If he had,
ne would have bitten the leg off as easily
as pair OF shears that are used TO cut
iron bars.
Just as my friend got within my reach
I saw a CLEAN of white again just under
the water. 1t seemed to be moving of
The water was not discolored with blood.
1 dtn't believe Boone began to bleed IN
1 had pulled him upon the wharf
at was all done in few seconds.
don't believe I could give any estimate of
the size of the shark. The water Is de-
captive, You know. I had one glimpse
of his open jaw and it looked fully two
feet long to me, with rows OF cleaning
white teeth.
1T makes me shudder now tot htnk Of
it. He was big fish. Perhaps he was
sixteen feet long. 1 suppose the glimpse
I got of him was his belly. It was white
and broad
I didn't know there were any sharks
around here, and so I was not prepared
TO see this one and couldn't FIX my atten-
ton on him carefully enough TO describe
him accurately. All I thought OF was
Boone's danger 1 regard his escape with
bis life as nothing short or miraculous
Those awful jaws that l saw could have
bitten him in two az the waist. believe,
10 say nothing of swapping off one Of his
legs"
Boone is a son Of DR.. ". G. Boone OF
No. $50 West Seventh street. Painted,
y. J. His friend White and he were
spending the Summer 81 the Mission aud
they had been in bathing of the Mission
pier. as It is called, every dsy since their
vacation began. The oJys Al the Ms
sion battle of this pier every day and
the oldest inha5itant' Of that part of
Staten Island never saw shark in the
waters OF Princes bay before