The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-02-19
Rhyme of the sea-FarinE Man.

From he LstoiSton Evening Journal
Ipurchascd a glass of stin Maine grog for = salty son
And he conadcntially leaned on the bar and spun
this yarn to me;
"'Twa, down on the aldGe of the sarasos' in the
That I think / see the dumdest sight that ever .
sailor viewed.
We was dobbin' along with dumpy sails in = nigh
When the forward watch Civ a good long squint aud
he yapped a loud alarm.
And there aaost. two points to port. WAS . shark
The biggest shark I'vo ever seen outside of the Car
ribcun.
The old man fred a mighty cuss and he yelled TO the
second mate,
Sling over the biggest hook yo've got with sgood big
plug o. bait!
We dragged 'er astern and his nobs come on and thon
with a mighty spiosh.,. 49, .
went. by goshl
But when he skipped two miles TO lee and begun 10
We nggnred he found the lunch he had . rayther
too hearty meal.
Yet right behind in tho quarter wash the critter
And though he gobbled the bait We threw, he
allus got away.
way he showed his spunk:
30 we named him Pete and We shared salt hosB and
tossed him a daily junk.
He got the orts of the hsh we caught and. all in all.
Atwo-hoss wagon wouldn't haul the grub that crit
ter ct.
Then one day Jones. the nkoliest man We had in all
Went OF tho rail with 9 swinging sail and Pete no
ct him. too.
From that time on we tipped our caps TO the razor-
We tipped our caps and pulled . bow in . most
profound salute.
For twas only due from a decent crew to honor
Though twas odd iii own to have a tomb ahoat on
the ocean wave.
And the old man ordered the hsh lines coiled. for he
To bob for a cemetery lot; so Pete swum on tho
same.
swum on the same. though we come to sec that he
For he grew as thin's a belayin' pin on that eol-
burned appetite.
And we couldn't ngger the secret out. though the
That slowed tween decks in the sharks insides WAS
. bastin' Zig tape worm.
As we didn't have no vermifuEe we could only mourn
And steal salt boss when the mate warn't round and
give him lots to eat.
But at last he rolled his CLASSY eyes and Civ an awful
And trunned his belly up to view and drifted OF
astern.
He rolled and sogEed on a logy swell like . nut cake
And it 'peared to all there was suthin' wrong with
the shark we was lockin' at.
so the old man ordered the gig crew up and the bos'n
And away we spIoshed. with tho mate ahead. a-gtp.
pin a big harpoon.
ne UlunE IL kDlIk wien NO 10" bbA VIZ
backed like all possessed,
But that shark was sleepin' sound, you bet. for we
never broke his rest.
We never broke his peaceful snooze. though PUNK
to the eyelet head
Went rippin' in that big harpoon. for you 500. the
shark was dead.
And the old man ordered an ortopsy. for tho thing
seemed mighty queer
That an able.bodicd, hearty shark was deadern q
door knob here.
30 the mate was medical hammer aud he straddled
And laid him open from dock to keel with one
almighty whack.
Now listen close while l tell the rest, for this Is the
story's peth-
You NAV take my mob for a scuttle butt, IL the
shark warn't starved to death.
Starved to death. though the sea was full Of the fat
test kind o. tsh.
And though a mariner. plump and sound, had fallen
in his dish
Starved. though he had In his gorged insides III
bet . hundred weight
OF every kind of u floating thing from a Goldfish down
to bait.
And this was how: He'd spied. wo Judged, an empty
cask Rhoat,
And bein' a %gIutton he grabbed the essk and tucked
it down his throat.
The cask we found had an open end. the bottom was
good and stout.
The shark had swallowed tho whole end fuat, tho
open end was out.
And ev'ry mossel the critter OF was scooped by the
His v%ittiss failed to reach the spot and so the poor
shark died."
This is q sample Of weird. wild yarns tho mariners
relate
State. HOLMAN +. DAY.