The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-08
like the dep.r,ed bison Of our own country. tho

species Is almost extinct,
Notwithstanding It's thick hide and stiff brisuoS.
the manatee forms levoriie morsel OF iood Tor
the hordes OF savage blue sharks and other SEQ
pirates that usually swarm Ground these marine
with which the sea COW is gifted the creature
would have been exterminated long before man
kind came to be party 10 It's DESTRUCTION Soon
after birth tho youngsters rapidly accumulate
bulk, and with increasing age comes ,he mar
yel9s speed Which enables them generally soS to
stantly bounding them In spite Of It's great
size and apparent unweldineSs the manatee
mails, and this appears the more remarkable from
its seeming lack OF pr pelling power. Inc IN,
would indicate a lack Of piopuisiye force in con.
sideIaton Of the great weight Of body and II
would seem scarcely possible for the bulky eIsa
10 give this body the wonderful npe,us which
IL certainly attaina Unlike other natives OF the
sEarp p nor Clean cut as is the case with the shark
herring blue fish or d ," 5p% n2 no, glsSed on
es aaa h. up anr ooT IN
respect from the conventional lines Of good pro.
peller The porpoise Is the only other fish that
has its tail fashioned in a similar manner
The stlng-ray. member OF the skate family, IL
another dangerous inhabtant Of Cuban waters
from 100 10 iooo pounds I've al great depths, and
are ldom found lnshore; but rays from SO to 5o
pounds are often encountered near the land, ana
The Ash is a large, broad. fat-beled creature
appenduge at the end OF the back, and il has a
long slender tail that reminds one much OF
iapiat WITH which its prey may first be iassoed
and then the barbed spine finishes the work by
lscerntlng the victim in tnghuul man manner Inc
Of view. and has no friends IN this or any other
latitude
The drum fsh Is a huge game fish that Is very
plentiful all along the Cuban coast, Its limit i9
about $50 pounds, and should an inexperienced
N
requires skilfll hand to play the drum, who
generally pulls like cart horse and Is as stub
born as a mule 4 ten-year-old Cuban lad was
snatched overheard by hundred pound drum
near this Place last week and the father only
seyeIiqg the line which ~ become s enntangle led
around the little ones WIN Drum hsh IN this
forty or fifty pounds in weight and they run in
such enormous schools that their noise at night,
when coasting along the shore is distinctly heard
on land Their scales are used for the manu-
facture Of buttons
The larges, game and edible fish in the world
iewhsh This Jumbo Of the tropics is found par
ticulaTly plentiful, along the coast Of Cuba. and.
big game, local fishermen prefer to trihe with
some other species rather than Jewish, for he
ger than fun in sharing one Of these big fellows
Of the deep Tho Jewish reaches a weight Of
800 pounds or more. and is the largest scaled fsh
that swims He IL an everlasting and powerful
fighter. and as he takes all sorts Of bait greedily
this fish Ia. perhaps, responsible for the loss OF
more tackle than any other inhabitant of southern
waters An instance occurred recently near here
S where aTEg Jewish essy snapIed shaIk
otS Hn case Happened lately in ch yaW boat
was towed many miles seward before the fellow
was finally shot and captured The astonished
Ash ride Cmuch against their wild and when they
brought their prize into Guantanamo ha,boI
entire, so they cut the fish up and the aggregate
weight OF the pieces amounted to 800 pounds
The Jewish Is really an ovcrgrown or giant perch,
resembling in outline and coloring a magnifed
tautog or blackfsh
II there Is 1ne thing more than another which
racitv, II is the shark family which infests Cuban
waters They more numerous than the i'm
agination can picture them. and are constantly
lowering around to snap UP anything that may
go overheard Some condemned commissary
stores were thrown into the bay from here not long
such rubbish went floating out TO sea There
we're canned goods in boxes old bacon bacon era s
the hospital such as mattresses, pillows &c As
soon as they scented II the blue sharks and ham
mer heads came crowding into the harbor and
pretty soon i was regular picnic they had in
wrestling with the various condemned articles
Boxes were crushed and cans swallowed whole
The bacon crates received the most attention, but
once in a while mattress or pillow would DO
half swallowed before the mistake was discovered
Finding these not SO digesti6le i ives amusing
darted for the bacon crates and boxes Tho
curious spectacle was witnessed until both pirates
sea Small shovel nose sharks arc a great an
noyance TO the local Fishermen. Upon hooking
light in pressing the gristiy comb Of the noso
In this Handicapped condition the Young shark
surface, only to be Swallowed whole by some can.
nibel relative shooting up from below: The
these coral reefs, also tho hammer head as men
toned, the sand shark, tho basking shark and q
enEe S cun fss ne With blue
sharks. and the natives dread the monster more
than any other living creature on tho land or in
| Who has ever heard Of a balloon Ash? Not
the little putting fellows that are so annoying to
but huge monster that plows the seas far away
: from land. and one who is worthy compeer
Of the great unknown and highly respected sea
out Jacrac, Hayti, While in latitude 20 degrees
north, longitude rs degrees west descred 10 tho
to be the wreck Of a small vessel Altering his
course he ran down 10 the supposed wreck, a
from s s ys o @ book Viii seT
| plain the adventure:
Time, $50 A NJ. June 4 AtG A NJ. the
| z \. NJ. we came up 10 II II proved TO be large
and vicious looking sea monster such as ! had
appeared to be about 90 feet long, and The tail
about 60 feet, with forked ends each fork about
feet long II he'd two feet or fms not unlike mike
II feet high out q the water and ives fully, 40
Zee, in breadth Its shape was oval, and i, had
ridges running fore and aft II had a white back
and brown sides and at the time neared il was
moving through the water at the rate Of two miles
an hour, The body seemed 10 be inflated with
air. and looked very much like balloon half
submerged. The crew which he'd called from
their hunks, stood with myself on the starboard
side OF the vessel, the second mate going alott.
and Witnessed the monster for upward OF an
hour or until it permitted the balloon TO grad
ually collapse end then SINK into the depths
There may be more or less Imagination in tho
above account but a sea captain would scarcely
make an entry OF the kind unless there was some
thing in it. Al any rate il is starter for the
season. and now that the hitherto unknown bal
loon fish has al last been discovered, We may
hopefully look for other accounts OF the creature
| before tho snow begins to 1y.
| Loot NJ NAI; GREW Fat.
| William KlatZ Takes Advantage of an Un-
| usual Course of Fortune.
| READING. Pa, Oct. IA great surprise was