Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1899-11-01
SAILORS AND SHARKS.
How the Men Keep the Man Eaters
at "a Respectful Distance.


ut Respectful Distance.
1.-TWO facts that may seem some
what peculiar to shore folks" said an
eN-sailOr of the navy. ARE. first. that
only about one-hnlf OF the memo
wars men in our service or in any 9th
er service. in fact. know how to swim.
and, second. that sharks are the most
cowardly OF all living creatures. II Is
odd that SO large a proportion of the
naval sailors don't know how Ia swim,
but IL Is probably due to the fact that
n great number Of our memo wars
men nowadays come from the interior
Of the country. where there is no wa
ter for them TO learn how 10 swim.
In the old navy-and l put all of my
service in the old navy, So called-the
man who couldn't swim was. rs soon
as the fact was discovered by his ship
mates, lnconGnently chucked over the
side when swimming call went. and
he just had TO swim. OF course the
men wouldn't let a fellow who didn't
know how TO swim drown before their
eyes. but they would see to II that he
made hard stab at the art of swim
ming before they picked him up. If he
didn't succeed in swimming the first
time, overheard he would go the very
next time all hands took Il plunge over
the side at swimming call. and thus all
Of the men serving on the old line of
packets became swimmers before they
left the service. 1t is forbidden TO
throw a nonswimmer into the water
now, but l think il would bc n good
thing if the practice were still contin-
ued.
The officers OF the ships today insist
upon the apprentice lads learning TO
swim, but they let the nOnswimmcrs
among the newly recruited landSmcn
go along without learning. There have
been numerous drowning incidents in
our navy within recent years. owing
to the inability of men who were 9th
erwise excellent sailors in the easy art
Of swimming
AS 10 the cOwardliness of sharks
that fact Is well known among men
who have been much TO sea in south
ern waters infested by man caters.
The fiercest man eater that ever bullied
poor little pilot into acting as n food
scout for him will get out Of the sea
way in a mighty big hurry If n swim
mer, noticing the sharks approach.
sets up noisy splsshing. 4 shark is
In deadly fear Of any sort Of living
thing that splashes in the water.
Down among the south sea islands
the natives never go in sea bathing
alone, but always In parties Of half a
dozen or So In order that they may
make the greatest hubbub in the wa
ter and thus scare the sharks away
Once In awhile a. too venturesome
swimmer among these natives foolish
" detaches himself from his swim
ming party and mOmentarily forgets
TO keep up his splashing. Then there
is n sudden swish. and the man eater
comes up behind him like flash and
gObbles him.
II know naval officer who, down in
the harbor of Acapulco, Mexico. one
afternoon n few years ago stepped on
a sleeping man eater in shallow water
while bathing. The officer gave him
effort to wade in TO the beach. He ex-
pected every minute to have both Of
his legs Topped off by the sharks teeth
In wading in he, of course, made n lot
Of disturbance in the water and this
is what saved him. When, TO his own
surprise he finally stepped up on the
beach and looked back for his shark,
he saw the man eaters fin cleaving
the blue waters of the bay hundreds Of
feet away, bound outward. "-Washing
ton Star.