Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-08-19
SAW A SEA SERPENT.
A Fishy Tale That Comes From the
Pacific Coast.

From the San Francisco Chronicle.
Robert Mascanin fisherman had an
ugly experience with a sea serpent last
week while making his daily rounds at his
nets. Mascanini is by no means a meek
and timid fellow, but one of the genuine
sea type. He stands 6 feet and has a COM
stitution which alone tells of his past hard
ships. From his outward appearance one
would almost fear to approach the inii-
vidual but upon entering into conversation
with him your opinion is changed. He IS
very reticent about relating tales of hard
ships during his sea-faring life and expe-
riences with South Sea Islanders but he
acknowledges that his escapade last Tues
day eXcelled them all. His hut is situated
on the beach at Santa Barbara, and from
its outward appearance looks as if it need
ed repairs badly: but upon entering you
find yourself in small cozy apartment,
the walls of which decorated with
shells, sea MOSES and relics of every de-
scription taken from the briny deep. One
may gaze about for hours spying some new
curiosity here and there, all of which were
secured by him. After assuring him that
we We're all satisfied with everything eN-
cept his encounter with the sea serpent he
began his tale.
Last Tuesday morning I rose unusually
early, and, the weather being very favor
able, | decided to gather my nets and make
my rounds to the customers, to re-
turn to my hut at Z al ! took my lit
tie f1at-bottomed boat, and, taking advan-
tage of the little breeze, l hoisted the sail
and soon reached my first net. l dis
appointed at the small yield l received on
pulling up the net, but trusted my luck
with the others. On reaching my second
net l noticed exceptionally heavy swellS,
which is something unusual for such day.
/ unfastened one end of the net from 4
buoy and started to haul her in. when iC
seemed as If 1t was entangled with rock;
but this soon proved to be a mistake, as
felt irregular jerk. and, finally long,
steady pull, which towed the buoy and the
boat l was in for about half a mile out to
sea. had expected to land good-siZed
Jewish, maybe a whale, although the
net would have been weak resistance To
them. l knew l had something unusually
large, and determined to see what It
was. In short time the water about the
net was colored to a brick red and seemed
to thicken, foam arising In all directions
about the boat. My suspicious now
aroused to a high pitch, and 1 was deter
mined to find what kind Of monster was
entangled in my net. The water continued
to foam and hold its color, and the nearer
and closer 1 approached the center of the
net the more Shiny 1 found it. Finally
my job grew tiresome, and If ! must re-
main in my present situation much longer
my strength would give out. Finally the
violent jerking stopped for few seconds,
which gave time to collect what little
strength 1 had left. The center of the net
was reached at last, and here hideous
and blood-curdling sight attracted my att
tention. A big, black object rose slowly
to the surface. At first it had the appear<l
ance OF a Wnale out III the center u tAo
head there was a short horn about inches
long, on either side of which were small
eyes The body was long and slender, with.
a hide similar to that of a crocodile. The!
monster did not show fight until hit him
over the head with an oar, which l regret
to this day. He rose out of the water.
showing a mouth with row of long, sharp
teeth and pronged tongue from whicn.
there seemed to be issuing the red fluid
which had colored the water. 1 continued
to beat the head with the oar. infiict1ng5
l,,t ba mot tnH
them any more. 1 was anxious to land the
monster. but luck was against me. He dis;
appeared and that was the last l saw OF
him / did not want to tell this story, as
so MANY have been told about sea serpents
that 1 could not believe them to be so,
But 1 have a dread for the ocean nowl
and 1t will be some time before I have re.
covered from the effects OF the sea SER
pent.''