The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-10-07
SHARKS IN AUGUST SEAS
EXCITING SPORT WHICH MATTHIAS
DUNN TELLS ABOUT IN. con-
- TEMPORARY REVIEW
FUN IN ENGLISH CHANNEL
Fishermen Have to Kill the blue
Shark to Save Their Seines
Well as Their
Fish.

Capturing the big English blue sharks
from a fishing boat in August, when
sharks are most active, is exciting sport
Matthias Dunn tells about 1t in the Con-
| temporary Review.
'It was on fine morning in August,
just before sunrise, when one of taesc
massive monsters took my bait. knew
my line and hook were good-more than
could break with all my strength. In
the contest the creature took the line
from me again and again, but by con-
t!nued efforts [ managed each time to
turn it back toward the boat, and to in
,crease the length of line at my feec. ]
was fishing on the starboard quarter near
the stern, and my companion, stout,
six-foot man of twenty years, was asleep
in the cuddy. In the midst of the hat
tie by much shouting, I got him to I'M
derstand my position, and just as the
beast came in sight of the boat he came
back, gan in hand, and there was this
monster steering off and along by her
side, and working its white nicitating
membrane off and on its eyes with a
fury little understood unless actually
seen.
Now is your time, Joe, it's beau
ty; give him your weight! 1 shouted;
but instead of doing this he turned his
to rror-stricken face on me and whis-
pered, It's the devil himself cannot
touch him. and leaving the gaff by my
side he darted back into the cuddy and
shut the door. Now knew my work;
but what was one man in battling with
Of
trated energy? BY main force I dragged
it alongside and nipped the line under
the cleat with one hand and gated at
him with the other: but the moment |
touched the beast he took the line from
me, when had to drop the gaff and
nip the line with both hands. The
strain, however, was too much for my
gear, and with a violent wrench he broke
the line IT, was OF.
"At the entrance the English chan
nelb the boldness and violence of these
sharks in the warmer months of the
year must always be considered by all
drift mackerel fishermen. Consequently
the nets have TO be watched with srnat
care, and no matter what amount of fish
may be going into them, with the first
sign of sharks the nets must be hallIed
in at once, for the moment these brlites
see the fish they are sure to attack
them and woe betide the nets when this
happens, for with the first snap, so sharp
are their teeth, net and fish are brougnl
are their teeth, net and fish are brought
away together, and both are quickly
swallowed. 1 have more than once
known a fleet of 100 SAIL or fishing boats
with total crew of 500 men, driven off
to sea and compelled to relinquish pay.
ing mackerel fishing by the persistent
violence of these creatures.
As the summer advances some of the
pilchards, which spend their winter and
spring in the English channel in moving
westward are usually off the coasts Of
Cornwall in August Here they come in
contact with these water pirates who fol-
low them toDar the land, worrying and
feeding on them ais they go; and here the
wretched business of tearing and eating
the pilchard nets is often gone through.
something on the same lines as is done
with the mackerel nets When the piIch-
ards are fairly on the Cornish coast. as a.
rule, the sharks keep on the other edge
times rush into the bays and keep there
the sharks seldom following them in
quantities, for the blue shark will not
remain long inside of twenty-five faith
oms of water.
Sometimes when the fishermen are dis
satisfied with the inshore fishery they will
push out into deep water and try to take
stock of what pilchards are in the wider
seas. 1t is on these occasions that the
fisherman sometimes gets what he never
expected. 1t was IN case like this that
the master Of Galatea, In the summer Of
1875, caught twenty five of these mon
steers. The crew declared to me there
would have been no difficulty in their
Of any money value and, although there
were pilchards nere, this fact stopped
all fishing IN that direction
"On another occasion was on board