The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-06-13
SHARKS AT CHARLESTON.

Great Difficulty.
 The left arm of negro man, mu-
 tllated and mangled was cut from the
 stomach of a ten-foot shark which was
 captured after a desperate struggle by
 the crew of the lightship Tuesday af-
 ternoon. The arm was undoubtedly
 that of one of the fifteen fishermen lost
 in the squall off the Eastern Patches
 Friday. When brought to the city yes-
 terday morning by the fishing smack
 Victoria and delivered to Coroner
 Vaughan the lacerated limb was exam
 ined closely by the fishermen who es-
 capped the storm, but there was no
 mark or sign by which it could be iden-
 tiled The negro was probably dead
 when his body was seized by the
 sharks.
 With this latest discovery at the
 lightship the evidence is almost con
 elusive that the crews oboard the three
 fishing boats were drowned The
 searching parties which went to sea
 Saturday and Sunday came back with
 stories of the numerous sharks seen skirting the waters and apparently hunting for prey. These rapacious
 monsters seemed to have detected an
 odor of death. and many of them, fol- lowed the boats doggedly. They splash ed through the waves, darted back and forth, and followed water trails which might have been leading to where bod ies were afloat,
 Two of the boats which managed to escape the fury of the storm pulled toward the lightship and remained t6nra Erilou ,ioht ha oba l. followed at distance. They returned toward the Patches, but early Satur- day morning they were seen again. The men aboard the llghtship cast out a line, but without making a capture, and the sharks disappeared. They ap- peared again at intervals and then rushed away. nt
 Tuesday, however several of the ten- foot monsters swan near the lightship, | and in the afternoon several of the | men on board let down rope line on | which had been attached strong hook | The bait was supplied. One shark dived | playfully about the hook, jerked at the bait, and then disappeared. He came back again and seemed bolder
 All at once he opened his big jaws, took in the hook, and started away with the prize. When the rope was hauled in taut the monster squirmed and fought. The men holding the line were experts at shark fishing, however, and they let the rope slack oft, and by the peculiar twisting known only to the experts gave the shark jerk which his big mouth to open for gal Ions of water to pour in. After this  became groggy, although he was still fighting vcously and skipping at the boat while his eyes glared with anger He saw the desperate situation and tried hard to escape. But the line was drawn in more and more, and fnlaly, when weak and whipped the shark was dragged on deck and Jay there twitching and dying. Quick work oy the crew ended hi sexistence.
 The lightshp crew had suspected that he sharks were out prospecting for the lead fishermen, and 1t was decided to I 'ip the stomach open to see If the mon ;ter captured had feasted on the un- - ortunates Long knives were forced nto the tough meat and the flesh was . orn apart. After digging for the e stomach the crew pulled out strange bject, which proved to be the arm of
 man. The carcass was removed and he arm preserved It was wrapped in L bag, packed closely in rock salt, and hen sewed in a canvas In the same manner that bodies are prepared for Q urial at sea. When the fishing smack n rictoria hove In sight she was signaed rom the lghtship and turned her N curse nearer in. Captain Abram Gray, I command of the smack. was depu- zed to bring the arm to the city, and he small bag was swung over the rail- lg and he took it in.
 Fishermen talked a great deal about he finding of the arm and they won- cred if the shark had feasted on it af- . ar the death of the unfortunate man, r whether it had been snapped off hllo the man vas alive. There has al- avs been more or less dispute about hat shark would do with a. live man, nd the general belief of experts is nat a man can swim among sharks ithout being harmed. As soon as he
 dead, however the body is quickly spatched by the rowing ghoul of the "a. The belief here seems to be that le shark ran upon a dead fisherman nd then feasted.
 When the Norwegian bark Drot was rocked off the coast of Florida year : more ago and the shipwrceked crew \ 1t baoard a raft and drifted aimlessly, icy were followed from day to day by Gj school of sharks waiting to seize the ' 'daVers as they fere thrown over 7 )ard. Many of the sailors died and