The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1902-07-25
UNDER-SEA SHARKlNG,
TALE OF A DEEP-sEA DIVER.
BY ARTHUR r. MoFARLANE.


A"''h OF one OF MS sons suits
IT amt what you could call a right
handsome piece Of tailoring Is it?' he
said. THE waists just a triaa too
much Ike a sea-cows and as for The
trousers, an elephants amt much bag
gier. / don't wonder that when a maa
sets into clothing like this, and then
crowns it with a head-plece like a
Falleyed lookout lamp, a shark never
takes him for anything human and
catable.
No a shark won't touch a man I'm
armor And they're not 50 mighty
fierce after human flesh out Of it. On
a black coast the nativesll tell you
they can run the surf and dive for
coins without much danger because
'eea-tigers' hardly ever touch any but
white men; and almost all whites in
shark waters have a firm belief that
dark meat is the only sort the brutes
care about
AS for their cruelty-though I've
got a shuddering, vivid recollection OF
the fury of one of them when wound
ed don't believe much in that eth
er When they make a kill they tear
it to pieces and down it the quickest
they can, which isn't more brutal t6an
nature Indeed, what's made me sick
hundred times has been the cruelty
of sailors and fishermen toward them.
I like fish in a pan Just little better
than I like them in the water But
It's worse animal than I've ever run
across that deserves torture. And sea
beasts are. as a rule, the most harm
less, easy-going, goodnatured tribe
imaginable.
"AIy only adventure with a shark
was In the spring when I hired with
regular wrecling company, and had my
first job south of Cuba. That was the
rising OF the famous Georgia Belle.
which was about the unlucldest and
costliest yacht that ever kept a mil
lionaire from worrying lest he'd die
rich.
con this occasion she'd run on one
g those saw-tooth reefs off Cayo Lar
go in the Jardinillos;. and after giving
her owner and his friends just time
enough to get away in the boats, she'd
backed and took to the bottom. first
bow and then stern. When l climbed
down to look at her, I found 30 feet
of her forward sheathing from keel
10 cutwater riddled and torn like a
biscuit-tin target And the first part
Of my Job was to sling myself over
her side, like a house painter from a
roof, and put 'sticking-plaster OF
concrete and canvas over every one
al those thousand odd holes. 1t was a
months contract and promised to be
a mighty tedious one, too.
''But UP above we had considerable
diversion. Not only were there the
crews of the tug, the derrick and sup
ply-boat, but there was a Batabano
sponging-sloop raldng off the reef, and
ber officers used to come over even
ings and entertain us with music
They had only a cranky mouth-organ
and a broken guitar; but we all used
to join in the choruses.
whether it was the racket or the
refuse from the cooks galley we
brought ourselves a visitor. The third
day was down, a heavy shadow sud
denly swung over my head. At first
l thought the tug had warped round
but when I looked up saw ts4
that seemed as big as a topedo-boat
1t hung above me there in the under
sea twilight, slowly furling and unfurl
ing it's tail like propeller standing
up against tideway.
II knew what it was. My whole
inner machinery seemed to stop short
nv blood went cold and heavy as mer
curry. and clutched at my sling cables
10 keen myself from falling. What X
heard of a man in armor being saf2
from sharks went out of my head like
the bubbles from my helmet; ant
when at last the 'sea-tiger' sleweC
around. and slid quietly off through
the blackblue wall of ocean behind
me. I caught at the signal-line as If
were drowning.
up on the tug, though, they only
thought it was a great joke. They
rad seen the man-eater The mate
said he seemed to him about tn'
length of the Great Eastern, and the
mouth on him looked like churcl
door hung with icicles Tivey, tn'
engineer, declared it was true tina
sharks had the power of throwing of
electricity, for at first it was as i
they had a galvanized jumping-jack a
the end of the lifeline.
ct ended with my going down again
looking silly and feeling mighty snak!
about the middle But I wasn't trou
bled again that day.
~Yet next morning the shark wa