The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-12-20
A SHARK STORY.
Alleged TO BE Harmless and Caward-
" Creatures.

Alleged 10 he Harmless and Caward-
" Creatures.
From the New York Commercial Ad-
Verttser.
The sunburned man from the West
Indies was telling stories of his
travels to a group of friends in New
York club. After he had told them how
he choked the alligator with his bare
hands somebody asked whether he had
ever had any trouble with sharks.
NO" he replied. nobody ever has
any trouble with sharks. Contrary to
the general opinion, sharks don't bite.
Sitting on the fo'k'sle head in the
| dogwatches with tough old shellbacks
who had sailed all the seas. / have
heard hundreds of shark yarns, but
not one of them was backed up by evil
dence on which you would hang a
dog.
AFTER Bill the Bo'sun or Jem the
Cook had concluded his horrific story
of crunched bones and CORY troubles,
one asks, Well, but did you see IT
| happens?
" No, mate the romancing mariner
admits. 1 didn't 'zactly see il; but my
mate Dave, what sailed with me two
years ago in the Ocean Lass, e heerd
it from a cove e met down TO Homo
luler.
This is always the best evidence you
can get in support of a shark story
1t is difficult to find a sailor who
does not firmly believe that If he
tumbed overheard he would be COB
bled up in a brace of shakes; but it
is still harder-indeed, it is impossible
TO find a sailor who has seen anybody
gobbled up.
THE reason is plain enough. Sharks
CT he
cause they are the most timid fish in
the sea. At Kingston, Jamaica, have
fished for sharks repeatedly, and have
seen several caught. The way they
take the bait shows clearly that they
would never attack a man swimming in
the water.
Fishing for Sharks.
"You bait your hook with big lump
of salt pork or dead horse, and wait
as patiently as you can. Presently
you see the fin of Mr.. Shark rise above
the CLASSY surface of the water and
slowly move toward the bait. He re-
connoitres it carefully, then dashes to-
ward it at the top of his speed. You
think he is going to gulp it down in
the Voracious manner aScribed to him
in books, but he does nothing of the
kind. When he gets within a few
yards of the bait he stops, wheels
| IOuliQs anu uelSAAGo away again. POA 40 20
| for a mile or two. Presently he comes
back and repeats the same performance
several times, until at last, after
| swimming round and round the bait
! in narrowing circles, he makes up his
mind to bolt it. He only does so IL
you keep your line absolutely still; the
least movement will frighten him away
altogether.
Kingston harbor is full of sharks,
but hundreds of boys and men battle
there every day, and not one of them
is ever bitten. There is not a single
| shark bite on record. l had a daily
swim in that harbor for several years,
| sometimes going miles from shore, but
though l often saw sharks they never
troubled me. One day a negro boy
dived off a wharf right on to the back
of a big ground shark. The shark
was scared to death, and dashed away
like a streak of creased lightning but
the boy stayed in the water, and en-
joyed his swim.
Afraid of a Pig.
TN Savannah Mar harbor in ia
maica, once saw a tiny pig swimming
to shore from a coasting vessel. 1t
was surrounded by four or five big
sharks. but not one of them dared to
| touch it. 1t kicked it's little legs about
splashing the water, and soon frighten-
ed all the sharks away.
THE steamship Spoke Hall foundered
in the Arabian Sea few years ago,
and the second officer was the sole sur
vivor. For two days he chung to a
plank until he was rescued at the point
Of death by a passing vessel. Dur
ing all that time several sharks were
around him, but none dared touch him.
There is hardly a tropical port which
is not full of sharks, and yet in all
nYsfa n rafl Ivy
and nobody is devoured. The voracity
of the shark is a myth evolved from
the vivid Imagination of generations of
marine Munchausens.
The FerOciOus Barracouta.
But there is one fish OF which the
swimmer in tropical waters has good
reason to be afraid. 1t is the barracou-
ia, which belongs to the pike tribe,
but grows to a much larger size than
the ordinary pike. l once saw one as
long as five feet-and saw it, too, when
l was in the water enjoying a swim
with a friend. AS it was only about
scared, and hurried ashore as quickly
as we could. Luckily, the barracuda
| did not follow. Probably it was as
frightened as we were.
1.-THE barracuda ought to have the
sharks reputation. Fishermen and
bathers in the tropics fear it more
than they do the shark. 1t cannot
devour a man, but it can nip Off his
| finger or bite out a lump of flesh in
some vital part. and it will usually do
so if 1t gets a chance. 1t is easily the
most ferocious of all the fishes-the
real tiger of the seas
1T is strange that the timorous
shark, who faithfully performs the use
full work of a scavenger in tropical
harbors, is accounted a monster of fe-
rocity, while the vicious barracuda
has a clean sheet in the worlds opin-
| ion."