The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-06-04
He SEA- Asd SIRE II 81
sIonsfeS Cnpnblc ssf ORA asssi IN - e
q, i, -. Aso orinGH. se


y,sitl, the possible eScsiS ion Of T he
ssinE shark the SEA orSas5s.ss an n
v::.l pire is the largest OF IA he "a on
sters OF the deep. Az +. = IL ~ ocean
vampire. tax Ell frol:l- Che isiother. pre-
served at the British i,1,.ses.l.t.5is t.Te$
feet broad ANA before mounting
weighed twenty pounds The mother.
measured some fifteen feet in length
and quite as much in breadth.
1t is a all times a dangerous under
taking to attempt to capture one OF
these monsters. says the Sunday MaSa-
zine. but particularly 50 in the case OF
a: mother accompanied by her on
spring. She is quite capable OF reSetss--
ing the role of hunter ana hunted. at
t.cking and cnpsizng the boat contain
ing her would be captors and or seeing
that uone of them escapes alive.
Imagine writes the Hon. Niiiiann
Elliot. in describing the exciting sport
he had in hunting ocean vampires. 4
monster from sixteen to twenty feet
across the back. full three feet in
depth, possessed of powerful set neN-
ib,e flaps or wings. with which he:
drives himself furiously i'll the water
or vaults high in the air. through
which he skins like some enormous
bird. his feelers Commonly called
horns) projecting several feet beyond
his mouth and padding all the small
fry that constitute his food into that
capacious receptacle and you Will have
an idea. though an imperfect one, of
this extraordinary fish.
The SO called ''horns" to which a1lu-t
sion is made are q singular feature IN
this animal The pectoral or breast
fins, much elongated, pointed, arched IN
front. concave behind, stop short at the.
7 head. to reappear as frontal append
ages projected on. each side OF the
head. These appendnges take the form
ard character of limbs, being flexible
and capable of grasping prey and car
r,in- it to the mouth The ''feelers,
as they are called. are sometimes three
feet or more in length and are curious
Il articulated at the ends so as to re-
senlbic the fingers Of the human hand
when clinched.
In this way fishing boats and vessels
of much larger. size have been drag
ged from their mornings and In some
cases capsized by the ocean vampire
having laid hold of the anchor. An in
stance Of this kind occurred in the har-
Dor of Charleston. A schooner lying
at anchor. suddenly and seemingly or
it's own voIition. to the Amusement and
alarm OF those on DOafu. started aL d
furious rate across the harbor. Upon
nearing the opposite shore its course
changed so abruptly as almost to cup
size the vessel. and 1t recrossed the
harbor to its former mornings
These mysterious flights across the
harbor were repeated Il number or
times in the presence of hundreds of
astonished specta tors. who We're utter
ly at loss to account for the phenoIn-
enon. The migrations ceased as sud
denly as they began. Not till then did
the back and undulating fukes OF an
immense ocean vampire. appearing
above the water Of the harbor. disclose
the motive power that caused 1t all.
One of the curious habits of the fish
is to throw somersaultS. sometimes at
a considera BILE distance beneath the
surface. sometimes at the surface ana
sometimes in the air above the surface.
The reason for this peculiar practice,
which is kept up for hours. has. so far
as the writer knows, never been COIL
jectured At times the great fish will
throw himself bodily as much as ten
or twelve feet into the air.