Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1904-10-14

power of life and death over all the
Inhabitants of the mighty deep.
what about sharks?"I hear some
reader say. The shark is fraud, a
fakir, a sneak and coward. He eats
carrion and attacks only cripples and
weaklings; he is disgusting to look
at. Every deep-sea fisherman holds
the shark in utter contempt, not fear.
He Is the most despised inhabitant
OF the ocean. The only man shark
ever attacks Is dead man or man
the shark thinks Is dead. Get the
shark once for all in your mind as
the hyena of the sea.
The swordfish is ruler by divine
right" If there ever was one. He
looks every inch king. He Is the
incarnation of independence, courage,
strength and speed. He eats nothing
in open battle, and when angered or
wounded he will attack anything
afoat. The killing of the swordfish
is more suggestive of hunting big
game than of catching any kind OF
fish. Indeed the sport may be justly
compared to hunting lions or grizzly
bears. The element of danger is, |
believe, even greater, for these ami
mails are not more ferocious when
wounded than is the swordfish, and
you have the added danger of being
drowned if upset by one of their
charges.
It was o'clock one July morning.
The sun made the eastern sky look
like a fire in the oil tanks at Green
point The Earl and Nettie, two
master, sailed out of Block Island har-
Dor under power" with Capt. Tai at
the wheel, bound for the swordfshing
grounds, thirty miles to sea off Mon
tauk Point
The proper equipment for hunting
swordfish is a two-masted schooner,
having twenty-five horse power
gasoline engine to furnish power"
for rapid maneuvering, and crew of
six men, who are not only expert sail
ors, but are also expert swordfish
hunters, as this is very special and
dangerous kind Of sport, and one
which novices had better let alone. A
heavy bar of iron is firmly bolted to
the free end of the schooner's bow
spirit; it is long enough to reach to
the waistband of an average man, and
stand perpendicular and almost at a
right angle to the bowsprit. A strong
iron band bent into half circle is
welded at it's middle to the free end
of the upright bar, the half circle be-
ing large enough to admit mans
body. The free ends of this semi
circular band are braced by iron bars,
which slant backward and are bolted
to the sides of the bowsprit some dis
lance from it's end. This structure is
called the pulpit" And it makes it
possible for man to stand safely on
the very end of the bowsprit with
both hands free while he leans
against the semi-crcular band, which
catches him around the middle. The
man in the pulpit" is called the
STRIKER" and it is his business to
drive the dart into the swordfish. He
has a wooden pole some fifteen feet
long, in one end of which an iron rod
two feet long is firmly set. A barbed
dart, made of brass or bronze, four
inches long, is loosely fitted on the
end of this rod. In the middle of the |
dart there is hole, in which thin,
strong rope is fastened. This rope |
passes taut along the pole and is
grasped by the strikers hand along |
with the pole, and thus the dart is
kept in position on the end of the iron |
rod until it Is driven through the |
swordfish, when the striker let's go |
the rope and draws back the rod and
pole, leaving the dart buried in the
fish's body or hanging below its belly
and at right angles to it, thus rem
dering it impossible to pull out the
dart when the fish rushes through the
water or when it is being hauled
aboard. The rope, the end of which
is attached to the dart as described
above, is three hundred feet long and
Is coiled up in a tub on deck. To the
other end Of this rope key is attach
ed by a bride fastened round each
end of it. This key is about the size
of an ordinary beer key, but lighter,
and is painted black so it can be read
lily seen at distance.
Three stanch rowboats in tow COM
plete the rig" necessary for sword
fish hunting. On July 4, 1904, at
a. m, the Earl and Nettie lifted her
anchor, put up her sails and, with her
gasoline engine giving an imitation
of a Calling or Nordenfelt rapid-fire
gun in action, passed out Of the har-
Dor at Block island.
Tony was putting things to rights
in the fo'castle, while Frank the Yale
student, and myself were on deck,
alert, he scanning the port and | the
starboard for any game which might
escape the eagle eye of the "gannett."
STEADY" shouts Arnie from alott.
STEADY" repeats Capt Tai, at the
wheel, and there hundred yards
directly in front of us were two black
triangular fins, five feet apart, show
ing six inches above the water and
,,ouIy moving In a direction at right |