The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-01-10

BY and by three sailors came down
the stairways with bare knives and be-
gan to cut and slash. AS they did so
fourth and fifth tentacle darted out
of the water and dashed them, and two
other men came down with hatchets.
From the time the first man reached
me to the end of the battle was q
period of ten minutes, al every min
ute was hard work for the men and
pain for me. Every one of the five
tentacles was severed time and again
but so fierce and determined was the
octopus that he actually arose to the
surface beside the stairway, and struck
at the shifting feet of the men with
his horrible beak. The looping off of
his arms disabled him and he had
turned to make his eccape when a dou-
BILE charge of buckshot was fired into
him from the wharf and he ceased to
struggle.
While clinging to my position one Of
the tentacles had struck by bare wrists,
but that was the only spot where the
flesh was touched. One of the suckers
or air-cups had fastened here and-had
to be cut away bit by bit The feeling
was as if a red-hot iron had been held
there. While there was no blood, there
was a great blister, and later on bad
sore. and it was quite three months be-
fore the injury was entirely healed. I
had had a close shave. Had I stood a
foot further to the right or left of the
Spite I should have been dragged off
the stairs in a breath.
Two weeks after my adventure a cou-
pie of clerks in the steamer office de-
scended the same stairs for a swim. 1t
was reasoned that the octopus had
come in on the tide, and that it might
be years before another was seen. The
two men dived together, but only one
of them came to the surface. When
the alarm was given his body was drag
ged for but could not be found. No one
laid his disappearance to the octopus,
but it was reasoned that shark might
have got him. There was no more
bathing for a couple OF weeks, now
The second victim was the captain
of an English brig from Liverpool.
He heard the particulars of my adj
venture and said the octopus was there
by accident. He was told of the
strange disappearance Of the clerk,
and he argued that the young man
had struck his head against a timber
in diving. To prove that the spot was
perfectly safe for bathers he prepared
himself and took a header off the
wharf and swan about for a quarter
of an hour. This was on a. Saturday
evening, and finding himself some
thing of hero he tried it again Sun
day afternoon. He made his dive in
the presence of numerous spectators,
and reappeared with laugh and
swan about. Then he took a header
from the stairway, and the people
watched and watched in vain for his
temperance.
At the end of ten minutes boats and
drags were procured and the body
searched for. Close in to the westerly
edge of the dock was found a deep,
long basin, with jagged rocks for its
bed. When the drags were arranged
to sweep this they brought up frag-
ments of the captains bathing trunks,
but the body could not be raised. It
seemed as if the drags caught it, but
that something held it down. Native
divers were offered as high as 500 to
go down and investigate but no man
would undertake it. Men were posted
to watch out for the body should it
come to the surface, but it never did.
From this time on the bathing was
all done nearer shore. in shalloWer
water, and it was six months before
another accident happened.
One morning the chief clerk in the
steamer Office, went into the water
and man working near by heard
him splash about for a quarter of an
hour. Then it was discovered that he
was missing. It was high tide. and
his clothing was hanging, on a hook
out of reach of the water. but as for
the man himself he had disappeared
as mysteriously as the others. An
alarm was given and the drags
brought into play, but nothing was
discovered.
diver was found to go down in his
armor and make an exhaustive search
extending INTO the deep hole. he
made just one find, and nothing could
be proved by that. From the bottom
of the deep hole he brought UP 4
human skull, which was as clean as a
billiard bali; and had evidently been
IN the water a long time. 1t was final |