The Elbert County tribune., 1905-10-26
been doing acanntlc stnJ

famous swimmer. who has
been doing acquatic stunts
since 1858. "WeIi. rather
L vas in Pensacola IN 1889 and con-
trarted to give public exhibition I'm
the bay, at n point near Washington
Navy Yard. l was to be sewed up in
big sack. heavily weighted with sand
and thrown into the water. and l
promised to cut myself out with
Knife and gain the surface IN few
moments time. aud the papers talkiIg
abont the event got the interest of TIE
people thoroughly aroused.
1 knew tllat l could do the trick all
right, and had no fears OF drowning,
but when the landlord of the hotel
where l stopped began to talk aboHt
the sharks in the bay and told Inc of
several people who had been eaten
alive, l became the least bit Worried
But was game for the task, ard
never once entertained the idea of
hacking out, even though my fears
grew as the hour approached for my
plunge; however, | determined TO take
along in the sack an extra big knife,
and this determination, carried out, re-
suited in saving my life.
On the afternoon of my descent into
). the sea the shore line was black With
2 people, and there were parties ont On
/. Ane water in skifts and other era 1T
W'1 19ing to get a better view of the pcr-
s-faance. Well. 10 get down TO my
story, was taken out quite a little
piece from shore on 4 ia at-dccked boat
and placed in n huge sack, the bottom
of which was packed with heavy sand
took lingering look Mt the bright
blue sky. just before The socks Inout-i
was closed, and tac IN with the
needle was getting ready fDr his work,
as the sharks were still on my mind.
and did not krow -vhethe- l would
come out of the venture alive or not.
but with the danger present my cour-
age rose. and for this I WAS thankful
'The sack was lifted up hy several
Durly negroes, hired for tue purpose.
and thrown into the sea. The sound
of the splash merged with the noise
of rushing wafer in my car. and felt
myself going to the lowest depths with
the speed OF rocket. In less than a
second, when / could have hardly been
more than thirty feet beneath the sur
face, fels something bump into the
sack, and the thought flashed upon me
that a shark or some other great fish
was diving for me. l felt the bump n
moment laier on my other side. and
realized then, with Il cold sense of hor-
ror. that there were Two of the things.
whatever they might be, after me.
felt the jolts repea tedly in an incrcd-
IDLY short space of tine. and, gripping
my knife firmly. ripped open the side
of the sack wllirii faced, freed my
self of its hinderns embrace. and shot
upward toward The surface. Once
something srazed my leg, and, even
with the water tingling against my
flesh, the contact sent shivers down
my back, as the feeling was as though
/ had encountered some yielding, rub
berry substance.
my head bobbcd above the ocean.
ana as l struck out with sweeping
strokes for The nearest boat shout
Went up from the people on shore.
But ] was close TO ,lcatli-sometliinG
warned me that was--and / didn't
care just then Tor the plandits of the
spectators. l only wanted to gain g
place of safety. AS l was making
great exertions, with my knife still in
my hand. the water parted n few feet
to the side of inc, and made out .he
long, black fin of a shark. The mon
ster was heading for me with ever-in-
creasing speed, and as was about TO
dive to escape IFS sprug, another
shark appeared close by and dashed
in to get part of the prospective din
ner.
.'The first shark was close upon me.
and / distinctly saw it turn half way
over on its side and open its horrid.
teeth-iined jaws 20 seize me. when i
acted. l dove ms quickly as thought
under water, and, gauging the dis
tance, cume up in n hurry. My left
hand, extended over my head. encoun-.
tered the yielding. rubbery substance
that I had felt before. and quickly
leaning back / llinged forward with
my big knife and I felt the weapon
drive deep and safely into something.
I turned the knife several times and
slashed back and forth. and l knew by
the agitation Of the water that the
shark-for such my quarry proved to
be-was struggling desperately. A
large, bulky object slipped through the
water and grazcd my chest in its de-
scent to the bottom. and I was aware
that the monster wcs dead and his
carcass on its way 10 Its grave in the
ocean bed.
II came to the surface gasping for
breath, and saw almost within hand
touch a yawlboat, with several excited
sailors from the navy yard il it. Will
ing hands seized me, and l was
dragged over the gunwale of the boat.
and just in time to escape the dash
of the second shark. which had re-
manned on the surface, waiting for me