Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-10-31
ABOUT SEA sERPENTs.
ONE Remarkable Tales That are
Told REGARDING Them.

liz ABOUT SEA sERPENTs.
Some Remarkable Tales That an
Told Regarding Them.
There is a popular tendency to insis
that sea serpents are only the crea
tures Of the humorists or Of sailor.
with distorted imaginations, but the
learned societies of the world have
lent a kindly ear to tales of these
monsters Of the seas and, while mod
ern biologists express a belief In "tht
great unknown" 1t Is expected thai
photograph proof will soon be added
70 the ever-increasing number OF
declarations Of its existence.
The latest learned society to prac'
tically admit the existence Of the
mysterious leviathan is the French
Academy of Sciences. At a recent
meeting the academy discussed the
subject owing to the presentation OF
Testimony Of two French naval Of
ticers who claimed to have seen the
monster. The officers attempted to
photograph the serpent. but had nc
success, and the academy. while not
doubling that the sea serpent Is a
fact, did not feel like putting itself
on record until either a specimen Is
captured or until a photograph Is
produced in verification.
Perhaps the only Joke that has en-
joy.j a longer term OF popularity
than the illusions to the sea SER
pent and the summer hotel is the
so-called mother-in-law joke. and
that only because the mother-in-law
has been longer O recognized force
In the world However. there are
reports of sea serpents and several
species of genero pelamys, hydroph-
les and platurus inhabiting the Pa
cific and Indian oceans, that are true
ocean snakes, and more or less veno-
nous have been on exhibition In ZOO
logical gardens at times. These have
been smaller forms of these reptiles
and the largest specimens have never
exceeded dozen feet.
Various Finds are Made.
The bony remains Of creatures de-
scribed as sea serpents have been
found in various places along the
coast; the carcass OF a dead one was
found in New River Inlet. Florida.
by Rev. Mr.. Gordon. Of Milwaukee,
president of the United States HUI
name society. In the spring Of 1885.
and In 1917 the Linnaen society, OF
Boston, published a most interesting
report on the sea serpent seen on
Naham by hundreds Of persons. and
later published a description with an
illustration Of a young sea serpent
said to have actually been caught of
Cape Ann. The latest reports-those
of the French naval officers presented
to, the French Academy Of Sciences
differ a little from other reports, but
on several points most Of the OBJ
servers from the earliest times to the
present agree-namely, that the sea
monster Is very long, from 100 to
200 feet: that 1t propels itself with
enormous speed; that 1t has what
loSks lilre hair or seaweed on its
neck and back, and that II has no
scales, but resembles rather conger
eel.
Lieut.. L'Eost, Of the French vessel
Decidee, reported to the French
academy to have seen one February
25. 1904, in the Bay Of Along. at
Tonkin. It's appearance was reported
to him by several men Of the crew
and he saw, as we'll as they. great
mass floating on the water, that
seemed at first sight like a monster
turtle. The animal plunged and re-
plunged several times. both to the
starboard and larboard Of the vessel.
1t measured about 100 feet in length
and fourteen or fifteen feet in dame
ter. It's skin was black, with yellow
spots, and its head gray and scaly.
something like that Of a turtle. 1t
undulated vertically and horizontally.
the academy found, Tailed almost ex-
actly with that Of Capt. Lagresille.
of the Avalanche, who in 1897 and
1898 saw such an animal in the same
locality.
Bio One Seen OF Norway.
In a Norwegian book Of travel, the
work of CLAUS Magnus. published In
1922, will be found a narrowing pict-
ure of a sea serpent, which, 1t should
be explained. had not been seen by
the author, was reported to have
been 200 feet long and twenty feet
in circumference. Consequently. with
a fervent belief in CLAUS Magnus. your
Norwegian fishermen regard the ex-
istence Of the sea serpent as a fact
byond dispute.
Two and a quarter centuries later
another Norwegian, Erik Pontoppi-
dan, Bishop of Bergen. who was IA
nous as a naturalist, confessed his
belief in the sea serpent, as he had
full and sufficient evidence from
creditable and experienced fishermen
and sailors in Norway. Of whom hun
dreds testify that they have seen
them annually" The good bishop.
however, may have been misinformed
as to the magnitude Of the monster,
for he asserts a full grown sea SER
pent as averaging 900 feet in length.
Which only goes to show how sincere
was his belief in the great unknown -
The persistence Of Norwegian
claims for the sea serpent certainly
proves that some immense denlzens
of the deep must frequent The '+aiidi-
navian coast. In 1847 the Zoolosist.
a scientific journal, noted the appear
ance of sea serpents that year In the
Norwegian fiords. The following year
Capt McIuhae, Of H. NJ. s. Daedalus,
made an official report to the British
admiralty describing a sea serpent OBJ
served by the officers and crew Of
the warship.
At Least Sixty Feet Long.
This sea serpent was seen off the
southwest coast Of Africa. The cap
tain was measuring the quarter deck
and the ships company was at sup