New-York tribune., 1907-12-23
WHAT GOT THE HOOK ?
THINK IT 4 SQUARE DEAL
Deem Sea Monster BaFed Captain
,Johansson, r. M.

The Swedish barkentine Elise got in yesterday
after a long passage from Bristol England
whittier she had sailed from the Dutch Antilles
with cargo of hides and dye stuffs. The trip
was uneyentful as far as weather went. but the
Elise came abeam of a monster off the Azores
that will no doubt make piscatorial wizards sit up
and take notice when the tale of the Elises skip
per finds way the public ear.
captain Peter A. Johansson. who has sailed the
barkentine the seven seas. holds the worlds
record for shark killing, and although he has the
degree of F. NJ. (master 1sherman) he Is content
to omit it when writing his signature The SKIP
per is who has seen about thirty-'eVeh
summers and his knowledge of the monsters OF
the deep that occasionally come to the SURFACE
and bark or hiss at the barkentine Is the talK Oh
the waterfront.
He is a close student OF the fish and its ways
and apart from keeping the Elise on her course
and the sailors in their places tine captain mas
time to troll for shark and read from Shakes
peare. When the Elise was visited yesterday at
her pier in South Brooklyn the skipper was
reading Hamlet He laid the book aside 10 talk
of the monsters. but suggested later as d
preface 10 his story of the freak fish off the
Azores that Hamlet's remark to IIoratio might
have been written 10 read, There are more Things
in heaven and earth (and in the sea). Horauo'
than arc dreamt of in your philosophy
Mr.. Johsnsson showed a varied fishing tackle
which included adequate supply of nitro-giyce'-
bombs with time fuses attached, which he ire
quently tucks away deceptively into hfe freSh
piece OF porpoise meat and throws to hunsry
shark that chances TO follow in the wake OF Tue
Elise. Sharks The enemy of man, satd 'he
captain. and for that resson am the enemy OF
the sharks I have harpocned them and hioRn theIn mem
up with dynamite. No, am not afraid they viii
blow up under the barkentine. ! have studied the
ways of the shark and know that he always sheers
off either port starboard after ne mas
gulped the bait. have fed hundreds OF sharks
with my little explosive pill and only one excep-
rDie my
himself explode It did not bother me, because the
Elise is built Of iron
After showing his fishing paraphernaHa and the
special line made OF insulated wire that cNplooes
bomb tie sharks stomach through "A battery
from the deck. the skipper Of the Elise told OF a
sea monster that he played for and lost while the
barkentne was running along at about TWO KNOTS
to the southwark of the Azores.
Ii vas believed first that the skipper vas
bout to describe amphibious manifestation of
the proyerbial square deal" when he said the
monster was about twelve feet long and twelve
feet deep. a Tnanatee. because the
skipper had seen that mammal before, and II was
not peculiar 10 tho waters of the Azores The cap
tain said briefly that the monster was nTst as
covered when about two ships. lengths dead ahead.
1t Of bluish-gray color. with a dorssl fin
that appeared above the water, resembling the
coming tower of submarine. The TN served TO
propol the monster when the latter submerged
himself and its swislng sound attracted the crew
Fearing the monster would get away Captain
Johansson got his ever haited" hooks .eady and
threw few the square deal" Instead
Of plunEng 10 wndward the creature came along
side and stuck up a head which looked Hike that
usually carried by ostrich and. If the shippers
memory serves him uelt. the mouth much
like that of a camel, and tho fish could go long
without drink the ship OF the desert. but
probably had There teeth
visible but there must have been Two
I'm his stomach for the bait was literally absorbed
hy the cameI-like mouth much the tey1sh
takes fits nutrimcnt and a smile Of thanks seemed
to be manifest about che lips. There no at
tempt at line swapping but. Notwithstanding this
The skipper always pulled In his wire line sans
hook and bait.
Hnrpooning the last resort The monster
thrived too well on tho hooks and porpoisc flesh.
and more effective means Of capture must be ap-
evidently made peculiar chemical reaction which
destroyed the effectiveness eithar the time fuse
or the dynamite. The first mate threw the first
stone-or. more correctly. tho first harpoon II
struck point aft the coming tower dorsal fin and
bent. The skipper threw a second shaft. and IL
sank into soft tissue ahaft amldships hut did
not hold. The square DEAL whatever it was.
submerged and was never seen again.
The sea holds many strange creatures" OBJ
served the skipper. and although doubted
tho encounter with the monster the southwark
of the Azores. ho reached over to rack and
showed the twisted harpoon.