The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-01-09

1
| were strung out in line, The fourteen
boats and their twenty-eight occupants
| seemed to be light load for tins great
ocean vampire. 1t dragged them through
the water at speed of fully twenty
| miles an hour.
The remarkable battle started early
| in the forenoon and continued without
a stop for nine hours. On one of its
many trips towards the open gulf IT
carried the load of boats out Of sight
| of land. The two men in the foremost
boat refused to cut the rope which
served as the towlinc for the sea devil
and there was nothing for the oceu'
pants Of the other boats to do but stick
| it out or show their cowardlce, 1t was
an adventure that tried the nerves of
every man in the party, but there was
| no quitter. The sca-dcvll circled around
and around hour after hour showing
no decrease in its strength or speed 1t
was the desire of every man to capture
the monster, if possible. 1t seemed TO
| be possessed of an endless amount OF
endurance 1t was finally decided TO
kill tho big fish. A signal of distress
was hoisted to attract the attention OF
the lifesaving crew at Tarpon, village
on Mustang island, near the scene of
adventure. The hfesavers had been
witnessing the remarkable cruising of
the boats and they responded quickly,
which was drawn up alongside the head
boat in the rapidly-moving column, The
| lifesavers brought with them a high
power rife Mr. Kline took this gun,
| and when the monster IS back next rose
| to the surface he fired three shots into
! it, The fish sank into the depths OF
the water, bloodying the surface tor q .
distance of several yards around. Still
| it continued its flight 1t was more
than an hour later before another ep-
portunity was offered for shooting the
! fish This time better results were OBJ
tanned Three more bullets were fired
into its body and caused its death. Inc
sea devil was towed ashore by the gaso,
line launch of the lifesaving crew. 1t
was hauled upon the beach, where it
attracted much attention. Its weight
was estimated at 5000 pounds, In tins
marty of sportsmen were Brigadier Gen"
eral J. p. Cleary of the United States
army; John W. Robbins, who held the
office of state treasurer at the time;
DIR. G.. II Wooten of Austin. and mum"
Der of other men of more or less state
prominence. ,
The sea.devil has an enormous mouth,
on each side of which is a fipper. IT
is said that it uses these fippers to
SCOOP the fish into its mouth as u
makes its way through the water. Its
''wings' are sometimes twelve feet
long. 1t is frightfullookIng monster
when in it's native element or lying dead
upon the shore. The favorlte hshing
ground of these fish is at the mouths
of rivers. They seem to run in schools,
and as many as twenty or thirty OF them
have been seen disporting themselves
in the water near the mouth of the
Rio Grande at one time. They are said
to be very numerous along the MeXl'
can coast south Of here, particularly
in the vicinity Of the mouths OF the
Soto la Marina and the Panuco rivers,
During the height of the fishing sea-
son last winter a party of wealthy
Enplishmen came over in private yacht
and cruised along the coast between
Point Isabel and Vera Cruz. They spent
several weeks fishing for tarpon and
other gamey inhabitants of the deep.
These men had several thrilling en-
counters with sea-devils. Two of them
were having rare sport catching sharks
at the end of the lettles where the
Panuco river flows into the gulf, when
three large ea-devils hove to the sur
face close at hand. They had harpoon
with them and it was deftly landed
into the back of one of the monsters,
The fish quickly dived almost straight
downward and few minutes later 1T
came up on the other side of the boat,
upsettine tho craft and pitching the
| En- clishman into the water. The water
of that locality is widely noted for the
multitude of sharks which infest it,
and the two victims of the accident
expected any moment to be eaten by
the voracious fish as they struck out
for shore They were followed all the
way to land by school of sharks, but
no attack was made upon the men. But
| it is the elements of danger involved
in the sport of fishing for seadevils that
makes it such popular amusement
with men who are seeking outdoor
excitement.