Bisbee daily review., 1911-05-13

as follows. and I have set it down as nearly as possible in his own languags.
 I was given the contract for blast ' fng the vast coral beds out Of the Bay of Manzanillo. one of the south | ern ports on the west coast of Mex leo. The government of Mexico Is making extensive harbor improve ments there, and. while the water is naturally deep. the steady work or coral animals often raises unex tpected reefs and dangerous points in the bay.
 TO get rid of these permanently | exploded charges in all the bars broke them out of the harbor. In doing this it was often necessary for ne to put on the dynamite my 1 self. l may say that I have had thirty years experience in diving and Il. carrying out contracts for the re- moval of obstacles on the bed of the sea.
 In that time I have fought sharks and swordfish. and have even hao Ito cut my way through the reaaiy farms of an octopus or devil-fsh, bul never in all my experience have been so near death as I was beneath that smothering blanket of flesh which came on me unexpectedly out of the clear sea.
 The manta, or blanket fish-the creature which 1 had the battle with Lis common to the warm parts of the Pacific. Around the Mexican penal colony on the Tres Maries is Hands. not very far from BIanzaniiio. lit is one of the most efficient guards flor the prisoners incarcerated there.
 Not a man has ever been known to lescape from this dreaded prison by iswimming. No sooner does a human body strike the water than schoo! of these monsters appear, flying Ike giant bats through the sea. They
 throw themselves on the hapless swimmer, crushing him to the bed
 of the sea, and there suck the fiesa from his bones with their powerful
 mouths.
 The manta grows to mammoth d. mems ions. though the one wnicn at
 lacked me was comparatively small. mot weighing over two or three tons and not being more than fifteen feet across. The fish is nearly square ID outline. the wings forming great fright angles which stretch olt rom the body, giving it a rectangular a. tpearance. The fish swim by napplns these wings and are sometimes callSa
 "sea-bats' on this account.
 Nantas swim with incredible rap iidity for what is apparently so un-
 gainly a fish. and once they sight anything in the water, unless 1t be line speedist fish or shark, they over haul it and simply close it, wrapping
 the entire blanket body around the unfortunate victim Even with a F,arp knife it is almost impossible Ito reach a vital point in the manta body. For this reason they are the lmcst dreaded by divers of all the Jewellers in the sea; and the diver lie is not without its perils, take my word for that
 Though l had Cften noticed tho presence of these m onsters in the water near me while working on the Mexican coast have been very care fuI not to disturb them. In fact,
 have frequently temporarily aban Idlned placing a blast in one partic ular spot owing to Hooks of thes.
 great seabats happening to be 1T the immediate vicinity.
 On the eyentful day, however, had placed my blast, exploded it iron the lighter, blowing several tons O < solid coral into fragments. and has
 gone down again about 1sO feet t1 2 the bed of the sea to get an idea O
 just what havoc the dynamite hat Q wrought. It was near the close O z my contract. and ! was anxious |, lcatch the next boat of one of tn . American lines up the coast to Sai Francisco.
 got to the bottom in safely. an' z was taking note of the con9iti 5n z there, when I saw school or man
 eating sharks which iBfest thes'
 waters, rapidly approaching. I stel
 lrcd behind a huge fragment of cora
 let my airhose play loose and waite l. for them t) pass. There vas D. s chance for me to be drawn throuei q inc thirty fathoms Of water to saiet. ,e without the sharks noting my pres q ence. They did just as ! hoped, an e stepped out from my hiding pace e nuIled on the lift-r0pe-and va = draurn directly against the belly 0
 manta! Instantly I had presenc
 of mind enough to realize that th D air rome would be broken If m ' ron,rsnions attempted to raiss r.f . burdened with the fish, so l signale , to be dropped again.
 This the men promptly did, and
 was by no means out of my trouble ' It's great. glassy eyes, gleaming wit
 iferocity, it's mouth opening and shu . ting savagely. the blanket-fish fo T lowed me down. I tried to step fror
 under it, but tue manta had a sprea V ci body that m 9: have oyerhung ia lA for Tix or sezon feet On all sIdcs
 vas completely eneuBed. and 9
 reached for the ten-inch sheat
 knife always carry felt that m sn time had come.
 is Fortunately the airpipe was han' lc ing loose and the pump on the hgo IS CT running like a clock. ! knew ths
 the heak of the monster would neye
 penetrate my diving suit, but
 knew also that the men, Tn tn rs course of time. would attemnt o- pull me up if they got no signal an it ihen I should he s-nothered to deat
 ljus. as certainly as though burie