The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1913-01-31


the gentle swells of the sea, with It's
idle sails tapping and anchor chain
squeaking dlsmally. A small boat had
put off from the vessel and two OF the
rowers were watching several OF the
crew disporting in the warm water
With them was a powerful Newfounu'
land dog whose thrashing and bark
ing added to the interest of the scene
Suddenly one of the rowers glanc-
ing toward the distant shore caught
sight Of a peculiar trail of foam lhaV
seemed to be advancing rapidly ior
a moment he was silent and thought
ful. but when the fnlike proJectloh
above the water came into full vie"
he set up a yell of warning.
Sharks! Sharks!"
That was sufficient to electrlfy the
swimmers. With one accord they
swan with all their might toward the
small boat. They reached 1t and were
hauled aboard by their companions
before the shark could get WITHIN
striking distance.
But not so the dog. Not realizing
the danger, the Newfoundland barked
and swan around the boat accepting
the calls of the men as part OF the
game. Meanwhile the sharp ap-
preached rapidly, and the men couId
see the great dorsal fin clerving the
water like a knife.
But it seemed impossible to rescue
the dog in time. The great mau eat
-er knew this, and never for an IN
stant checked its course. When with
in a few yards OF the frantic dog the
fin disappeared below the surface ana
every man knew that the shark was
sinking to make the fatal lunge
At the very moment one of the men
caught the dog by the collar the open
Jaws OF the shark. with their double
row Of incurving teeth swept upward
There seemed no chance to prevent =
tragedy, but one Of the sailors, quick
witted and alert, thrust a long oar
straight down at the terrible Jaws.
More through luck than premedita-
ton, the heavy oar struck the lower
Jaw glancing blow and then slipped
directly into the mouth. There was
snap and jerk which nearly threw the
sailor overheard.
When he raised the oar from the
water. 1t was to find 1t snapped In
two as cleanly as If cut by an AK. The
next minute the men hauled the drip
ping, painting Newfoundland dog into
the boat.
They tried to frighten the big man
eater away with their oars, splashlng
and shouting vigorously, but the shark
was not frightened by this demonstra-
ton. 1t was too enrageu by the
wound it had received from the blade
of the oar and too hungry to retreat
at ohce.
While these tactics were going on
the rowers were so intently watch
ing the shark that they took little note
of anything else. Suddenly another
long. powerfully built creature swan
1eisurely between the boat and the an
gry shark. 1t looked for an instant
like another huge man eater
Apparently attracted by the COM
motion the newcomer swept close to
the boat to get good view. The
eAark. at the same instant, having
defeated of its attempts to get at its
prey, turned viciously upon the other
fish.
It's anger and blindness apparently
made it less cautious than usual With
swift movement it lunger toward the
other fish, and its powerful jaws snap
ped together just as its prey caught |
sight of 1t and darted forward.
The next moment long, powerful
Nswordfish leaped foot out Of the wa
ter and began thrashing the sea into
a white foam. The water was in
lstantly dyed crimson. In its upward |
leap the sailors had seen that part OF |
its tail was missing.
The shark had caught the swordfsh
Ioff guard and snapped Off fully six
inches of its tail 1t was from this
wound that the blood came.
Now, the swordfish is usually a
quiet creature, rarely ascending to