Omaha daily bee., 1915-10-03
SHARK OF A FEEDER
One Fish that Takes To and Grows
Fat On a Diet Of Small Ameri-
can Alarm Clocks.
ENJOY SOUND OF THE GONG

Passengers arriving by the transatlan-
tic liners bring strange stories. not all
Of which are based on the war. But 1t
seems that the war has had the effect.
by lessening the transatlantic passenger
traffic. and particularly by removing all
the German liners from the paths Of the
sea, to reduce the sharks to a state Dor
dering on starvation. says the New Yorlo
Mail. The condition Of the unfortunate
marine monsters has produced the fol-
lowing weird tale, which is contributed
10 the Office window:
THE other day a shark sometimes
known as the pirate of the ocean, was
swimming peacefully along while follow
THE other day a shark. sometimes
known as the pirate OF the ocean, was
swimming peacefully along while fol-
lowing in the wake Of a ship. AS usual,
he was hungry. His reputation for
voracity was well deserved. although he
had not gone as far in his indiscrimina-
ton as to food as some of the sharks,
who figure in the records have gone.
shll. he had eaten. with unsatisfied hun
ger. all he could get Of the refuse
thrown from the ship.
Appetite for Cinders.
"A brother shark had eaten, without
content, a bag of clnders. which the
sailors had purposely thrown overheard.
other sharks in the school had eaten at
various times the following items, viz.
A lady's work box, discarded ships pa
pers, baskets, shavings cordage, ducks
hens, buffalo hides and a tin canister
filled with coins, not to expand the menu
unduly
1.-THE shark about which this item is
principally concerned, however, has
eschewed all of these articles and was,
in consequence, sim hungry
Suddenly an idea occurred to one Of
tho sailors on board the followed ship.
This sailor had a well-founded antipathy
for all sharks in general and for the
one who was so near in particular. lie
determined to try a new method of scar
ing the shark away. With this end in
| view he procured an alarm clock, which
he carefully wound up and set to go off
in twenty minutes Then the sailor tied
the clock to a rope and dropped II over
board. The shark instantly swallowed It.
Clock nv IA Diet.
"'The rhythmic ticking of the clock
seemed to be soothing to the sea scaven-
ger, but when the alarm went off he was
really and truly scared. The shark mani.
tested this various ways. He first stood
on his hind legs. this is Of course, his
tail, and then turned somersaults. Moth
ing that he could do, however, served tc
stop the clock. The influx Of the see
water swallowed by the shark in his
vain efforts to accomplish this. seemed
only TO wind up the clock and to insure
its continued running. II the sharks face
could have been seen by the clock II
might have thus been stopped, but as Il
happened, It was, indeed, a sad case fol
the shark, who was apprehensive thai
the clock might be an internal machine
The great fish finally took refuge ir
flight, meanwhile lashing the water furi
ously with his tail and registering othei
signs of his disapproval. The pilot fist
accompanied him.
Several weeks afterward this sam
shark was captured by the same ship
When the monster was drawn on decl
by the triumphant crew the clock was stil
running and keeping excellent time. Tn
alarm went off five minutes afterward.
The office window seems to be expecte'
by it's informant to believe this story
but the reader is under no such obliga
ton.