The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1918-12-04
Clearwater SUM

lCl6dT WdIcT sum-
This, then may be considered an
other fish story, by those who do not
realize that it is the business Of a
real newspapersto record happenings
as they occur.
The big motor bus of the Florida
Beach Development company from
st. Petersburg, rolled UP to the stop
ping place at Indian Rock Beach at
II o'clock Sunday forenoon. The
passengers disembarked, and of
course, headed straight for the beach,
only a few feet distant R. NJ Mar
shall, head of the st. Petersburg Of
flee of the development concern, and
Mr.. Tobin, general passenger agent
of the transportation line, with his
wife, were along. AS soon as Mr..
Mitchell struck the beach he ex-
pressed great surprised at the num-
Der of dead fish, mullet, mackerel and
pompano, that were being washed
ashore by the surf. Mr.. Mitchell has
been in the Sunshine City for years,
and thought he knew all about fish
and fishing. Anyway, the local fishto,
rian was summoned, and an investi-
cation begun. The party, augment
ed by a number Of beach residents,
started down the shore. Near 4
Antuonos dock, bunch of stohe
crabs were found on the beach. Then
Lee Vecchione, who lives in the next
house, came upon pile Of mullet,
still wiggling their tails and moving
their gills. He took an armful home
The explorers continued on down the
beach In front of the Barnes cot
ltage, another big stack of mullet was
found, Topping on the sand Keeping
on the party discovered NOR fish the
farther they went None Of the party
happened to have copy of the fish
laws of Florida concealed about his
Tor her system and could not have un-
derstood them if they had been at
hand, as no one has been able to proD-
erly construe them, except Fish
den Barney Williams, and he wat
present, so Mr. Mitchell said heI in
going to get some fish while ga lal
Owas good. He cut long stem e
a saw palmetto and strung few
en- big roe mullet on it. BEING, too
. heavy to carry, he dragged the string,
Further down the beach appeared, lit.
; orally, windows Of mullet, piled up
, close to breakers. Old fishermen,
; who by this time had Joined the
! group, said they had never seen any
thing like this in their born days.
AL at once, beyond pile of fish, ap-
peared something larger and more
, lively. Investigation proved it to be
seven ir eight good-sized shark, hud-
died together on the beach, slashing
, around at the edge of the swash chan.
: mel, evidently scared nearly stiff.
, Several of them were clear out of the
water. Beyond this bunch of big fish
| there was a great commotion in the
edge of the surf. The dorsal fin of
what looked like large shark was
: cutting the water into foam. AS the
: onlookers reached the spot, shark,
larger than any of the beach, took a
| running jump and Topped high and
, dry on the sand. Then the mystery
, was solved This terror Of the south.
| ern seas was clad In two-piece wool
: bathing suit, recognized as one lost
: from local bathouse in the big blow
: and had a red bathing cap on his
nose. How he had acquired this raj.
ment no one knows, but he had evi.
IDENTIFY scared all the fish ashore by
= his strange costume, and then decid-
ed to commit suicide through shame.