The sun., 1919-07-06
HUGE DEVILFISH
STEERED TO SHORE
Capt. Charles Thomson Har~
poems Monster; Anglers Use
Lines as Reins.
YACHT TOwED FOR MILES
BY Hauling on Wings Specie
Measuring IL Feet 6 IL In.
Beached at Miami.
YACHT T0wED FOR MILES
NJ FRED wELLMAN.


vengeance. A full sised devilfish--com-
posed Of an. almost solid mass OF car
tilaeinous and muscular strocture--is
capable Of putting up q fight against
superior odds for hours and can be sub
dued only through an extensive process
OF blood letting. since he does not seem
to have vital spot that any one can
locate. H-. ... 80
One OF tho largest devilash ever
caught In Florida waters--the largest
but one in the memory Of Captain
Charles Thomson, ACE of Florida ang-
lers-waei landed recently by q party
headed by the captain aboard the
LApacAe. owned by Mr.. James A. ALI
son OF Indianapolis.
Quests of Mr.. Allison on the cruise
were Mr.. John oliver La oorce. as
sociate editor Of tho National Geographic
NdGdsine, and Mr.. A. q. Batcheidef,
president OF the American Automobile
Association OF Warrington and New
York. =
The party was cruising In the neigh
borhood OF Bimini, In the Gulf Stream
about nifty miles from Miami when Cap
tain Thomson. whose customary. place
10 az the bow OF the boat with n har-
poon In his hand. sighted what appeared
to be q mass OF submerged wreckage q
-
devilfish drifting along near the surface
Of tho water. his great black bulk dark
ening the water for many feet around.
Devtlnsh Makes Comm otion.
Cautiously Captain Thomson ordered
the yacht to proceed. and slowly
| insn1uvering within striking distance
launched harpoon that landed suuarely
lh the centre OF the monsters back. The
next instant there was a tremendous
commotion In the water and the line at
tached to the harpoon went kissing over
the sunwale at lightning speed as the
frightened and hurt FISH started out to
sea.
The command full speed ahead was
given and II was question whether the
Ina would run out and snap before the
boat got under full Roadway.
Fortunately this was avoided, the
LApache picking up speed very rapidly
and lessening the tension on the line.
Even so 1t was q ticklish situation, the
devilfsh swimming considerably faster
than the normal speed Of the boat, and
dragging II behind at a terrific gait. ..
After proceeding for three or four
miles in this fashion Capt. Thomson
thought the flsh had tired enough to
warrant trying to bring him close for a
mile or two and the combined efforts of
all aboard managed 70 get the Ash close
enough for another stab. this time In his
port side. and away he went again.
The business OF letting the fsh run
and hauling him In again was repeated
several times. SO that finally he had I'VE
hArpoons in him, two in the right wing
and two In the left, In addition to the
ons originally implanted In his back.
Steering Fish to shore.
Then began a process Of steering the
| fish to shore, much as one would steer
horse with reins. When the FISH would
| start to sea every one would haul on the
wing on the other side, turning him
| around and causing him 10 swim toward
shore. Also by speeding UP the boat the
drag on the lines was eased as much as
possible when the fish was going properly.
and consequently It WAS only a short
time until nsh and boat were near the
shore.
Immediately shoal water was reached,
however, the Ash tried n new manouvre
| that was frustrated only by the quick
est thought and action on the part ST
Capt Thomson. Suddenly diving and
turning the fish came directly At the
boat. and Just before reaching Il ducked
under. taking all tho lines with him.
Quick as thought Capt. Thomson threw
out both OF the boats anchors, holding
It fast, while the fish vainly struggled
TO return TO sea.
Now the contest settled into process
Of wearing the fsh down. One OF the
members OF the party planted himself
| on top Of the upper deck with a high
powered express rife, and as often as
the back OF the nsh would present itself
| near the surface he let hy with largo
calibred bullet Meanwhile the other
members OF the party were exerting
themselves to haul the fish closer to the
boat
After couple hours Of this the fish
was finally brought close enough TO be
made fast. and even though he eth had
10 make progress 70 the dock at Dinlni
with the Ash we'll under control.
Fish Had Span over 1B Feet.
The next problem was to get the fsh
out of the water. All the inhabitants
OF tho island. some 200 IN number, had
been attracted to the shore by the battle
with the big fish. and with these a bar
gain was struck to haul the FISH ashore.
AT frst Il was attempted to haul the
cen powerful natives with q double
block and fall had exhausted themselves
In this attempt without getting the Ash
more than half out Of the water this
plan was abandoned and the Ash pulled
into shoal water where the receding tide
left him high and dry.
Measuring the FISH he was found to
have a span OF 10 feet 6ia inches from
wing tip to wing tip and length OF "A
feet from the extremity OF his head fms
to the end OF his tail. His hide when
removed for mounting weighed $50
pounds, and his estimated weight when
alive was $500 pounds.
Capt. Thomson recalls the capture Of
only one devilfish larger than this. How
ever. he says. se did not exceed his last
prize by more than 900 or 500 pounds
Mt the most. and unfortunately his re-
mains were not preserved for com-
parison.
The present specimen is being mount.
ed for the Cocolobo Cay Club, a Miami
Beach, Fla. yachtsmen's organization,
and will be preserved at the clubhouse
OF the latter on Cocolobo Cay. one OF the
Florida Keys. about forty miles south
Of Miami