The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1920-07-31
MAN-EATING SHARKS.
One of the Largest of These Measures
40 Feet in Length.

40 Feet in Length
As the open season" for sharks ap
proaches, South American liners arriv
ing in New York report the sighting o
these sea monsters, fact which lend
interest to the following communica
ton to the National Geographic socie
ty by DIR. Hugh NJ Smith, a world ia
nous authority on fish;
"When giant fishes are mentioned
most people will at once think OF the
shark, among which, indeed, are found
the largest fish now existing" writes
Dr. Smith. "0f the many species OF
sharks noteworthy on account OF theii
| size there are about half dozen which
! are pre- eminent. These differ much il
their disposition, some being as harm
less as doves and others the incarna
ton of ferocity.
''The sleeper shark (Somniosus mi
crocephalus), whose scientific name fits
il 50 admirably, appears to have devel-
oped its body at the expense OF its
brain, for it is sluggish, stupid glut-
ton. about six times as long as an aver
age man. At home in the Arctic re-
gions, il sometimes makes visits as far
south as Cape Cod, the British Isles
and Oregon. II is most often observed
lying quietly on the surface, apparent
ly DOING and easily approached, but at
times, when hungry, it rouses itself
and fiercely attacks whales, biting
huge pieces out Of their sides and tails,
and when feeding on the carcass of a
whale which has been killed by hunt
ers, it is so voracious that it permits
spears and knives to be thrust into it
without seeming to take any notice.
"One of the most prodigious and per
haps the most formidable of sharks is
the man eater (Carcharodon caraeha
rissl. 1t roams through all temperate
and tropical seas and everywhere is
an object of dread. Its maximum
length is 40 feet and its teeth are three
inches long. While there are few au-
thentic instances of sharks attacking
human beings tprior to the recent trag
edies), there have undoubtedly been
many cases where sharks simply swaI
lowed people who had fallen overheard,
just as they would swallow any other
food. How easy it would be for man.
eater TO devour a person whole may be
Judged from the finding of an entire
hundred pound sealion in the stomach
Of 30.foot shark on the California
coast A certain man-eater 1912 feet
long had jaws 20 inches wide, inside
measure, and teeth IL inches long.
This may have been the great fish of
he scripture narratives, and ii is pos
sible that at that time much larger !
man eaters existed than are now
as shark teeth with edges FIVE
inches long have been found on the sea
bottom, and these are believed BY nat /
ualists to have belonged TO sharks not
ong dead. The phosphate beds of |
South Carolina yield very large fossil
eeth of shark which was related TO
he maneater of the present day; I,
Judging from the comparative size of
hese teeth. Professor Goode thought
hat sharks 20 or 50 feet long must
ave been common.
Many years ago Norwegian bish
p in a learned paper brought TO the
ttention of the scientific and theolog-
cal worlds shark which he attempt
d to prove must have been the great
sh' that swallowed Jonah This was
he basking shark tCetorhinus maxi
aus known also as the elephant or
one shark. which is an inhabtant of
he polar seas but occasionally strays
$ far south as Virginia and California,
nd in former years was not rare on
he United States and British coasts. ,
he species has the habit at times of
Dlleeting in schools at the surface and .
asking in the sun with its back part i
ont Of the water II reaches maxi .
lum length of so feet and is exceeded !
size by only three or four animals !
ytsnt Provided with small teeth il ,
eds on fishes and floating crusta- |
ans. and is not of a ferocious dispo- ,
tion. Il is dangerous only by vir- d
ie Of its great bulk and when at v
icked it, powerful tail easily demol I
hes boats In former years the bssk {
z shark was hunted for its oil on the q
'ast Of Norway and Ireland IL was 4
so harpooned on the shore ~ Mass h
'husetts in the early part of the last /
injury, and as many as y barrels Of d
were sometimes obtained from the r
yer of one shark There are many rec.
ds of basking sharks - tn rs feet
ne from the coast Of New York Mas
chusetts, and Maine, bu; the species
IS not been common in our waters b
recent years. K
THE largest Of al fishes the larg-
I Of all cold blooded animals and the ?
-gest Of az existing animals, with ;