The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1920-09-13

d
are not classed as fish, but are warm
blooded like COW.
Except for its huge size, the Deep
Sea Mystery has not a single feature
in common with the whale. The crea-
ture is true fish. with ali the we'll
known characteristics of fish in
GLIDING the gills, which are four feet
long, and by means of which 1t
breathes. Yet 1t does not resemble
any species of fish known to scientific
authorities
You may think it is shark, but 1t
! is not shark No shark ever grew
{ to such size as this: besides, the
itell-tale characteristics of all sharks.
the slit-like mouth underneath the
head, making the animal turn on its
! side in order to seize its prey, are
missing.
Huge Fish Only a Baby.
] On the contrary, the mouth of the
! Deep Sea Mystery Is an enormous
cavity 80 inches wide AMI 81 inches
4 deep, situated right at the end of the
snout, and resembles that of a mon
strous catfish more than anything else
Inside the mouth is a tongue 40 inches
long, and a gullet large enough to
swallow giant octopus weighing 400
pounds.
The Deep Sea Mystery captured by
Captain Thompson exhibits other
characteristics of true fish that are
as B c to the scientific investiga-
tor. There are no ribs and in place
of backbone it's spinal column con-
sisted of cartilagenous vertebrate,
some of which were 1874 inches wide
iand showing signs of Justification. This
was proof beyond doubt that the crea-
ture was still undeveloped-it was a
baby in fact
Naturalists say that a full grown
specimen of this kind would not be
less than two and half times as large
Jas the baby captured by Captain
Thompson. Had this creature lived
tout its allotted span, then it must
have attained the stupendous proper
itions of lis feet in length and 90 to
i25 feet broad
Baby though it was, it had assuredly
cut its teeth for its jaws were lined
with innumerable tiny teeth that no.
body has taken the trouble to count
They are set with an inward slant, so
as to prevent the escape of any prey
iseized by the creature in looking for
food, and Jonah would have had small
lchance to escape had he fallen In its
way.
The huge mouth of such a monster
as the Deep Sea Mystery would not
Iappear to invite repose, but as a
matter of fact two men actually did
sit side by side in the creatures mouth
/, without crowding each other.
The tail of the Deer Sea Mystery
measures ten feet from tip to tip. the
Ipectoral fin is five feet long and three
fleet wide, while the dorsal fin is three
feet long and two feet nine inches
wide. With this huge, muscular tail
as motive power the creature was able
to hurl itself through the water for
hours with almost the speed of an
express train, and dragging Captain
iThompson's boat behind it and not
even the swiftest motor boat could
have kept pace with it.
| Came From Great Depth.
Captain Thompson drove as many
as five harpoons in the creature and
how he and his companions were tow
ed in small life boat for two days
and night over the trackless main
is another story and will be related
in a subsequent article in the captains
own words.
! 1t was undoubtedly the most thrill.
ing adventure that ever before mari
ner or sportsman outside the pages
of fiction. and one must read Victor
/ Hugo's 1.-THE Toilers of the Sea"
which is the great story, purely imagi-
nary romance, to find anything ap-
proximating the captains nerve-rack-
I ing experience.
The eyes of the Deep Sea Mystery
are unusually small for so hug, n
animal as this, and with othu enar-
acterisitics displayed by the creatures
viscera indicate that it inhabited the
absmai depth of the ocean, where lit
tie If any sunlight penetrates and eyes
are of little use.
This may be true, for were it a sur
face dweller undoubtedly some ma
ture specimens must long since have
been discovered disporting themselves
in these waters by some of the thou
sands of marners who have constant
ly traversed these seas during the
past 400 years
Since no one has ever made any
such momentous discovery, the ques-
ton naturally arises: How came this
creature to be swimming in the shall
low water where Captain Thompson,
by the merest chance, discovered it?
Science answers that it must have
been thrown to the surface by some
unusual submarine disturbance such
as volcano eruption might bring
about. Relieved of the enormous pres
sure. exerted by the water at the great