Evening star. [volume], May 17, 1925, Page 2, Image 76

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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2
Battles With Monsters of the Deep Furnish Perilous Adventure
Noted Scientific Expert, Who Also Holds Records as Hunter of Big Fish, Describes Some of His Most Impressive Experiences.
r In a life devoted io exploration
and deep sea research, Frederick
Albert Mitchell Hedges lias gained
* numerous world's records for the
f capture of giant fish and has added
largely to the knowledge of ichthy
i ological science. Kducated at Birk
j hamstead University t'ollcge. Lon
| don. Mr. Hedges' deep sea research
work has been carried on chiefly in
Central America, the Caribbean
Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
With Lady Richmond, Brown,
who also takes a heroic part In the
encounters with sea monsters do
scribed in the present series of
three articles, he penetrated an
unknown portion of the hinterland
of Panama in 1922 and 1323, where
they discovered a new race of peo
ple.
Mr. Hedges’ fishing expeditions
have enabled him to present large
collections of heretofore unrecord
ed specimens to the British Mu
seum and museums of the Univer
sities of Oxford and Cambridge.
He is a fellow of the Linnean So
ciety. the Zoological Society, the j
Royal Geographic Society and the
Royal Anthropological Institute.
BY F. A. MITCHELL HEDGES.
r. L. 8.. F. 2. S.. P. R. G. S.. F. R. A. I.
Fascinated by the subject of I
life in the remote past, thou
sands— probably millions —of
years ago, I have . since my
school days been given to con
juring «p in my mind such visions as
that of battles royal between an enor
mous fish-lizard (the ichthyosaurus)
and a gigantic, long-necked prodigy
(the plesiosaurus) with that monstros
ity (the pterodactyl), a huge reptile
with wings shaped like a bat. but
with a spread of 20 to 30 feet, flving ;
overhead. The struggle would prob- i
ably take place in a swamp, amidst j
trees of almost unthinkable height j
and beauty.
These terrible creatures have van
ished with the successive changes on
the surface of the earth, but it has
for many years been in my mind that
in unknown tropical waters and in
the depths of the Seven Seas, where
more protection has been afforded,
there still exist monsters comparably
as great as those living in the remote
Mesozoic epoch.
Jt was over 20 years ago that I
commenced my investigations. Since
then I have fished many waters in
various parts of the world, though
chiefly in that part of the Pacific
coast from the Gulf of Lower Cali
fornia to the Colombian border and in
the Caribbean, around Jamaica, Co
lombia and Panama.
One frequently hears exaggerated
tales of great fish. A news report ap
pears that Capt. X of the S. S. Z.
observed a huge monster playing on
The top of the water in (here follows
the latitude and longitude), and people
smile. From other quarters come
tales of the mythical sea serpent and
huge fish seen with tusks, and people
smile again.
When asked if I believe in the exist
ence of creatures almost past the im
agination in the depths of the ocean
my answer is an unqualified "Yes.”
My own experiences have only served
to corroborate my views that there ex
ist in virtually unknown and known
waters forms of life which still remain
CAKiOtZAN -SfA
COLS Os fJexMMA
PORTION OF LAND AND WATER
TRAVERSED BY MR. HEDGES
ON HIS EXPEDITION.
much the same as they were millions
of years ago.
During the Mesozoic period mon
sters of fearful aspect and gigantic
size, seen neither before nor since,
swarmed upon earth. The sea, how
ever, abounded with still more amaz
ing colossi, and within its depths were
horrors beside which the most hideous
of nightmares pales into insignificance,
and in the fact that today, teeming in
tropical waters, are mammoth rays
for sea-hats), hrobdingnagian sharks
and sawfish, we have living evidence
that the fish life of the Mesozoic pe
riod still exists in the ocean.
** * *
ENABLED to undertake an ambi
tious program of two years' deep
sea exploration work, I left Avon
mouth, England, early in the month
of September, 1921, and proceeded di
rect to Jamaica.
Though the fishing there was slow
until after Christmas. I finished tip
the year in splendid stvie. About
“ miles down the coast from Black
River I struck a leopard-ray. It
is really most extraordinary the !
fight this fish ran give, and it is
necessary to exercise the greatest
care in landing him, the long, whip
like tail in the male being fitted with
a spear, situated about .a foot from
the body.
This is their weapon of defense, and
any one unfortunate enough to have
this dagger-like weapon pierce his
flesh is almost certain to suffer. The
wound becomes inflamed, causing
great pain, and in many cases I be
lieve the poison produces a species of
paralysis.
Within an hour of catching the first
fish I struck another, which I was
also successful in landing. And so,
on the first day of the. new year. I re.
turned to the spot where I had previ
ously caught these two whip-rays.
In a short time I landed still another
whip-ray of 70 pounds.
A quiet period followed, when there
came a slow, strong pull. I had en
tirely discarded my light rods and i
tackle and now used only heavy gear. ]
Steadily the line commenced to run
through tiie rod rings. I struck hard j
and was surprised to find there was j
no rush, the fish still proceeding In
the same steady, resolute manner.
Gradually I applied the brake until
the strain must have registered 30 j
pounds, with no appreciable result. ;
for this extraordinary moving sub
stance still continued Its curious mo
tion along the bottom of the sea.
“Tt’s another ray!” I exclaimed.
"But a different species."
I was not far off shore, and by ap
plying great pressure on the line
stepped the fish from heading farther
out to sea. Griffiths, my native lisher
guide, gradually maneuvered the dug
•ut to the beach, where I got out and
flayed the fish from the shore, and
<gfter about an hour beached one of
ihe ugliest brutes I have ever seen.
With its dirt} brown hack, dilating
nostrils, raised repulsive eyes and a
long whip tail, this fish was indeed a
hideous object. Its appearance did
not belie it. for here indeed was one
of the most, terrible forms of death
lurking in the ocean.
It is armed like its prototype, the
leopard or whip ray, with a dagger
in the tail, hut this is a much more
formidable weapon, fashioned of ivory,
about 3 to 12 inches long, ami ser
rated down the edge like fishhook
fra-rhs. jut pooling into -contact, witi*
any object the tail with this project
ing dagger flashes around, and, pierc
ing the flesh of its victim, produces a
deep puncture, into which a most vir
ulent poison is transmitted. The ef
fect of this poison is that the victim
is seized with violent spasms and mus
cular contraction, the body arched al
most rigidly, the blood turns black and
death ensues within three to six min
utes.
** * *
T-IAVING beached the fish, our diffi
* eulty now was how to kill It,
which was essential before the hook
could be removed from the mouth. A
large log of wood thrown up by the
sea seemed to offer an opportune
weapon. Raising this on high, time
and again we struck the reptilian
like beast on the head, each time the
tail curling over.
Ultimately we solved the difficulty
hv working a log of wood across the
tail, thereby preventing its raising up.
ami then with a long knife severed it
from the body, together with the poi
sonous dagger. I was able in this way
to measure it. It weighed 260 pounds.
The vitality of this creature was
marvelous. After I had performed an
autopsy upon it and when completely
severed each portion for long after
retained considerable signs of life.
On another occasion T impaled a
large bait upon the hook and cast out
with the hope of christening a new'
line with a record fish. The rod was
placed in the bottom of the boat with
the point over the side, and I com
menced to fill my pipe, when in the
midst of this most necessary opera
tion the reel started to revolve. My
hope of a peaceful pipe was nipped in
the hud. Raising the rod. I gently
felt the moving line, and, slowly ap
plying the brake, struck. But I might
just as well have driven my hook into
the bed of the ocean for all the give
1 felt.
The run continued. Twirling the
screw, T applied tremendous pressure.
Suddenly the fish stopped. Then quite
unexpectedly came a violent rush that
nearly tore me out of my seat. Only
a miracle saved the dugout from turn
ing turtle. Luckily I was gripping
the rod firmly with both hands, other
wise it must have disappeared.
I shouted to Griffiths to get up Hie
mooring stone, and as soon as this
left the bottom we shot ahead in the
wake of the great fish. Putting every
ounce of strain on the line I dared. I
now let the hidden monster tow us.
That it was something mighty I early
realized —something that only a ques
tion of time and endurance would
finally conquer—and I reconciled my
self to a long-drawn-out battle.
By now the fish had passed com
pletely through the channel and was
traveling along the bottom in the shal
lower water between the reef and
shore, but. quickly changing its tac
tics, with a wide circular movement
it once again made for the entrance
to the open sea. shot through and
commenced to travel down the coast,
keeping close to the outer side of the
reef.
Again it changed its tactics, this
time straight out toward the main
ocean, and it continued steadily in this
way for at least three miles. •
Any attempt to play this leviathan
in the ordinary way was entirely out
of the question. All I could do was
to keep an equal pressure on the line
and guard against a possible rapid
doubling, or the other hundred-und
one eccentric movements usually em
ployed by a hooked fish.
♦* * *
T>Y this time we were getting very
anxious, not knowing how far out
we might be towed. Remembering the
strong breeze which invariably start
ed up at midday, the outlook was far
from promising. I knew that if the
fight continued until the sea got up.
any chance of landirig a monster of
this description in choppy water, with
waves breaking over our little boat,
was infinitesimal. It wn3 therefore
an immense relief when the fish slow
ly performed a large semi-circle and
commenced to travel toward shore
By now nearly two hours must have
passed, and Griffiths, detaching the
leather belt, round my waist, in the
center of which is fashioned a strong
pocket for taking the butt of the rod.
thus easing some of the strain, fast
ened it round his own middle, and
relieving me of the rod. carried on
the fight, while I sat in the stern
steering the dugout in the wake of
this seemingly Inexhaustible creature.
After the first wild dash it had con
tinued working close to the bottom
at a moderate pace (totally different
from the velocity of the shark), and
this now becoming perceptibly slow
er. T wa,s reasonably certain by its
fighting tactics into what I had
struck.
“We’re into another huge ray!” I
said.
“I think it. Backra, him —big sea
devii," replied the perspiring Griffiths.
Back in toward the reef the fish
was still swimming, heading almost
straight for the channel wherein I had
originally hooked it, and on arriving
close once more it stopped. It was
exactly as if the line was fixed in the
coral. Neither jerking, pumping nor
jarring the line would apparently dis
lodge the brute. Had it not every now
and then moved a foot or two, T
should really have believed we were
snagged. But as it was it was quite
obvious the fish was sulking or rest
ing.
As a matter of fact, 1 verily believe
it was the latter, for after remaining
like this for over half an hour it sud
denly charged once more, apparently
as full of vitality as ever, straight
through the opening in the reef into
the shallow water shorewards. For a
long time up and down, parallel with
the shore, slowly hut persistently it
swam. Just before its race through
the reef channel I had taken over the
rod, and now the strain, coupled with
“HERE INDEED WAS ONE OF T"L VtDST TERRIBLE FORMS OF
DEATH LURKING IN THE OCEAN;* *
THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON. D. C., MAY 17. ; 1925- PART 5.
•TWO BUI Kr>. INSTEAD OF KILLING THE FISH, SEEMED TO LASH IT INTO FURY. 1 *
the blaze of the sun and heat, was al
most past human 'endurance. Noth
ing hut the continued excitement
could have kept me going.
** * *
'T'HEbreeze was now blowing strongly
* from the sea. hut fortunately in
side the coral barrier we were not af
fected by the troubled waters without,
but I knew by the wind it was past
midday and that we must have been
fighting the creature for over four
hours.
The fish resumed its sulking, hug
ging the bottom after every run of
30 to 40 yards. Persistently we manip
ulated this strange adversary nearer
the shore, where the depth of water
beneath us was not more than five
feet. gpixty yards away from the boat
there was suddenly a tremendous
smashing and lashing, creating show
ers of spray and a veritable whirlpool.
In the midst of the vortex we could
see a thin black tail curling spasmod
ically.
"My , Griffiths, it’s a giant!
How on earth we're going to land* it
beats me!”
“We land him. boss!” cried the
thoroughly excited Griffiths. We land
him if stay all night.”
The fish submerged, but ever* and
anon the black tail appeared above the
surface—and slowly we were getting
closer to the shore.
Here, just above the tide mark,
where the sea-grape and coeoanut
trees grow almost to the water's edge,
are about five or six thatched native
huts—a little isolated colony of native
fishermen, eight or ten- of whom had
for some time been watching the fight
I have always found the men in this
part of the world splendid fellows and
I knew I could count on their assist
ance.
It was well past 2 o’clock before I
finally worked the fish, an Immense
ray, up on the sand close to the heach.
The great hulk appeared almost life
less, being thoroughly played out. and.
having landed from the boat, I was
thankful myself to squat down and
rest, meanwhile keeping the line taut.
If only there had been a big rise and
fall of tide, as in the Pacific, it would
have been a simple matter to have left
it until the ebb. but here, varying only
a few inches, the sea remains at the
same level year in and year out. T
dared not attempt myself—or let
others try- —to drag the fish up on the
beach, owing to the deadly, poisonous
dagger in the tail.
How I cursed the fact that I had
left my automatic behind! However,
two or three of the natives volun
teered to go to Black River in their
dugouts and fetch it. Hoisting their
curious little sail, with the strong sea
breeze behind them, they passed out
of the channel and rapidly scurried
across the rough surface to the vil
lage But it whs an entirely different
story on the return. With the wind
dead in their teeth, it entailed pad
dling back virtually the whole dis
tance.
I sat on the heach. awaiting them.
It was an hour and three-quarters be
fore they finally arrived.
With the automatic I fired six shots
through the brute’s head, and then,
with an ever-wary eye on the tail, we
all waded in. fastened a rope through
tho nostril-like apertures, and with a
jf ~ T |
"Heave-ho! All together'.’^"were
to drag it ashore. ,?
It was a remarkable fish of the
leopard or whip-ray species, the back j
being covered with white spots. This j
really awe-inspiring brute measured
7 feet 6 inches across the wings, 6 feet
9 inches from head to base of tail,
the whip tail from base to tip being 9
feet i! inches, so the total length from
tip of head to tip of tail was 16 feet 3
inches. Its weight was 410 pounds.
This by a long way broke all my pre
vious records of weight captured op
rod and line.
Both Griffiths and 1 were now suf
fering from the tremendous reaction
following hours of fighting. Our
strength was at such a low ebb tliat
it was impossible for us to paddle back
to Black River. The native fishermen
hereupon came to our assistance, and
while we sailed in one of their large
dugouts our little boat was brought
home.
** * *
r FIIE following day L was so stiff and
A ft was so painful to move around
the room that I had perforce to re
main indoors.
J realize that it is very difficult to
; give an adequate description of what
| a fight with sueh a great fish is really
| like. It has to he actually experi
| onoed before the amount of physical
: endurance necessary to stand a strain
j like this, lasting several hours, ran lie
j appreciated, especially in a tropical
j climate. All those who have partiri
i rated in athletics on a very hot day
will have some small idea how the
blazing sun and heat of the tropirs
tell on the human frame when it is
subjected to such inordinate exertion.,
■When eventually leaving the West
Indies we reached Balboa at the Pa-'
rifle end of the Panama Canal, I had
made for myself the strangest con
signment of fishing tackle ever see.n.
The big shark hooks I had designed,
i with their chains, weighed 14 pounds
j each, ifhad the barb on all these
hooks fifed to the keenness of a razor's
edge. The mouths of all great fish are
like, iron, and with an ordinary hook
there is an exceedingly doubtful
chance of penetration.
It would be difficult to draw a pen
picture of uhat the men looked likb
walking to the yacht, loaded down with
the weight of these large hooks and
chains, to be followed by more, car
rying big coils of the 3,000 yards of
I inanila rope T intended to us** for my
lines. The order for this tackle al
most paralyzed the employes at the
Balboa docks. They thought I had lost
my reason.
At Colon we had obtained a 20-totv
cruiser yacht, the Cara, and this I
j hud put into thorough order. The deck
i was cleared of any impediment that
might obstruct rapid movement, my
guns overhauled, and an ample sup
ply of ammunition put on board. I
now felt ready to give battle to the
giant fish of the Pacific.
Proceeding out to Taboga Island, off
the Canal Zone, at the rooky point
farthest from the village, I got ready
to put my theories to the test. Tak
ing one of the 14-pound hooks, I im
paled an entire half-side of sand
shark which we had previously caught
upon it. attaching it with its chain to
H»o yards of half-inch manila rope. I
did the witne with a second piece,
each of which weighed about 75
pounds.
** * *
i THE dinghy was brought alongside
j * ihe bow. and Robbie, the colored
I engineer of the former owner of the
I yacht, and I lowered one of the baits
i down. He then rowed away from the
i side of the yacht and cast it over, re
peating the operation with the second.
1 had now my lines out on either side
of the boat, and there was nothing to
be done hut sit down and wait for
whal might happen.
I I was keyed up to a pitch of the
j greatest excitement, for surely. I ar-
I gued. the size, if nothing else, of the
. great lump I had fixed to the hook
'would attract something. Lady Brown
'and Robbie did not seem to think much
J of my idea of super hooks and halts.
“How much longer are you going to
J sit there boiling in the sun?” at length
! demanded Brown, for the heat
; was so terrific that the varnish on the
i deck was all coming up in blisters,
j while any metal exposed to the full
rays, of the sun was so hot that it
j could not be touched,
j I began to wonder if these mighty
fish really Mould feed on a dead bait
on the bottom. I was drowsing, con
juring up all sorts of visions of Juras
sic monsters, when I seemed to see
one of my big lines move. I quickly
came to life. Yes, sure enough the
slack was commencing to leave the
deck—slowly, but ever faster.
"A fish!” I roared. “A fish!”
Up jumped a Panaman whom we
j had brought with us and Robbie as if
j they had been shot, while a scramble
from the back of the boat told me
that Lady Brown also had now been
shaken from peaceful slumbers.
|The line was fast running out, gain
ing in speed every second. What to
do I had no knowledge. I knew that
I to attempt to strike and hold it with
j our strength would be absolutely ridlc
; ulous —we should probably be whipped
~ff the deck and into the sea like
i wind-blown straws.
Robbie wajs. about to catch hold.ot
it, but I shouted to him to let it alone.
"With a jerk and almost a thud it
tightened on the capstan. One could
hear the half-inch Manila rope creak
under the strain. Slowly the yacht
Personality Helps Rumania’s Queen
To “Sell” Her Kingdom’s Demands
BY A LADY OK THE RUMANIAN
COURT.
Perhaps it is just as well for
the United States that reasons
of state oblige the "Lady Ta'.r
levrand" of the Balkans to de
lay her long anticipated visit
to Washington.
It is a bit troublesome, the world -in
which she lives just now, what with
King Boris furnishing a target for
Communistic bullets and the Soviets
snarling and snapping around the
edges of Bessarabia. *
It won’t be this year, hut sooner or
later Queen Marie of Rumania will
betake herself to New York, and
Americans will for the first time meet
a queen who knows her business.
Her majesty is so exceptionally
handsome and so affably democratic
in her manner that she disarms sus
picion. But ask any of the trained
diplomats of Europe who is the
shrewdest schemer around the polit
ical chessboard and he will confide
that there is a female Machiavelli in
Rumania who can give them all cards
and spades.
Not so long ago she made a sort of
disguised royal progress through
Europe seeking sons-in-law —that is,
husbands for her beautiful daughters
and loans for her beloved Rumanians.
And the press of every country she
visited warned its statesmen to be
ware of her beguiling charm. True,
she did not make off with any prizes
that trip; at least no one loaned her
any millions, nor did the Prince of
Wales fall into the arms of her mar
riageable child. But who knows how
many loans she extended or what se
cret understandings she reached?
In England they admitted she
triumphed in a difficult situation. It
is no secret that Queen Mary did not
like her style and thoroughly dis
trusted her arts. Yet she, too, suc
cumbed. or at least seemed to. When
the prince heard that his mother and
tiie "angel without wings" from Ru
mania were chumming around he ex
claimed :
“My hat! I Wonder how long they
will get on.”
They did get on. right through
the weeks Marie spent in England,
even though at the state ball the
gowns of the two queens clashed and
Mary was seen to eye dubiously the
bizarre jeweled cross that hung to
Marie's shapely waist and the Russian
crown which rested on the gleaming
gold of her hair.
** * *
THERE was a reason. Queen Mary
A is determined to marry the Prince
of Wales respectably at any cost, and
—who knows but that bis fickle fancy
might fall on the beautiful little
daughter of Rumania's beautiful
queen? No one denies that the Queen
of England is a wise woman.
One is inclined to think that all the
stories of this dazzling and beautiful
Queon Marie have been told, but
chance has taken tne to Rumania and
into the court life at Bucharest quite
frequently, and I learned things about
her there that I have never seen
printed anywhere. And it is upon
the intimate and informal little in
cidents of my association with her
that my conception of this extraor
dinary woman is based.
I wonder if it is generally known,
for instance, that at one time the
King of Rumania, weary of Marie’s
flirtations, threatened her with vir
tual banishment from the throne? Her
response to this threat indicates that,
even then, she was at heart the con
summate diplomat the world later dis
covered her to he.
What do you think Queen Marie did
at this crisis of her life? Weep? No.
Storm? Certainly not. No, her
majesty robed herself in all the bar
baric glory of Rumanian costume,
placed her royal crown on her golden
head and with that sunny hair flow
ing unbound down her back she went
to the King’s chamber and knelt peni
tently at his feet.
Os course, his majesty could not
resist her appeal. Who could? So he
reached down and drew her into his
arms . . .
But a man can embrace while he
does not forgive. Though held cap
tive by her beauty, the King robbed
her of many prerogatives that she had
enjoyed and pushed her as far as pos
sible into the background, even going
to the length of giving the control of
her children to a governess.
With the serene patience of the very j
clever woman. Marie endured these i
slights and awaited the hour of her [
revenge! ' '
The i?oy.r ■ PlTlrtfc.. during vr?U_
rode ahead. The anchor chain at the
bow tightened.
"Haul up the anchor—quick!" I
cried, and up it- came. Freed from
this, the yacht was now being tow*ed.
i; i v :
QUEEN MARIE. THE “I.ADT TAI.I.EYRAND OR THE BALKANS."
It happened one night while the
King's subjects milled around outside
his castle walls. His majesty had
been accused of holding pro-German
views and the rabble roared hoarsely:
“We wont war!”
Interest in Booth Relics
(Continued from First Page.)
Surratt tavern at Surrattsville be
cause of the condition of his leg.
Booth's pistols. These are not iden
tified. but it is believed that of the
four on hand Booth and Herold car
ried at least two. One of the pistols
can he identified as Payne’s, because
the rod beneath the barrel, used to
ram balls into the chamber, was
broken when Payne struck Frederick
Seward over the head, fracturing his |
skull. The pistols are about 13 Vi
inches long and are inclosed In black
leather scabbards.
Booth’s compass. This is contained
in a smooth red leather box about 2Vi
inches square, the top of which is se
cured by a metal catch. The compass
is round and incased in brass. At the
top. of course, is the customary glass.
On the face of the compass is an eagle
with outstretched wings. The needle
is slender and of sensitive blue steel.
It is balanced on a pivot from below.
The Inside of the box is lined with
red plush, on which are seven tell
tale drops of tallow candle. These
signs mutely relate the story of how
Booth and Herold obscured the can
dle under the desperado’s black slouch
hat, got the direction and crossed the
Potomac at dead of night in a small
boat. The compass is alleged to have
been found hidden in Booth’s hat, but
the hat has disappeared, if it was ever
found. Other authorities say Booth
was wearing a cap when he was killed.
The cap is likewise gone.
Boston Corbett's carbine. This is
the same as the Booth carbine ex
fpt thdt" IT tuts no shoulder strap,'
bears* a- different number •of the
I was in the meantime pulling the
other big line in as hard as I could.
“It's one of them!” I cried. “One of
the giants I’ve always dreamt I’d land.
Whether we'll succeed with this one I
don't know, but if we do, mark my
words, it'll be the greatest fish I've
ever captured!"
** * *
now all four seized the rope and
” hauled on the moving bulk be
neath the surface. We were com
pletely helpless so far as endeavoring
to check its progress was concerned,
so there was nothing to be done until
it bad become exhausted.
Slowly it circled, the yacht follow
ing. we hauling on the rope the whole
time. At last we were glad to find
that with our joint strength we were
able to commence to work the fish
nearer the yacht. By strenuous ef
forts yard after yard of the line was
regained.
We now gave the rope a turn around
the capstan, while Robbie fetched the
rifle, so that all might be in readiness
to give the coup de grace when —as
\ye hoped—it was finally brought
alongside the yacht. Persistently we
worked it closer and closer, until at
last slowly to the surface the great
brute came alongside.
The steel hook had been driven com
pletely through, behind the lower jaw,
with no danger of ever coming out
until cut. What a mouth!
Rapidly I fired two bullets through
the base of the head. But it had
quite the opposite effect to what I had
hoped. Instead of killing the' fish, it
seemed to lash it into a fury.
The three others had let go the line
simultaneously with my firing, and
with immense speed off again it
rushed.
The vitality of this fish was simply
astounding. It took us fairly half an
hour before it was again- worked up
to the yacht. I could see it was al
most dead, but to make certain
smashed another expanding bullet
through it. Then there it lay, fleebly
flapping itH tail. Fastening the line
tight, we left it, and all rested for a
quarter of an hour.
Now came the question of what on
earth we were going to do with it. I
was determined to perform an autopsy,
as I was most anxious to obtain all
the knowledge and data I could of
these greater inhabitants of the sea.
Fifty yards off the beach we dropped
the yacht's anchor, and. unfastening
the rope from the captain, allowed the
fish to sink to the bottom, and, taking
the reverse end of the line to that
hitched around the tali, rowed ashore
in the dinghy with it. Then all to
gether we pulled the fish in until it
reached shallow water. It was virtu
ally high tide, and in this part of the
world the Pacific Ocean has a rise and
fall of a mean average of 16 feet every
Queen Mar*e stepped out on the bal
cony and answered them:
“Vou want war. So do I. And we
will have war—in half an hour. I
promise you!”
Then like an avenging goddess she
same series, and is stamped deeper
and more plainly near the breech
with the name of the manufacturer
and the place of manufacture and
date of patent.
Miscellaneous articles include the
following; The pick (without handle),
which was found in the possession-of
Lewis Payne when he was arrested.'
at the Surratt home in Washington;
a cipher box supposed to have been
seized at the office of Judah P. Ben-
I jamin. Confederate Secretary of
State, at Richmond, and with which
Booth is said to have been familiar:
a long wooden bar used to, fasten
the door to the boxes from the in
side. preventing ingress from the
audience: a long rope, said to have
been obtained to use in the abduction
of Mr. Lincoln in March; Mrs. Lin
coln’s opera glass case, picked up in
the box; a small white-handled
hunting knife discovered in the room
of the conspirators at the Kirkwood
House, where the Vice President, ac
cording to Stewart s book, lay on the
bed in a dingy little room? a pane of
window glass sent from Meadvllle,
Pa., containing a prophecy, scratched
with a diamond, of the death by
poison of Mr. Lincoln, and several
knives in scabbards, the property of
the conspirators.
Among other articles which are
missing are Booth’s pipe, which no
doubt disappeared with one of the
cavalryman captors, and his crude
wooden crutch, about which so much
is heard as he fought his way through
swamp and over hill and dale to tiie
litter bewilderment of a pursuing
tffbb ~ off TOO detectives and 2,00<j
troops. - _
12 hours, so that all I had tr> do was
possess my soul in patience until th»
ebb, which would leave the monster
high and dry.
Slowly the tide receded, but it was
over two hours before we were able to
get a full view of our quarry, it
proved to be a shovel-nose shark, far
and away larger than any I had yet
seen or expected to see. It measured
14 feet 9 Inches in length, 11 feet .1
inches in girth, the circumference or
the jaws being 5 feet 4 inches, it
weighed 1.460 pounds.
(Copyright, 1920.>
Report on Criminals.
than one-third of the prisoner
in the Texas Penitentiary are
mentally normal and only 11 per cent
axe free from obvious physical disease
or defect. These facts are reported by
the national committee for mental
hs’giene following a. survey of rondi
tions in the penal institutions of
Texas made at the request of the
State.
The committee urges a medical and
psychiatric clinic for study and treat
ment of offenders, better hospital
facilities . and a training school. It
also urges that prisoners be given in
determinate sentences so that thev
may be released when they are re
habilitated and are judged ready to
become useful members of society.
"Psychiatry,” says the committee,
“does not subscribe to half-baked
theories of pseudo-scientists like those
who recently ascribed all crime to
‘emotional insanity,' which has its
seat in the brain, which is inherited
and incurable and can only be pre
vented by sterilization. Neither does
it subscribe to the maudlin sentimen
talism which would have no one
locked up or punished. The psy
chiatrist does maintain that the
mental and physical condition of the
prisoner has a great deal to do with
his conduct ami that an effort must
be made to understand his mind and
personality before sound correctional
treatment can be administered.
"Experts who have studied the
penal situation believe that construe
■ tive criminology has reached such ;•
knowledge of the criminal and his re
habilitation that we may safely and
wisely make investments in buildings,
apparatus and personnel. Additional
expense in the interests of Crime pre
vention 'is true econdmy in the long
run.”
The committee's report says that
the majority of the Texas prisoners
• are under 30 years of age and that
- much can he done to remold the
l personalities of young offenders into
■ socially acceptable forms.
swept straight into the presence of
the King.
“Declare war on the allied side in
half an hour or I will proclaim a rev
olution with my son as king," was he.
inexorable ultimatum.
** * *
'THAT the King replied Queen
Marie did not tell me. But it is
history that within the half hour Ru
mania had declared war on Germany
No wonder that Von Bulow himself
once declared:
"She is so damned clever in diplo
macy tlrat I am afraid she will upset
otir plans Her good looks and her
brains will do for tis."
And Von Bulow is by no means the
only diplomat who feared the Ru
manian charmer. There are many
other members of foreign diplomatic
circles who feel distinctly nervous
when they see her lovely face. For
not a few of them have all too vivid
memories of wonderful moonlit nights
in the Carpathians and on the banks
of the silvery Danube, of fountains
splashing softly, of the songs of night
ingales, of the clash of weird Tzigane
music and a soft voice coaxing from
them secrets they would wish had
been left untold.
But in her own Rumania they love
and trust her. In their history she
will live as the Teacher Queen —the
teacher who practiced what she
preached.
They love her, too. because she
shares their love of gambling. Often
she has told me that of all the e\
citements of her life the greatest thrill
is the one that comes when she
takes a flutter with a horse. She
herself is a splendid horsewoman. She
drives a horse as well as she does a
car, and rides like a Diana. And at
the same time per omelet would nor
disgrace the chef at the Ritz. I know,
because I've eaten them.
For a royal personage she is very
dose to her subjects. It is not diffi
cult to obtain an audience with her.
Indeed, a large portion of her time,
as well as King Ferdinand’s, is de
voted to receiving not only visitors
hut any one else with proper creder
tials, for it is the custom of the kings
and queens of Rumania to give then
subjects advice on all sorts of matters
The queen told me how one old lady
from the country made the arduous
journey to Bucharest to ask her what
she should feed her chickens. The
old lady explained simply that she
had heard that her majesty was good
at raising poultry and preparing them
for the table.
Ts the ghost of old Bismarck hap
pened to he hovering around the pal
ace that day his historic scowl must
have grown deeper and blacker.
For it was Bismarck who once said
“That damned little golden-haired
girl will cook our goose in the Bal
kans.”
And Queen Marie did just that.
Radio for Miners.
EXPERIMENTAL, work designed to
test the availability of radio as a
means of communication between
miners entombed following mine fires
and disasters and rescuing parties on
tlie surface, conducted by the De
partment of the Interior at the Pitts
burgh experiment station of the Bu
reau of Mines: Indicates that ordinary
radlo apparatus would not be practi
cable for the purpose, says the Sci
entific American. There is some
promise, however, in the application
of “wired wireless," or line radio,
which under mine conditions means
transmission along metallic conduct
ors such as water pipes, compressed
air pipes, power and lighting circuits
and mine car tracks, and the use of
ground-current methods of signaling.
Because of the higher conductivity
and resultant attenuation of the high
frequency radio waves in penetrating
the earth, relatively high pow-er equip
ment, which means hulk and weight,
would be required for mine rescue
purposes. For reliable communica
tion by pure radio over distances of
even 1.000 to 2,000 feet through
: strata, transmitting equipment with
lan Input of from 50 to 200 watts or
I more, and used in conjunction with »
sensitive receiver, would be required
Such equipment would he much too
bulky, heavy and complicated to ful
fill the requirements for practical mine
apparatus.
Sounded That Way.
1 ' "Smith t- wrapped up in hi* auto.”
“When did the accidetN ha*r#en? '