Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 142, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 June 1910 — Shark’s Eye Was On Him. [ARTICLE]

Shark’s Eye Was On Him.

“Ever get mesmerized by a fish?” said the skipper, according to the Detroit Free Press. "No? Well, I have been many a time. It was a shark that did it. “I don’t know the scientific name of this particular variety of shark, but it abounds on the Nantucket shoals. When full grown they are from eight to ten feet long and weigh from 500 to 700 pounds. They have saw teeth, five rows of them, about an inch and a half long, and they can flatten the lot and chew theh gums. But for a human being the peril Is in the eyes. “I don’t believe in man-eating sharks. I believe that If a shark is in bloody water he gets excited and will snap at anything he sees. But let one of those fellows get his eye on you and you don’t know where you are at. “They have a habit of coming up alongside of your live boxes and lying there while you fish. Then when you get anything on your line the shark has It off before you get a chance to pull. “I remember the first time I saw one of theifi. I was a boy at the time and one of these fellows had come up alongside of my live box and I put my hand out and touched his back. He didn’t seem to mind at all, but a minute later, when I stood up, I caught sight of his eyes, or one of them. Well, sir, I just tumbled back in the boat and was as helpless as a jellyfish out of water. “I don’t know how to explain It. The eyes of the fish are no bigger than the point of your little finger, but there Is something that comes out of them that makes you tumble in a heap. Many a time after that did I have a similar experience, and I know of a lot of men who have felt the same effect. The only explanation I could suggest Is that the shark’s eyes have some sort of mesmeric power.”