Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 214, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 September 1919 — BATTLE WITH SHARKS [ARTICLE]

BATTLE WITH SHARKS

Lives at Game. Dead Horses Make Best Bait, and ' Sport Has Been Commercialized. Honolulu. —Using the carcaks of a horse for bait, a Honolulu sportsman went fishing recently in a powerboat and returned with a fish weighing 2 500 pounds and measuring almost 20 feet from tip to tip, the’ largest Shark killed in Hawaiian waters for many years. Shark fishing, or rather, hunting, as it is conducted In Hawaii, is a thrilling sport, not entirely lacking In danger to the hunter. In fact, a death battle with a harpooned shark, according to big-game hunters, Is about as safe as«a midnight combat with a hungry tiger.

Sharks, Jn their death throes, have been known" to attack the boat and with their powerful rows of serrated teeth rip great sections from the sides. The shark hunter first obtains a dead horse, and If it has been dead a week so much the better. The powerboat tows the carcass outside the harbor and the hunt Is on. Sharks, attracted by the odor of the bait, gather in large numbers and soon begin striking at the carcass, ripping huge chunks of flesh from lb At this stage the hunter endeavors to work his boat near enough to permit a shot with the harpoon. Once,securejy harpooned, a "big shark will fight for hours before succumbing. Recently In Hawaii shark hunting has been placed on a commercial basis, and the development of a big industry Is forecast *.. . .J - ■' • —r— Shark fins afe deemed a great delicacy fey orientals, and dried shark meat has found a ready market. —r-7-y —7

The canning of shark meat 1s being considered. The livers yield a valuable oil. ZZ—■ i