Jasper County Democrat, Volume 18, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 May 1915 — SWALLOWED ALARM CLOCK. [ARTICLE]

SWALLOWED ALARM CLOCK.

The Hungry Shark Did Some Circus Stunts When It Went Off. Passengers arriving by the transatlantic liners bring strange stories not all of which are based on the war. But it seems that the war has had the effect, by lessening the transatlantic, passenger traffic, , and particularly by removing all the German liners from the paths of the sea, to reduce t*fie sharks to a state bordering. starvation, the condition of the unfortunate marine ■monsters has produced the following weird tale, which is contributed to the Office Window: “The other day a shark, sometimes known as the pirate of the ocean, was swimming peacefully along while following in the wake of a ship. As usual, he was hungry. His reputation for voracity was well deserved, although he had not gone as far in his indiscrimination as to food as some of the sharks who figure in the records have gone, Still, he had eaten, with unsatisfied hunger, all he could get of the refuse thrown from the ship. “A brother shark had eaten, with out content, a bag of cinders, which the sailors had purposely thrown overboard. Other sharks in the school had eaten at. various times the following items, viz.: A lady’s work box, discarded ship’s papers, baskets, shavings, cordage, ducks, hens, buffalo hides and a tin cannis ter filled with coins, not to expand the menu unduly. “The shark about which this item principally concerned, however, had eschewed ail of these articles and was, in consequence, still hungry.

“Suddenly an idea occurred to one of the sailors on board the followed ship. This sailor had a wellfounded antipathy for all sharks in general, and for this one who was so near in particular. He finally determined to try a new method of scaring the shark away. With this end in view he procured an alarm clock, which he carefully wound and set to go off in 20 minutes. Then the sailor tied the clock to a rope and dropped it overboard. The shark instantly swallowed if. “The rhythmic ticking of the clock seemed to be soothing to the sea scavenger, but when the alarm went off he was really and truly scared. The shark manifested this in various ways. He first stood on his hind legs; this is, of course, his tail, and then turned somersaults. Nothing he could do, however, served to stop the clock. The influx of the sea water swallowed by the shark in his vain efforts to accomplish this, seemed only to wind up the clock and to insure its continued running. If the shark’s face could have been seen by the clock it might have been stopped, but as it happened, it was, indeed, a sad case for the shark, who was apprehensive that the clock might be an Infernal machine. The great fish finally took refuge in flight, meanwhile lashing the water furiously with his tail and registering other signs of disapproval. The pilot fish accompanied him. “Several weeks afterwards this same shark • was captured by the same ship. When the monster was drawn on deck by the triumphant crew the clock was still running and keeping excellent time. The alarm went off five minutes afterwards.’’ The office window seems to be expected by its informant to believe this story, but the reader is under no such obligation.—New York Mail.