Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 November 1883 — A Sea Serpent Made to Order. [ARTICLE]

A Sea Serpent Made to Order.

“Wall, naow, ye put a leadin’ question,” replied Capt. Perkins, of Maine, when asked if he had ever seen a sea erpent. “I’m ’bleged to say I hev; but it wasn’t eggsactly the kind t>’ sarpint vaou mean: You’ve all heard tell o’ my brother Tom, what accumulated such a fortune in the tavern business ? Jest so. Wall, when he started in he bed a little tavern on the beach—held about twenty, I calkilate—and every summer he got addin’ on and addin’ on tilt he got quite a large place, big enough to hold all he could get in. Then he went tew work devisin’ haow tew make folks come with a rush. He hed boat racin’ and tub matches and sech tew bring crowds. One day I kem in. I was a-fishin’ for the haouse, and he sed tew me, tippin’ me a wink: ‘Bill, you’ve seen that sea sargint what’s been’ fiavenlf'ye T ‘I believe I hev,’ sez I. ‘Wall, sez he, ‘if SSO is any inducement iof that old cuss to hang off shore here for a few days next week I know who’ll provide the cash,’ ‘and dew yiftu know,” said the Captain, stirring up the fluid with the stem of his pipe, “that the sea sarpint did appear jest at that time, and the crowds that kem down tew see it abaout eat and drinked up the hull place. The hull fclace was black with folks, swearin’ mad ’cause they couldn’t get no boat tew go aout and harpoon the critter; for there it was abaout a mile off shore, about a 100 feet long, a rollin’ abaout see it as plain as nothin’ in the glass. “Haow was it done? Wall, I know it won’t git about here, bein’ all neighbors, so I don’t mind lettin’ on and giviu’ the rec-i-pe. Tew make a sea sarpint yaou want about 100 barrel hoops, and about 200 yards o’ tarred muslin. Hev yaoun muslin sewed into a funnel abaout sixty feet long and two feet across, and brace it out with hoops. Pint off the ends, r g a mane on the head of kelp, put abaout twenty sinkers in it at reg’lar interwals—that makes the bumps; then hire up all the boats abaout Wt none,of these ere inves-tigators-'kin git at it, and anchor it off shore in a long line, and ye’ll draw the hull country raound; that’s jest what old Capt. Bob did.’’— Corresixmdeiice