An Ocean Swashbuckler 



taken its place among the great leaping game fishes of 

 the region. The record of the Tuna Club is 150 

 pounds, and a swordfish cup has been offered for the 

 largest fish of the season. 



That swordfishes are a menace to life has been 

 demonstrated on many occasions. A fisherman on 

 the coast of Maine was astonished to see the sword 

 of a swordfish crash up through his dory. A similar 

 attack occurred on the Long Island coast, the sword, 

 according to Professor G. Brown Goode, barely 

 missing the man, who, with great presence of mind, 

 seized the sword, broke it off, and plugged the hole 

 with his coat. The extraordinary force of these 

 blows can hardly be realized or credited. Sir Joseph. 

 Banks cites an instance where the entire sword was 

 driven through the hull of a ship; competent judges 

 testified that it would require ten blows of a hammer 

 weighing thirty pounds to produce a like result. The 

 British ship Dreadnaught was injured so badly by a 

 swordfish, that she was obliged to make port and go 

 on the ways. The smack Wyoming from Gloucester, 

 was similarly injured, and the crew had great diffi- 

 culty in keeping her afloat. The smack Morning 

 Star, of Mystic, had a remarkable experience with a 

 large swordfish off Hatteras. She was struck so vio- 

 lently that she began to leak badly, and had to make 

 Charleston. The sword had pierced the planking, 

 timber and ceiling. The planking was two inches 

 thick, the timber five, the ceiling was one and a half 



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