U.3.S. HOUSTON 
MORNING PRESS NEWS 
2 AUGUST 1938 
Earl?/, S ecre t ary to tho President 
Fishermen eager to try their luck in waters about Cocos 
Island put out from the cruiser Houston today with President 
Roosevelt, later returning to the ship to alibi themselves 
at the expense of the shark, which they found everywhere in 
great numbers. 
Time after time when game fish were hooked, only their 
heads remained hooked when the linos were reeled in. Tb 
hook a fish in most instances was the equivalent of ordering 
dinner for the shark nearest the fisherman. 
The President took his small boat well out to the wind- 
ward side of the island. Others of his party elected to stay 
in the more calm waters on the sheltered side of Cocos. They 
experienced the worst interference by the sharks and when the 
aggregate catch was weighed and counted honors for the biggest 
fish and for the most fish had to be given respectively to 
the President and his boat. 
The big fish could not be immediately identified but 
it more closely resembled the Rainbow Runner than any other 
known specie. While this fish attains an average weight of 
at least twelve pounds, tho President’s prize tipped the 
scales fractional^ above twenty pounds. Nahoos, Albacore, 
and Jacks also were counted in the dajrs catch. 
The Houston remained at anchor off Cocos Island tonight. 
The battle between the fi she men, fish, and shark will bo 
resumed tomorrow and possibly Wednesday forenoon. At two 
o’clock Wednesday afternoon the Houston will proceed to Balboq, 
C.Z. where it is scheduled to arrive Thursday afternoon. 
The destroyer Dallas from Balboa, is expected at Cocos 
tomorrow morning. It will bring the President the first of- 
ficial mail to be received since he sailed from San Diego, 
California July 16, 1938. 
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