194 FANCIERS’ 

as a system, and in regard to its application. We are told 
that ¢ 
“Tn the elder days of art, 
Builders wrought with greatest care,” 
but in our times of hurry and struggle, thoroughness does 
not appear to be considered an essential. The work of 
months is crowded into days, and that of years into months. 
How then can we expect a work like a Standard as it ought 
to be, which should take years of study and reflection to 
perfect, to be hurried through a three days’ Convention, 
and reflect the highest type of American judging? Of the 
Standard itself we are not permitted to speak, for it has not 
yet seen the light; but whatever it may be, it is evident 
that its authors did not fully comprehend the situation, or 
appreciate their opportunity, or they would never have 
hung such a millstone about its neck as their instructions to 
the judges will prove to be, for it will most assuredly de- 
stroy any vitality which it may possess, and as assuredly con- 
sign it to the fate of its predecessors. That the Convention 
should have been so thoughtless as to incumber their work 
with such a dead weight, seems to us a mystery. In taking 
this ground, they have fairly turned their backs upon all 
the experience of the past six years, as well as upon all the 
information which has accumulated upon the subject. That 
any body of highly intelligent men could for a moment sup- 
pose that judges worthy the name could be obtained, after 
the experience we have had of such a system, who would 
undertake such arduous work, is past our comprehension ; 
but we are certain that if any of them had passed through 
the experience we have had in obtaining judges and assign- 
ing their duties, and have heard, as we have repeatedly 
heard, from them, the most thorough condemnation of such 
a system, they would have paused before they had committed 
themselves or their Convention to such a measure. If we 
have accurately weighed the testimony given in the pub- 
lished reports of the Convention, we confess ourselves un- 
able to see any good which will result to the poultry interest 
of America from its actions. Had the Convention, instead 
of going over the too oft-repeated formulas, and the out- 
grown systems, risen to the occasion and made a new depar- 
ture, they might, and undoubtedly would, have given a new 
impetus to the whole poultry interest ; but they have chosen 
otherwise, and we must patiently wait and 
“By ceaseless study learn; by actions teach,” 
until our fanciers are brought to understand and appreciate 
the needs and demands of the time. 
Looking then at the work of the Convention from what 
ever point we may, we do not see anything to give encour- 
agement, but rather a feeling of dissappointment that no 
progress has been made; that so far as this subject of a 
Standard is concerned, we stand just where we did before, 
with a little more emphasis upon our conservatism, and that 
a splendid opportunity for American fanciers to take the 
lead in the needed reforms in poultry matters has been most 
heedlessly thrown away. W. 
FEBRUARY 25, 1874. 
+ ___—- 
pes A lady asked a pupil at a public examination of a 
Sunday-school:—‘‘ What was the sin of the Pharisees?” 
‘(Rating camels, marm,’’ quickly replied the child. She 
had read that the Pharisees “strained at gnats and swal- 
lowed camels.” 

JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 

(For Fanciers’ Journal.) 
ADVENTURE WITH A SHARK. 
Durtne the late war, when a regiment of Confederate 
soldiers were encamped at Virginia Point, opposite the city 
of Galveston, on Galveston Bay, a number of soldiers were 
bathing, when a huge shark made his appearance among 
them. The keen eyes of the ‘¢ Rebs’? were not long in 
taking in the situation, and they seized pieces of drift wood 
and, by beating upon the water and shouting vociferously, 
the finny monster was driven into water so shallow as to be 
unable to turn on his back to defend himself. Spades, axes, 
and tent-poles were then freely used in dispatching the un- 
welcome visitor. When drawn ashore he measured twelve 
feet in length, and was of the variety known as the blue 
shark. The soldiers neatly stripped off his rough and 
shining skin, and used ‘it in polishing their muskets and 
swords. The joints of the vertebra, after bleaching in the 
sun on the sand, were appropriated by the regiment for salt- 
cellars. ; 
Not long since I somewhere read of the perilous adven- 
tures of a seafaring man who by some accident fell over- 
board from a vessel sailing from Manilla to San Francisco. 
The sea being very rough, his whole strength was seemingly 
required to keep on the surface. Imagine his dismay when 
he saw that he was besieged by hungry sharks, who made 
determined efforts to dismember his limbs. Being an ex- 
pert swimmer, by dexterous diving he managed to keep the 
sharks at bay and himself afloat for an hour, when a boat 
from the ship picked him up. 
The jaws of the shark sometimes measure several feet, and 
are studded with several rows of lance-like teeth, which cut 
with the keenness of a knife. Instances are recorded where 
the limbs of men have been dismembered by a single closure 
of the jaws, as if they had been as brittle as a reed. The 
writer has in his possession a petrified tooth of a shark, 
found in a bed of marl near the coast, which measures two 
inches in length and one inch across its base. It is lance- 
shaped and exceedingly sharp, and is by no means of the 
average size, 
It is a source of great amusement in sailing across the 
ocean, when becalmed, to observe the sailors fishing for 
sharks, which always follow in the wake of a vessel to 
devour anything that may be thrown overboard. A hook 
made for this purpose is secured to a chain at least one foot 
long (the shark being capable of biting through a rope with 
ease) ; the other end of the chain is fastened to a stout rope, 
which is secured to the vessel. A severe plunge of a cap- 
tured shark would be quite sufficient to draw overboard 
several men. A large piece of pork is used in baiting the 
hook, and allowed to tow alongside. Sharks are generally 
eager to catch it, and have been known to leap several feet 
out of water to seize the bait before it reaches the surface. 
When once caught its mighty struggles create great excite- 
ment, for it exerts its whole strength to tear away from the 
hook; but the skilled seamen delight in using a harpoon, 
the handle of which is heavily loaded with lead, which gives- 
force when dropped upon the struggling fish. When landed 
on deck its ponderous jaws open widely and close with great 
force; its tail twirls with wonderful agility, dealing heavy 
blows upon the deck, until the sailors render him senseless 
with an axe. The stomach is often the receptacle of treas- 
ures. As they are known to devour anything thrown over- 
board, the sailors consider this the curiosity shop, and ex- 
amine it with a deal of care. One having enjoyed the 
enlivening sport of shark-fishing can well, realize the relief 
it affords the dull monotony of a sea voyage. Even ladies 
regard it as very pleasant pastime, while on land they would 
think of it as horrible. James S. Barter, M.D. 
