Fury Of A Fish

Fury of A Fish

Sea Monster, Enraged by a Harpoon Wound, Attacks a Man.

How a Giant Swordfish Pierced the Hull of a Boat and Nearly Killed Its Occupant.

Christopher Norwaugh, one of the best known fishermen in the fleet that hails from Block island, had a terrific battle with a 500 pound swordfish and sustained injuries from which for a time it was thought he could not recover.

During the struggle the fish rammed the small boat in which the fisherman was at work and sent its sword through the hull and Into the fisherman's body, causing a punctured wound of the most serious character. So severely injured was Norwaugh that the Block island doctors thought it advisable to send the patient to a hospital for surgical and such other treatment as the case might necessitate.

Norwaugh was one of the fishing crew of the sloop Lindsey, Captain Edwin Dodge. The craft left Old Harbor In company with the fleet about sunrise, and when six miles south of the wireless station Wallace A. Mitchell, another member of the crew, sighted a swordfish from the masthead. The fish, the largest and most ferocious seen this season, rose at full length above the feathering seas to the height of six feet a number of times. The craft ran down toward the fish and Captain Dodge, in the "pulpit," made ready to harpoon the monster. When the fish came in range Dodge sent the keen weapon deep into its back and it Immediately dived.

As the Lindsey's head pointed up to the spot where the fish was last seen Captain Dodge proceeded to haul in the line. The fish made no violent demonstration until it was within a few yards of a small boat in which Norwaugh had left the Lindsey to assist in landing the fish, and then the struggle began. The fish circled the boat a dozen times as fast as it could swim, and then it went out of the sea, clearing the small boat and tearing out the harpoon. The fish's tail grazed the fisherman's head. The monster dived deep, and turning quickly came up directly under the stern. The sword struck the bottom of the boat with terrific force, penetrated it, entered the interior of the fisherman's left leg and was forced through the fleshy part. The point of the sword came out on the exterior of Norwaugh's leg at the hip.

The weapon with which the fighting fish struck the man was over three feet long, and the wound It made was a tearing wound nearly thirty inches in length. The flesh and muscles of Norwaugh's leg were torn from the bone.

Mitchell saw the struggle between the man and fish, and the crew of the Lindsey went to the rescue as soon as possible. Norwaugh was found to be terribly torn and he was bleeding profusely. It was feared he would bleed to death. The flow was stopped, and with the injured man aboard the Lindsey made for the harbor under both sail and ten horse power auxiliary with which the craft is supplied. Nearly all the way in the vessel was throwing the sea over her bows. Everything depended upon the earliest arrival of the craft in port, where a doctor could dress the injuries of the fisherman. The Lindsey arrived at Block island shortly after noon, and surgeons attended the man.

At this season the swords of swordfish are coated with a slime which is said to be deadly poison, and this poisonous matter is liable to cause blood poisoning and probably death. Norwaugh has a family living on the island.

A similar battle with a swordfish occurred off No Man's Land, forty miles east of this place, three years ago. The fish struck the fisherman, killing him instantly. The body fell into the sea, and it is supposed sharks seized it.

ILLUSTRATION CAPTION: THE FISH LEAPED OVER THE BOAT.