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Show The Usefulness of Sharks. The shark Is undoubtedly "a dog with 1 a bad name," says Pearson's Magazine 1 f' r January He Is called opprobrlously ' the ' Tiger of tho Seas," or the "Sailor's Fee,'' or any other scurrilous name which hi ppens to be handy Much mud Is thrown at him and. as he seldom fiu'is a dsfenderi West of (t slicks. Hard lines I this' Because In reality this blue water boglo Is a humble and useful public servant, ser-vant, who performs uncomplainingly tho duties connected with the sanitation of the seas. The shark Is the common scavenger and gi r. ral undertaker of the ocean. He Is r "t, and. for reasons connected with tils I very moderate Bpeed-Pmlt, never can be, primarily a fish of prey Open any captor. cap-tor. -'1 i-hark, and you will find clear proof il. at this Is so A few tangled blt6 of rope, yarn, a battered corned beef tin. a corked bottle lontalning an insulting message to the finder (thrown overboard bi some nautical wag, or a sailor's cap which has been lost In a gale, all tend to show that the shark Is a fish of businesslike business-like habits, with a keen eyo to any chane... windfalls which may come In his wa . but the more digestible contents of hie stomach, consisting mainly of carrion of every kind, all fflvt the clearest olfactory evidence that the original owners of them wre r.ot alive in fact, were very much (ji ui When this marine sanitary inspector cam along, and. condemning them as nul-Bances, nul-Bances, removed them Into nls own internal inter-nal refuse bin. A large accumulation of carefully eo. lected evidence on this point proves cot-ciusively cot-ciusively that there are. a matter of fact only two articles of his ordinary menu which the shark Is able to capture alive; namely, an occasional unwary sea-fowl sea-fowl wliii it he may happen to surprise aep on the surface of the water and the ugly, octopus-like could, whose; limited lim-ited powers of locomotion give a chance to our hungry four-knot prowler. Tho shark, then, so far from being the gore-eyed pirate which the novelist palnta him. Is a mere hard-working, commonplace common-place drudge, and as such, deserves, if not kindness, at any rate, toleration. |