“Capt. Ira Eaton of Pelican Bay, Santa Cruz Island, brought the prize fish story of the year to Santa Barbara today when he asserted that his speedboat ‘Sprig’ was wrecked last Thursday night near the island in a collision with a huge man-eating shark. According to Capt. Eaton, he was cruising off the island when he thought he struck a rock or submerged vessel.
“With two other members of the crew, Capt. Eaton threw supplies into a skiff and waited for the boat to sink, while the shark played around them. Partly filled with water, the craft was finally towed ashore and beached, where it was found the propeller blades were snapped off and the stuffing box removed by the impact with the big fish.” – Los Angeles Times, December 29, 1925
More about my books here: betsyjgreen.com
Imagine that, I had to look up “stuffing box”, of course “G” sent me to “Stove Top stuffing…”, that can’t be right?
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/stuffing-box
oh…
🚲
…and how BIG was it (the fish)?
Thanks for asking. I had to look up “stuffing box” too. According to the westmarine.com website: “A marine stuffing box—also called a stuffing gland, packing gland or packing box—forms a seal between the prop shaft and the hole in the hull through which the shaft passes while allowing the shaft to turn freely.” Traditionally, the stuffing was made of pieces of flax.
So now you know.
(The newspaper article did not mention the size of the shark.)