FIGHT WITH DOLPHIN

Evening Star, Issue 19327, 13 August 1926, Page 2

FIGHT WITH DOLPHIN

LONG SIOIIT 111 THAMES TWO MEN IH MOTOR BOAT Two men in a motor boat fought a thrilling duel with a giant dolphin in the Thames on a Sunday evening a few weeks ago (says a London paper). The unique contest took place between Chelsea and Wandsworth Bridges, and was witnessed by thousands of spectators.' It was probably the first tamo that the exciting sport of dolphin hunting has been seen in London, and the spectacle attracted such dense crowds that traffic over the bridges was held up, and the river banks wore crowded with sightseers over a distance of two miles. For two and a-half hours the men in the motor boat fought a ding-dong battle with the giant fish, using their boathook and anchor as harpoons. The dolphin, submerging like a submarine, tried to shako off pursuit by taking cover among groups of barges, and more than once nearly succeeded _ m capsizing the motor boat by diving underneath it. After a long pursuit the dolphin was beaten by sheer' exhaustion, and killed near Wandsworth Bridge. Ropes were then tied round its fins, a»d it was towed to Battersea Bridge, whore it was hoisted ashore by a crane. It became the pride of Battersea, and next day it was on show in a paper-mill by the river. It measured over 10ft—an unusual length lor a dolphin. It was believed to weigh about five* or six hundredweight. Mr Albert Pritchard, a dyer and cleaner, and Mr Leslie Malcolm, a theatre attendant, were the two men who fought the dolphin. Enthusiastic amateur yachtsmen, they were enjoying a peaceful Sunday evening cruise on the river when they met with their strange adventure. “Wo wore ,at anchor in our little motor yacht, Mary, under Chelsea Bridge, when we sighted the fish,” they said in telling the story. “ At first wo thought it must bo a shark or a whale, but wo decided to weigh anchor and have a Little sport by trying to harpoon it. “As it was low tide, the fish was in shallow water, and, although it kept on submerging, we were able to keep on its track. It was a quarter to 9 when we first sighted it, but darkness had fallen before we ran it ashore. We tied a length of rope to use it as a harpoon, then wo raced after the fish, kept on circling around it, and each time it came to the surface for air we dug the harpoon into its body. The boathook made very little impression on its tough hide, but wo persevered. Crowds collected on the banks and bridges and shouted advice to ns, “ Onco or twice our little boat was nearly overturned. The dolphin dived underneath us and lifted the stern right out of the water. When wo found our makeshift harpoon had little effect we attacked with our anchor. As the fish came to the surface wo threw the anchor, point downwards, at its head. That seemed to stun it, and it had to float on the surface for some minutes to revive. Then we attacked it with the anchor and boathook until we were able to haul it ashore.” Messrs Pritchard and Malcolm intended to offer the fish to a museum. In the meantime it was suggested that the dolphin should he paraded through the streets of the West End and a collection taken for the wives and children of the miners.