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The Shark Diaries · Stuff You Should Know

0:01
Speaker 1: Welcome to you stuff you should know from House Stuff
0:04
Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey, and welcome to the turn of
0:13
Speaker 1: the century radio play. How's it going great? How are you?
0:17
Speaker 1: I'm doing good? I'm like, this sounds not like a
0:20
Speaker 1: radio play. No, it will very soon. Um, this is
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Speaker 1: a very special stuff you should know in honor of
0:26
Speaker 1: Shark Week. That's right. Um, we're doing something different, something
0:30
Speaker 1: that Mr Charles W. Chuckers Bryant put together, UM, a
0:36
Speaker 1: group of radio diaries. I guess you could say, yeah,
0:39
Speaker 1: you know, I think we touched on the um shark
0:42
Speaker 1: attacks at the Jersey Shore in Mattawan Creek in nineteen
0:46
Speaker 1: sixteen and a previous podcast, how short Attacks work and
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Speaker 1: dogs a Shark's favorite. Meal's right because the dog was
0:54
Speaker 1: actually in the water and the first victim was attacked. Uh.
0:57
Speaker 1: This is the story that UM inspired Jaws Peter Benchley. Yeah,
1:01
Speaker 1: and it is the famous UM. And there's been a
1:04
Speaker 1: lot of specials on this, like some pretty good ones. Well,
1:06
Speaker 1: it's pretty sensational. It's like a hugely sensational. I would
1:10
Speaker 1: call this though, the special of all specials on this.
1:12
Speaker 1: You did a great job, you think, so, yeah, Well,
1:14
Speaker 1: thank you. Uh, so we want to give you a
1:17
Speaker 1: little backstory so you know what you're listening to. Then
1:19
Speaker 1: we want to introduce the players to this little radio
1:22
Speaker 1: play or I guess you call it a podcast play. Yeah,
1:25
Speaker 1: and uh so, so you know who you're listening to
1:28
Speaker 1: and what you're listening to. Well, Chuck, let's let's talk
1:31
Speaker 1: about the attacks. Um, what year is this? Yeah, and
1:37
Speaker 1: it's a time when beach recreation was like new, the
1:41
Speaker 1: frozen banana had just been invented, Yeah, sort of, but
1:45
Speaker 1: this was the first time, like this was the beginnings
1:47
Speaker 1: of like massive amounts of people going to the beach.
1:51
Speaker 1: Dude swimming in the ocean, Ladies just starting to show
1:53
Speaker 1: a little ankle, just dipping their toe in. Mainly the
1:56
Speaker 1: men out there swimming in there, one piece weightlifters, uniform
2:01
Speaker 1: bathing suits. Right, that's right. And it was just like
2:03
Speaker 1: a beautiful time to be alive in America. And so
2:07
Speaker 1: this is the Jersey Shore. It's much like the Jersey
2:09
Speaker 1: Shores today where if you live in New York or Philly,
2:12
Speaker 1: this is where you're going when it's hot. Also very different, imagine, right,
2:16
Speaker 1: but this is the origin of that time, yeah, or
2:18
Speaker 1: of that movement or absolutely so this would all come
2:22
Speaker 1: screeching to a halt. Uh over the course of twelve days,
2:27
Speaker 1: with um five different victims of four which died on
2:33
Speaker 1: two on the Jersey shore and then two more on
2:35
Speaker 1: a creek on an inland Title Creek and Mattawan or Mattawan.
2:40
Speaker 1: So the first attack takes place on July one, nineteen sixteen, right,
2:44
Speaker 1: and um, people thought it was a fluke. Yeah, it
2:47
Speaker 1: was a Philly vacation or named Charles van Zant, and um,
2:51
Speaker 1: he died. Five days later there was another attack on
2:53
Speaker 1: the shore. So yes, now all of a sudden, you
2:56
Speaker 1: have the entire nation's attention because everyone was like a
3:00
Speaker 1: guy got attacked by shark. It never happens, totally unusual occurrence.
3:04
Speaker 1: Then five days later in the same area there's another one. Yes,
3:07
Speaker 1: a swissman attacked on the shore. And then um, after
3:10
Speaker 1: that is when uh, they don't even know shark or
3:13
Speaker 1: sharks moved inland to a Title creek and like kids
3:18
Speaker 1: swimming in this creek thinking it's completely safe. Yeah, boy dies,
3:22
Speaker 1: man dies trying to save boy. Another boy severely injured.
3:27
Speaker 1: And uh, it was pretty nuts after that, like the
3:30
Speaker 1: President Wilson got involved. It was like a nationwide frenzy
3:35
Speaker 1: because no one had ever known about shark attacks before.
3:38
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, this is like the first thing. It
3:40
Speaker 1: was like an anomaly. Okay, so you were basically like
3:43
Speaker 1: a sailor to know about a shark attack. I think
3:46
Speaker 1: so ya an introduction it is. So that's what we
3:50
Speaker 1: got going on. We'll introduce the players now. Um. First up,
3:54
Speaker 1: you're gonna hear uh and these are lost diaries that
3:57
Speaker 1: we found from the scene, right, we should point out
4:01
Speaker 1: I thought that was a given. It is. Dr John C.
4:04
Speaker 1: Nichols is played by tech stuff Jonathan Strickland. He uh
4:08
Speaker 1: is regarded as the first American ich theologist and worked
4:12
Speaker 1: with his mentor, doctor Frederick Lucas, who was very uh.
4:16
Speaker 1: They were kind of at odds for a while on this,
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Speaker 1: like Lucas was like, that's not sharks. Sharks don't do that,
4:21
Speaker 1: and so Nichols went to the scene and he was
4:24
Speaker 1: kind of who Matt Hooper was based on Awesome of Jaws. Uh.
4:28
Speaker 1: Next up, you're gonna hear Louise Van's aunt, who was
4:30
Speaker 1: the sister of the first victim, Charles, and she was
4:35
Speaker 1: played by Rachel Frank, who coolest stuff on the planet. Yeah,
4:39
Speaker 1: I was doing that. I don't know she's still doing that. Uh.
4:43
Speaker 1: And she actually saw her brother like from the beach
4:46
Speaker 1: getting attacked in the water. H. Third up, we have
4:49
Speaker 1: Stanley Fisher and then Mary Anderson after that, and they
4:52
Speaker 1: were um a burgeoning love relationship in Matajuan. Between these two.
4:57
Speaker 1: Stanley was a local taylor, very well loved dude, and
5:01
Speaker 1: Mary Anderson was a school teacher and they were just
5:04
Speaker 1: like starting their courtship when Stanley perished right in front
5:08
Speaker 1: of her face in the creek. Let me think about it.
5:10
Speaker 1: It's bad enough to see someone killed by a shark,
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Speaker 1: and somebody that you care about killed by a shark.
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Speaker 1: That gotta really like leave an impression, I would say so. Uh.
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Speaker 1: And Stanley Fisher is voiced by Robert Lamb. Stuff to
5:24
Speaker 1: blow your minds, Robert Lamb, that's right. And Mary Anderson
5:27
Speaker 1: is voiced by the former I guess you's still Katie Lambert.
5:31
Speaker 1: The former stuff you missed in history class host right,
5:33
Speaker 1: it was now departed from our work ranks. I think
5:36
Speaker 1: that was probably a good point that Katie still doing great.
5:40
Speaker 1: And then finally we have Joseph Dunn, who was one
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Speaker 1: of the little Boys who actually survived. This is crazy, man,
5:47
Speaker 1: Are you really going to tell everybody who does? Joseph Dunn?
5:50
Speaker 1: I don't think so. Okay, I think we should just
5:52
Speaker 1: leave the mystery boy. Okay, Joseph Donn is the mystery
5:55
Speaker 1: boy who is of legal age to be acting in
5:58
Speaker 1: a podcast play without any kind of like child labor
6:02
Speaker 1: laws being broken. Right, that's right. And Joseph he was
6:05
Speaker 1: actually from New York and he and his brother Michael
6:07
Speaker 1: went to visit his uh aunt and uncle and Cliffwood,
6:09
Speaker 1: New Jersey and go swimming in the creeks there with
6:12
Speaker 1: her buddy Jerry Howard hand and things turn pretty gruesome
6:16
Speaker 1: for all of them. So some rotten luck for the
6:20
Speaker 1: Jersey shore. With that, should we go ahead and proceed
6:24
Speaker 1: with the s y s K radio play? Okay? What
6:26
Speaker 1: do you call this thing? Uh? Uh? Call it listener
6:31
Speaker 1: mail from a fan in Canada? That's terrible. Okay? How
6:34
Speaker 1: about the Shark Diaries of the attacks at Mattawan Creek
6:46
Speaker 1: July one, four p m. Dear Diary, We're headed to
6:52
Speaker 1: Beach Haven on the train and it could not be
6:54
Speaker 1: any hotter. I'm covered from head to toe in woolen
6:58
Speaker 1: cotton and it is quite I considered trying the ocean
7:03
Speaker 1: out this time, but Father says that women should not
7:06
Speaker 1: bathe with me. Besides, whoever thought wool stockings and seawater
7:10
Speaker 1: go together should be run up a flagpole lead weights
7:13
Speaker 1: in the hymn of the skirt. It's as if Third
7:15
Speaker 1: attempting to drown us. Even so, it will be grand
7:20
Speaker 1: to be at the beach for Independence Day. My brother
7:22
Speaker 1: is beside me making fun of my diary. He has
7:26
Speaker 1: threatened to steal it and shared around his office. I'm
7:30
Speaker 1: sure there would be quite bored with it. Though. We
7:33
Speaker 1: must be close to arriving, because I can smell the
7:35
Speaker 1: salty air. M. July one, nineteen sixteen p m. Dear Diary.
7:49
Speaker 1: The resorts are all booked full, and I bet half
7:52
Speaker 1: of New Jersey and Pennsylvania are at the shore. Every
7:55
Speaker 1: fifteen minutes a drain dispatches another thousand people. It is
8:00
Speaker 1: quite a sight. Who would have thought that the ocean
8:03
Speaker 1: would draw such a crowd. There are young men everywhere
8:07
Speaker 1: playing cards and keeping an eye out for commers. Father
8:11
Speaker 1: and sister are resting out before dinner, and I'm roasting
8:14
Speaker 1: on the hot sand watching my brother swim to England.
8:17
Speaker 1: Presumably he promised me a walk on the beach but
8:20
Speaker 1: befriended a dog that seemed keen for a swim instead.
8:24
Speaker 1: I call him Patches. Currently, he and Patches are swimming
8:28
Speaker 1: out well past the others, both doing their best dog paddle.
8:33
Speaker 1: I can barely see him from here, but he looks
8:36
Speaker 1: to be having loads of fun. He's yelling and waving
8:39
Speaker 1: his arms for Patches, but it looks like the pooch
8:42
Speaker 1: has exhausted himself and is heading back. I'm beginning to
8:46
Speaker 1: think that July two, n two pm where arrived this
9:06
Speaker 1: morning of an attack on a human in beach Haven,
9:08
Speaker 1: possibly a shark, most odd naturally. Dr Lucas has already
9:13
Speaker 1: discounted it, but I wonder my inexperience next to Lucas
9:17
Speaker 1: is pronounced yet I doubt his resolve to test his
9:20
Speaker 1: own hypotheses now he nears retirement and news of sharks
9:24
Speaker 1: feeding on humans is not something that appears to interest him.
9:28
Speaker 1: His lack of investment was striking. I need to go
9:31
Speaker 1: to beach Haven and investigate, but I am bound to
9:34
Speaker 1: the museum. The fish commissioners said that it was likely
9:37
Speaker 1: after a dog in the water with the victim stripped
9:40
Speaker 1: the man to his bone on the right and lost
9:42
Speaker 1: several pounds of flesh on the left. My early thought
9:45
Speaker 1: is a tiger, or perhaps a bowl. Lucas is convinced
9:49
Speaker 1: there are no great whites around here. The victim was
9:54
Speaker 1: very young. July two, nineteen sixteen, three thirty a m.
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Speaker 1: Dear Diary, I cannot believe the words that I am
10:10
Speaker 1: about to write. My brother has died. He was swimming
10:16
Speaker 1: far out in the water when the people around me
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Speaker 1: began shouting. I saw a long, dark shadow in the
10:22
Speaker 1: water just behind him. A man said that it was
10:26
Speaker 1: a shark, but I don't know. I've never seen one.
10:30
Speaker 1: It had a tall fin that sat high in the water.
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Speaker 1: It took him by the legs and drew him under.
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Speaker 1: A lifeguard swam out to retrieve him, but it was
10:43
Speaker 1: too late. He was gone by the time he reached shore.
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Speaker 1: The water ran red with his blood around my feet.
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Speaker 1: And I've never felt so helpless in all my life.
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Speaker 1: His left thigh was in shreds all the way to
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Speaker 1: the bone. His right leg was hollowed out from waste.
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Speaker 1: To me, his lifeless face stared skyward. July two p m.
11:20
Speaker 1: Summer has come upon us fully. It was more than
11:23
Speaker 1: ninety degrees yesterday, and it may have been even hotter today.
11:26
Speaker 1: Business has been steady, but slower than it was in
11:30
Speaker 1: the spring and the winter before that. Mary and I
11:33
Speaker 1: went for a walk down by the creek after church
11:35
Speaker 1: on Sunday. She told me about our students. We talked
11:38
Speaker 1: about Mattawan. We both love it here and don't desire
11:41
Speaker 1: the bright lights of Philadelphia or New York. It is
11:43
Speaker 1: a close community and we look out for each other.
11:47
Speaker 1: I want to raise a family here. I've grown quite
11:50
Speaker 1: fond of Mary, and I believe that in three weeks
11:52
Speaker 1: it can be called a genuine courtship. She's kind, pretty smart.
11:57
Speaker 1: It comes from a good family. There's a rumor in
12:01
Speaker 1: town that a man was attacked by a giant fish
12:03
Speaker 1: yesterday in beech Haven. Captain Catrell has told us all
12:07
Speaker 1: stories of man eaters at sea, but has also regaled
12:10
Speaker 1: us with tales of giant squids and waves as tall
12:13
Speaker 1: as four stories. He's well known to stretch for truth,
12:16
Speaker 1: and his words should be taken with a pinch of salt.
12:24
Speaker 1: July second, nineteen sixteen, seven thirty six pm, Dear Diary,
12:30
Speaker 1: July oh July. I cannot believe I have not written
12:33
Speaker 1: in my diary since the end of the school year.
12:35
Speaker 1: Summer break was supposed to be my time to catch
12:37
Speaker 1: up on this sort of thing. All well, Latita, I
12:41
Speaker 1: am being courted by a man. He's tall and broad,
12:44
Speaker 1: with blonde hair and blue eyes, very handsome. He's beloved
12:47
Speaker 1: in town as well. His name is reputable as the
12:49
Speaker 1: mayor himself. He's a tailor and has one of only
12:52
Speaker 1: four shops on Main Street, and is consequently quite a
12:55
Speaker 1: snappy dresser. We took a walk after church on Sunday
12:59
Speaker 1: and talked about life and our hopes and dreams, and
13:01
Speaker 1: our families and our past and our future. I'm just
13:04
Speaker 1: over the moon about it. Really. He loves Mattajuana as
13:07
Speaker 1: much as I do, and would not give a nickel
13:09
Speaker 1: for the bells and whistles of Philadelphia. We were in
13:12
Speaker 1: his shop this afternoon and I watched him cut a
13:14
Speaker 1: suit jacket. It was really something, a true art. A
13:18
Speaker 1: strange thing happened as well. Captain Cotrell came by and
13:21
Speaker 1: told us a man in beach Haven was attacked by
13:23
Speaker 1: a fish, perhaps a shark. Very odd to hear such
13:26
Speaker 1: a thing. Jo nix Am, Dear Diary. Today's Independence Day
13:44
Speaker 1: and it's very hot here in New York. Father is
13:47
Speaker 1: home because it's a holiday for families. We're supposed to
13:50
Speaker 1: think about freedom today, but I don't know what they mean.
13:53
Speaker 1: My brother told me there was a man who got
13:55
Speaker 1: eaten by a shark in New Jersey. But I think
13:57
Speaker 1: he's just trying to scare me because we're traveling to
14:00
Speaker 1: visit my aunt's house in Cliffwood next week. They say
14:03
Speaker 1: a lot of people go to the beach now and
14:04
Speaker 1: swim in the ocean, but we only go in the
14:07
Speaker 1: creek in Mattawan with our friends. We're going to parade
14:10
Speaker 1: later today. My brother said he would buy firecrackers, even
14:14
Speaker 1: though Mom said not to. I'm putting a picture of
14:17
Speaker 1: New York in this diary so I can show my
14:19
Speaker 1: friends at Mattawan what the city looks like. I hope
14:22
Speaker 1: I get a good mark for my diary riding project
14:24
Speaker 1: when we start school. I like it. M July three,
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Speaker 1: nineteen sixteen, five seventeen pm, Dear Diary. I decided to
14:34
Speaker 1: take lunch to Stanley today at his shop. I do
14:37
Speaker 1: not want to run him off by calling too much,
14:39
Speaker 1: but I missed him, so I threw caution to the wind.
14:41
Speaker 1: He seemed very pleased to see me, and we made
14:43
Speaker 1: plans to go to the Twin Lights Lighthouse at the
14:45
Speaker 1: Atlantic Highlands on the Bay. It is going to be
14:48
Speaker 1: just splendid and I can hardly contain myself. I'll pack
14:51
Speaker 1: a picnic supper and we'll watch the sunset together and
14:54
Speaker 1: then the big fireworks show. My favorite. Stanley traded a
14:57
Speaker 1: man a tailored suit for life insurance to a cecil suit,
15:01
Speaker 1: which was far too generous. What on earth does a
15:03
Speaker 1: man his age need with life insurance? But that is
15:06
Speaker 1: also what I am growing to love about him. His
15:08
Speaker 1: generosity is only matched by his kindness. He plays baseball
15:12
Speaker 1: with the children and they absolutely adore him. I want
15:15
Speaker 1: to bring him by the schoolhouse that's fall to meet
15:17
Speaker 1: my students. Listen to me already planning for fall with
15:20
Speaker 1: him by my side. Oh and I just had to
15:22
Speaker 1: clip out the ads Stanley placed in the MOTTA one Journal,
15:35
Speaker 1: July nineteen sixteen, p M. Dear Diary, I met the
15:43
Speaker 1: lifeguard who tried to save my brother at the funeral.
15:46
Speaker 1: He was very kind. I believe that he did everything
15:50
Speaker 1: he could do to save my brother. No one has
15:53
Speaker 1: ever been attacked by a fish before, and many doubt
15:56
Speaker 1: the events as they occurred. There have long been stories
16:00
Speaker 1: of man eaters in the sea, but I most believed
16:03
Speaker 1: them to be legend. I was there. I know. I
16:08
Speaker 1: saw him flung from the water. I saw his mangled
16:12
Speaker 1: left leg exposed fully to the bone. It had been
16:18
Speaker 1: virtually torn from his body. The Times ran a small
16:23
Speaker 1: story on page eighteen. My brother deserved more, so much more.
16:37
Speaker 1: N six am. Another shark attack yesterday in New Jersey
16:42
Speaker 1: Spring Lake. The Times this morning is already all over
16:46
Speaker 1: this event. So much for dodging a media circus. Lucas
16:50
Speaker 1: finally agrees that something is a miss. This is no
16:53
Speaker 1: blasted sea turtle. We have eyewitness accounts this time. It's
16:57
Speaker 1: clear that someone should go to Spring Lake and examine
16:59
Speaker 1: the body. I feel like I'm the most qualified man
17:02
Speaker 1: in New York, maybe even the country. Lucas may fight
17:06
Speaker 1: me on this press conference in the morning at the museum,
17:09
Speaker 1: so we had better get our ducks in a row.
17:11
Speaker 1: Lucas said that the jaw of a shark is not
17:13
Speaker 1: strong or capable of severing human bone. I have grave doubts.
17:22
Speaker 1: July sixteen PM. Dear Diary, It's been almost a week
17:30
Speaker 1: since we lost my dear brother. I found his journal
17:34
Speaker 1: today and reading his final entry breaks my heart each
17:37
Speaker 1: time my eyes pass over it. We received word this
17:42
Speaker 1: morning that another bay there was killed two days ago.
17:44
Speaker 1: Its Spring Lake, a bellhop at a local resort. His
17:48
Speaker 1: attack has drawn much more attention than our own just
17:51
Speaker 1: days ago. I feel terrible for his family. Perhaps in
17:56
Speaker 1: time I can reach out to them. No one seems
17:59
Speaker 1: to know what is happening on our beaches that were
18:01
Speaker 1: so different just days ago. What was previously a welcome
18:05
Speaker 1: distraction from the polio epidemic in New York is now
18:08
Speaker 1: a beach awash with the blood of our brothers and sons.
18:12
Speaker 1: I pray for the end of summer. J n PM.
18:22
Speaker 1: Word has come to Mattawin that another bathere was attacked
18:25
Speaker 1: on the shore yesterday. This time it was spring Lake,
18:28
Speaker 1: not far from here. If this is true, it is
18:31
Speaker 1: most uncommon. We have never heard of a shark attacking
18:33
Speaker 1: a man, and now we have heard stories of two
18:36
Speaker 1: in just one week. I imagine that the news will
18:38
Speaker 1: disrupt activity at the shore. Luckily, for us, all we
18:41
Speaker 1: have to worry about is the odd catfish nipping our toes.
18:45
Speaker 1: I tried to talk Mary into coming for a swim sometime,
18:47
Speaker 1: but she said she prefers to watch me from the bank.
18:50
Speaker 1: I think she's just being shy. She said that she
18:52
Speaker 1: would not want Captain Cattrell to see her in a
18:55
Speaker 1: bathing gown, and I think she may have a good point.
18:57
Speaker 1: She's smart, she is. Surely the shark business is just
19:01
Speaker 1: people's imagination getting the best of them. There're no sharks
19:04
Speaker 1: in New Jersey. July seven, nineteen sixteen to seventeen pm.
19:22
Speaker 1: Stanley just phoned and said that Captain Cotrell reported another
19:26
Speaker 1: shark attack on the shore. They did not believe him
19:28
Speaker 1: at first, but the newspaper confirmed it. It was Upspring
19:32
Speaker 1: Lake this time, which means much more to do about it,
19:34
Speaker 1: I'm sure. Stanley said that a scientist in the paper
19:37
Speaker 1: insisted that sharks do not come to New Jersey, and
19:40
Speaker 1: even if they did, they would not be interested in humans.
19:44
Speaker 1: I just do not know what to think sharks biting
19:46
Speaker 1: people in New Jersey? Whoever heard of such a thing?
19:49
Speaker 1: Stanley swims in the creek, but you would not catch
19:51
Speaker 1: me dead in there. You cannot see six inches into
19:54
Speaker 1: the water. Besides, Captain Cortrell is always running up and
19:57
Speaker 1: down in his motor boat. And let me just say
19:59
Speaker 1: that he will never see me in a skirt and stockings.
20:02
Speaker 1: The very thought makes me pale U nineteen sixteen three
20:14
Speaker 1: pm press conference went well enough. Lucas was met with
20:18
Speaker 1: questions straight away. The first blasted question asked what he
20:21
Speaker 1: would tell the thirty mayors of the Jersey Shore about
20:24
Speaker 1: their beaches. High loath reporters. We did our best to
20:28
Speaker 1: calm nerves. Lucas is convinced that it was mistaken identity
20:32
Speaker 1: and that the incidences are a merely a sad coincidence.
20:36
Speaker 1: He avoids using words like man eater and does a
20:38
Speaker 1: much better job with the press than Murphy or I could.
20:41
Speaker 1: Asbury Park has erected wire netting, and that, along with caution,
20:44
Speaker 1: should do for now. It is highly unlikely that we
20:48
Speaker 1: should ever hear of another shark incident on this coast.
20:51
Speaker 1: Even so, this is rich with opportunity for our records.
20:54
Speaker 1: A man has never been attacked by a shark before
20:57
Speaker 1: in the United States, and I go to em tomorrow.
21:04
Speaker 1: July n six pm. Just returned from the examination of
21:10
Speaker 1: victim number two, Charles brewder Spring Lake, Swiss, with no
21:14
Speaker 1: family in the States. The Times was correct in its story.
21:19
Speaker 1: Both legs were taken, one at the knee and one
21:21
Speaker 1: at midcalf. Lifeguards rode out in the boat this time
21:25
Speaker 1: and pulled his body in. One remarked about how light
21:28
Speaker 1: it was, not realizing initially the legs were missing. Most disturbing,
21:34
Speaker 1: the flesh was torn in strips, jagged, the bones splintered
21:38
Speaker 1: like wood. There's no doubt that this was the result
21:41
Speaker 1: of a shark, but what species? Could it be? A
21:45
Speaker 1: road great white? The President has mobilized the Coastguard. I
21:49
Speaker 1: am reporting news to his men now. July nine, R
22:00
Speaker 1: D E. P. M. Dear Diary. My brother told me
22:03
Speaker 1: today in church that another man was eaten by a
22:06
Speaker 1: shark in New Jersey. But Mom said it wasn't true.
22:09
Speaker 1: She said they both got bit and died. But sharks
22:12
Speaker 1: only go into the ocean, and I don't need to
22:14
Speaker 1: be scared of them. In Mattawan, Mom said after supper
22:18
Speaker 1: tonight she's going to talk to her aunt on the telephone,
22:20
Speaker 1: and my brother and I could talk to our friend
22:22
Speaker 1: and Mattawan because he has a telephone now too. July six,
22:32
Speaker 1: eight am Dear Diary. My brother and I talked to
22:36
Speaker 1: our friend on the telephone last night. It was really swell.
22:40
Speaker 1: Mom says that he's a hooligan, but my brother said
22:42
Speaker 1: he's a good egg and swims good too. We asked
22:46
Speaker 1: him about the sharks and he said nobody there talked
22:49
Speaker 1: about it, but they are sad. He said, we could
22:52
Speaker 1: sneak into the dock at the New Jersey Clay Company
22:54
Speaker 1: and no sharks are there. M. July eleven, nine, sixteen
23:04
Speaker 1: eleven p m. Dear Diary, It has now been ten
23:09
Speaker 1: days since we lost my brother. I miss him so much,
23:14
Speaker 1: we all do. His car is still in front of
23:17
Speaker 1: the house, and I catch myself seeing him behind the wheel.
23:22
Speaker 1: After the second attack, a scientist who studies ocean fish
23:26
Speaker 1: came to Spring Lake. He's having a hard time with
23:29
Speaker 1: the local journalists. They've printed that my brother was bitten
23:33
Speaker 1: by a giant sea turtle. They've written that it was
23:36
Speaker 1: a bloodthirstea rogue shark. The scientist makes claims of sensationalism
23:42
Speaker 1: and pleads for patients. He says that only a great
23:45
Speaker 1: white has been known to attack a human, and that
23:48
Speaker 1: there are none in New Jersey. Resorts have hired armed
23:52
Speaker 1: guards to patrol the beaches. They've erected wire nets for
23:56
Speaker 1: bathing areas. I never to see the ocean again. July eleventh,
24:10
Speaker 1: nineteen sixteen, nine fifteen PM. Dear Diary, I'm in bed now.
24:16
Speaker 1: My brother is teasing me. He said that when we
24:19
Speaker 1: go back to Mattawan, it's going to be scary. He
24:23
Speaker 1: said that last summer he felt something touched him underwater
24:25
Speaker 1: by the dock, and he said it was a shark. Probably.
24:29
Speaker 1: I'm supposed to be asleep now because it's my bedtime
24:31
Speaker 1: and we leave early in the morning. I'm scared of
24:34
Speaker 1: the shark, but I don't want him to know, because
24:37
Speaker 1: he'll tease me again. July twelve, nine, sixteen eleven. AM
24:50
Speaker 1: back at the museum at last. Seems like all is
24:53
Speaker 1: calm now. It has been nearly a week since the
24:56
Speaker 1: brutal attack. The media has taken a rest for the
24:59
Speaker 1: time being. There is much research to be done now.
25:02
Speaker 1: Lucas and Murphy are keen to hear my account. Everyone
25:05
Speaker 1: looks to us now for answers, and for now my
25:08
Speaker 1: colleagues are deferring to me as the only ichthyologists. Popular
25:12
Speaker 1: theories abound ship sinkings and sailor deaths in the North
25:16
Speaker 1: Sea are creating a taste for human flesh. Naval bombings
25:20
Speaker 1: are driving European sharks this way. Some have even said
25:23
Speaker 1: it was a purposeful conspiracy of the Germans to Luis
25:26
Speaker 1: into war. It's tiresome to deal with such poppy cock.
25:30
Speaker 1: My strongest inclination is that there is a Pacific weather
25:33
Speaker 1: phenomenon known as El Nino that has shifted the warm
25:36
Speaker 1: Gulf stream closer to shore. This has brought sharks that
25:40
Speaker 1: have never been to our waters. More Later, July twelfth,
25:49
Speaker 1: nineteen six pm, I am famished. Mary said she would
25:55
Speaker 1: bring lunch by after she finished her tutoring, and she
25:57
Speaker 1: cannot arrive soon enough. In fact, I believe I see
26:01
Speaker 1: her coming my way now. She told me last night.
26:04
Speaker 1: To today marks one month, and when I first called
26:06
Speaker 1: on her. It's hard to believe that much time has passed.
26:10
Speaker 1: We should do something special. Maybe I should close the
26:13
Speaker 1: shop early and take her into Philadelphia for dinner. She
26:16
Speaker 1: is closer now, and the sun is cast an angelic
26:19
Speaker 1: glow around her head. Or perhaps that is not the sun.
26:23
Speaker 1: I may curse myself by writing it down, but I
26:27
Speaker 1: believe I might love her. July seven oh three, a m.
26:37
Speaker 1: Dear Diary, I feel positively on cloud nine this morning.
26:41
Speaker 1: Today marks one full month since Stanley first called Everything
26:45
Speaker 1: is going so well. I hate to tempt fate by
26:47
Speaker 1: writing about it, but I think that I may be
26:49
Speaker 1: in love. It gives me goose bumps to even write
26:52
Speaker 1: such a thing. I stopped by his shop yesterday evening
26:55
Speaker 1: and he was going out with Red to play baseball
26:57
Speaker 1: with the boys. He invited me to come along and walk,
27:00
Speaker 1: and was surprised to learn that I enjoyed the game
27:02
Speaker 1: very much. It's very exciting to me, and there's a
27:04
Speaker 1: great level of skill involved. He is so wonderful with
27:08
Speaker 1: the boys. They love him and fight over whose team
27:10
Speaker 1: he should play on. It has been a full week
27:13
Speaker 1: since any word of shark attacks. We are all relieved
27:16
Speaker 1: to know that it is over. The scientists from New
27:19
Speaker 1: York are learning what happened and trying to decide why
27:21
Speaker 1: this occurred. It is largely perplexed them. I do not
27:24
Speaker 1: plan to go to the ocean anytime soon. Even so.
27:27
Speaker 1: I don't like the boys in my class or Stanley
27:29
Speaker 1: swimming much at all. But the creek feels like a
27:31
Speaker 1: much safer option. July twelfth, n eight am, Dear Diary,
27:40
Speaker 1: I had a bad dream that a giant fish with
27:42
Speaker 1: a big mouth ate me. I don't know if it
27:45
Speaker 1: was a shark because I've never seen one. It was
27:48
Speaker 1: as big as a street car and had long teeth
27:50
Speaker 1: and were red. I was swimming in the creek with
27:53
Speaker 1: my brother and my friend, but they looked different. The
27:57
Speaker 1: fish bit my leg and pulled me in the creek,
28:00
Speaker 1: but I came up and I was in the ocean.
28:03
Speaker 1: My aunt was on the beach and a wooden chair,
28:06
Speaker 1: but she could not hear me scream. Then my brother
28:09
Speaker 1: was in a boat beside me, and I tried to
28:11
Speaker 1: climb in. He laughed and kicked me until I fell
28:14
Speaker 1: on the ocean, and the big fish bit me again
28:17
Speaker 1: until he ate me. I woke up and my brother
28:20
Speaker 1: said I was screaming, so I guess I really did
28:23
Speaker 1: scream when I was a sweep. I don't want to
28:26
Speaker 1: go to mattawan anymore. Maybe I can fake sick and
28:29
Speaker 1: stay in Cliffwood. We leave on the train U nineteen
28:46
Speaker 1: six pm. Shocking news today. We'red in from Mattawuan, New Jersey,
28:53
Speaker 1: of three shark attacks in the tidal creek. This is
28:56
Speaker 1: very difficult to believe, and we all suspect that the
28:58
Speaker 1: state has succumbed to sharkus. Drea Matta Juan is a
29:01
Speaker 1: full eleven miles inland. Very doubtful. Regardless, Dr Lucas has
29:07
Speaker 1: dispatched me directly. I depart on the morning train. H
29:20
Speaker 1: July nine, sixteen am. Dear Diary, it is with a
29:28
Speaker 1: broken heart that I write these words. Stanley is dead.
29:36
Speaker 1: He has gone from me before he was even mine.
29:40
Speaker 1: It has been two days since the awful event. It
29:44
Speaker 1: was a shark, dear God, a shark. It got him
29:47
Speaker 1: right in front of my eyes, in front of the
29:50
Speaker 1: eyes of many. We buried him at two today in
29:54
Speaker 1: the pouring rain. I am unable to sleep or eat.
29:59
Speaker 1: I have hardly moved from my bed. Father said it
30:02
Speaker 1: will take time, but I will never forget the events
30:05
Speaker 1: of July twelve. The immente will haunt me to my grave.
30:18
Speaker 1: July nineteen, sixteen, six fourteen pm. Today I examined two
30:24
Speaker 1: of the victims, a man named Fisher who was trying
30:27
Speaker 1: to retrieve the body of another victim, a boy named Stillwell.
30:31
Speaker 1: Another boy, Joseph Dunn, is the only survivor and is
30:34
Speaker 1: recovering in the hospital. His left calf is torn to pieces.
30:39
Speaker 1: Fisher's injury was similar to the two at the shore.
30:42
Speaker 1: The right thigh had a deep wound and the femoral
30:44
Speaker 1: artery was severed. There was no way to stop the blood.
30:49
Speaker 1: He was taken in front of dozens of locals, including
30:52
Speaker 1: his new sweetheart. Stillwell, was not recovered until the following day.
30:57
Speaker 1: His left ankle was chewed off, left thigh mangled from
31:00
Speaker 1: hip to knee. His left abdominal region was open, and
31:03
Speaker 1: his intestines were nearly all torn out. The right hip,
31:07
Speaker 1: chest muscle, and left shoulder were also lost. His right
31:10
Speaker 1: leg and face were the only parts untouched. July nineteen,
31:19
Speaker 1: sixteen PM. I have just returned to my boarding house
31:23
Speaker 1: after two days of chaos. Matajuan has turned into a battleground.
31:27
Speaker 1: Men dangle legs of lamb and sides of beef from
31:30
Speaker 1: the bridges. There's a near constant barrage of exploding dynamite.
31:34
Speaker 1: Women line the banks with rifles. Their methods are not safe,
31:38
Speaker 1: but I cannot deny my desire to catch the beast.
31:42
Speaker 1: I believe that the shark is moving north and attacking
31:44
Speaker 1: people on its journey. I suspect it is either a
31:47
Speaker 1: rogue white or a tiger shark that has strayed thousands
31:50
Speaker 1: of miles from its natural environment. July nineteen, sixteen PM
32:00
Speaker 1: at the Museum. Again, the shark hunt in Mattawan seems
32:03
Speaker 1: to be working, but I doubt that any caught so
32:05
Speaker 1: far are responsible. Could be the work of more than one.
32:10
Speaker 1: A local sea captain named Cartrelle caught a seven footer
32:14
Speaker 1: and has it on Ice and Town a nickel per viewing.
32:17
Speaker 1: A nine footer was captured in Long Branch twenty five pounds.
32:22
Speaker 1: Lucas informed us that a man drowned at the Atlantic
32:24
Speaker 1: Highlands yesterday. People were afraid he was being attacked by
32:28
Speaker 1: a shark. The headlines now reach all the way from London.
32:33
Speaker 1: A parcel was delivered today from the men who captured
32:35
Speaker 1: a seven footer. It contained human bones taken from the
32:39
Speaker 1: belly and a description dark, dull, blue white belly. They
32:43
Speaker 1: said a man's head could fit inside its mouth. It
32:46
Speaker 1: sounds like a small great white to me upon an examination, however,
32:49
Speaker 1: the bones, while human, were from the lower arm. All
32:53
Speaker 1: five victims in New Jersey were attacked at the legs.
32:56
Speaker 1: This means there's been at least one unreported attack. People
33:01
Speaker 1: will never hear the words shark again without feeling fear.
33:14
Speaker 1: July four, nineteen sixteen, twelve fourteen pm. It has been
33:20
Speaker 1: nearly two weeks since I lost Stanley. Though I can
33:23
Speaker 1: still smell him on my clothes. Each day brings new promise,
33:27
Speaker 1: only to shadow again. I feel like the story must
33:31
Speaker 1: be recorded, as hard as it is for me to
33:33
Speaker 1: write it. I was at his shop in the afternoon
33:37
Speaker 1: on July twelve when some boys ran down the street
33:39
Speaker 1: by the shop in a panic, shouting about a shark
33:42
Speaker 1: in the creek. Stanley dismissed them at first, but I
33:45
Speaker 1: saw that the boys were naked and pale as ghosts.
33:49
Speaker 1: They said that a shark had taken Lester, stillwell, in
33:51
Speaker 1: the creek. Stanley did not hesitate for even a moment.
33:55
Speaker 1: He said that Lester had the fits and that if
33:57
Speaker 1: he did not get to him soon, he would be finished.
34:00
Speaker 1: He grabbed Red and Arthur Smith and was gone before
34:02
Speaker 1: I could stop him. I arrived at the creek several
34:06
Speaker 1: minutes after Stanley. He was in a rowboat with Arthur
34:09
Speaker 1: and Red searching for Lester. They dragged chicken wire under
34:12
Speaker 1: the boat to try and find him. The water was
34:15
Speaker 1: red with blood and people began to arrive in a panic.
34:19
Speaker 1: Stanley became frustrated and suggested they dive for him. They
34:23
Speaker 1: all changed into bathing suits behind a tree, and one
34:25
Speaker 1: by one entered the water. They searched for a while,
34:29
Speaker 1: and we're losing hope and cold Red said they should
34:32
Speaker 1: call it off, and they all began to come to
34:34
Speaker 1: the bank. Stanley decided to take one more dive. He
34:39
Speaker 1: went deeper than before you could tell. Stanley surfaced holding
34:43
Speaker 1: what remained of Lester, stillwell in his arms. He was
34:46
Speaker 1: walking toward the bank, knee deep in water when the
34:48
Speaker 1: beasts took him by the right leg. He dropped Lester
34:51
Speaker 1: and yelled, he's got me. The sharks got me. Those
34:54
Speaker 1: words ring in my head. I do not remember what
34:59
Speaker 1: happened after that. They told me that a deputy was
35:02
Speaker 1: able to fight off the shark with an oar, and
35:04
Speaker 1: that Stanley was aware of what happened. His only words were,
35:08
Speaker 1: oh my god. A doctor applied a rope to his thigh,
35:11
Speaker 1: and they took him by train to Monmouth Memorial Hospital.
35:16
Speaker 1: He died there hours later without me by his side.
35:25
Speaker 1: M August nineteen sixteen, five p m. Dear Diary, I'm
35:45
Speaker 1: in St. Peter's Hospital in a town called New Brunswick.
35:49
Speaker 1: It has been a month since I wrote in my journal,
35:52
Speaker 1: and it's because I was bitten by a shark. My
35:56
Speaker 1: brother feels bad about teasing me now, and it's very
35:59
Speaker 1: nigh to me. We were swimming at the dock with
36:02
Speaker 1: our friends and Magdalen, and an old man came by
36:05
Speaker 1: in a boat yelling shark. My brother and the others
36:09
Speaker 1: got to the dock and got out, but I was
36:11
Speaker 1: behind him. I got all the way to the ladder
36:15
Speaker 1: when I felt something bite me very hard. It was
36:18
Speaker 1: a shark and it pulled me back into the water.
36:22
Speaker 1: My brother and my friend jumped in and pulled me
36:24
Speaker 1: away from the shark, and they put me on the dock.
36:27
Speaker 1: I don't remember anything after that. I woke up in
36:31
Speaker 1: a hospital and my leg hurt very bad. I have
36:35
Speaker 1: had three surgeries and my doctor put new skin on
36:38
Speaker 1: my leg. He said I'm going to be okay. My
36:42
Speaker 1: mom cried when she saw me, but I told her
36:45
Speaker 1: it didn't hurt. The nurse here is nice and gives
36:48
Speaker 1: me candy. She says, I had bad dreams when I
36:51
Speaker 1: first got here about the shark, but now I'm not
36:54
Speaker 1: scared anymore. The people that work here called me a
36:57
Speaker 1: little Jonah because he was eaten by a a O.
37:09
Speaker 1: August sixteen, six pm, Dear Diary. They let me walk
37:16
Speaker 1: today with crutches, and it hurts some. The doctor said
37:19
Speaker 1: that it will not hurt forever. My mom told me
37:22
Speaker 1: today about the other people in Mattawan who died because
37:25
Speaker 1: of the shark. Some boy named Lester stillwell, and a
37:29
Speaker 1: man who tried to save Leicester. I think his name
37:32
Speaker 1: was Stanley. That makes me sad for their families. They
37:36
Speaker 1: say that I'm brave before people got killed by the shark,
37:40
Speaker 1: and I think the least I could do is steel fortunate.
37:43
Speaker 1: I'm okay. October sixteen pm. It has been three months
37:59
Speaker 1: since the terror at Mattajuan Creek. Joseph Dunne fully recovered
38:03
Speaker 1: and was released home one month ago. My final thoughts
38:06
Speaker 1: on what happened in New Jersey this summer. Whether sharks
38:10
Speaker 1: in general are more numerous in our waters this summer
38:13
Speaker 1: than during previous years may be seriously questioned, notwithstanding the
38:16
Speaker 1: way in which local fishermen and the crowd of incoming
38:19
Speaker 1: steamers have vied in frightening the public. Shark stories with
38:23
Speaker 1: a certain foundation, and truth will always be forthcoming when
38:26
Speaker 1: reporters have been ordered to get them. It may be
38:29
Speaker 1: recalled that the summer of nineteen fifteen, although marked by
38:32
Speaker 1: no such horrifying events as we have known this year,
38:35
Speaker 1: was nevertheless popularly considered an exceptional Sharks season. So now
38:40
Speaker 1: we must move forward and try to learn from the
38:42
Speaker 1: events of July nineteen six, a summer that I believe
38:46
Speaker 1: in the future may be remembered not only as a
38:48
Speaker 1: terrible tragedy, but as the birth of modern Eck theology.
38:55
Speaker 1: M Wow, holy cow, that was chilling. Chuck, you did
39:06
Speaker 1: so good with this. Jerry did great Who Jerry sound
39:10
Speaker 1: designed the whole thing? Oh yeah, yeah. And then Robert
39:13
Speaker 1: and Jonathan and Katie and Rachel and uh the mystery voice,
39:16
Speaker 1: the mystery boy. Everyone did a great job. And that
39:19
Speaker 1: was that. I hope you guys enjoyed it. That's a
39:21
Speaker 1: heck of a way to wrap it up. That was that.
39:23
Speaker 1: How about the uh the familiar sign off? Let's hear
39:26
Speaker 1: it for Chuck Bryant first, everybody, way to go. Check
39:28
Speaker 1: writer producer director. I believe. Uh yeah, I guess it's
39:32
Speaker 1: a little directing going on. Yeah, triple threat. Um yeah, Okay, Well,
39:36
Speaker 1: if you want to contact us, you can tweet to
39:38
Speaker 1: us at s Y s K podcast. You can join
39:40
Speaker 1: us on Facebook dot com to tell Chuck what a
39:43
Speaker 1: great job you do with this, and you can send
39:45
Speaker 1: us an email. Wrap it up, spec it on the bottom,
39:48
Speaker 1: send it off to Stuff podcast at Discovery dot com.
39:56
Speaker 1: For more on this and thousands of other topics, is
39:58
Speaker 1: it how Stuff Works dot com, n n n n
40:02
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