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The Shark Diaries · Stuff You Should Know

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