SHARK IN CANVAS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 16 December 1939, Page 5

SHARK IN CANVAS

GREY-NURSE MAN- EATER FROM AUSTRALIA. AN EXCITING INCIDENT. The early morning calm of Playland at the Centennial Exhibition was enlivened yesterday morning by by the arrival of a nine-foot grey-nurse ■shark from Australia. Eight men struggled desperately to lift it in a canvas tarpaulin from a motor truck to the specially prepared sea-water pool for the shark exhibit. The shark arrived from Australia recently by boat and it made the voyage across the Tasman in a specially constructed tank of sea-water. That it arrived in good order and condition was not questioned by the men who had to handle the great struggling fish. Transferring the shark from the ship to the waiting motor truck was a problem thdt was solved by the use of a canvas cradle and a winch. For a few moments the shark threshed high i above the heads of the watching crowd as it was lowered into another canvas lank of sea-water in the truck. It was then driven to Rongotai and unloaded in Playland. The truck was backed up against the building which houses the 60 foot aquarium, and the water was drained from the canvas tank in the truck. It was then that the fun commenced. Two men tried to lift the canvas that enshrouded the shark, but it was too heavy to manage. Assistance was called for and. finally, eight perspiring men hoisted the shark from the truck and threw it into the pool. Salt water splashed in all directions, but the shark landed safely and has spent its time since its arrival quietly swimming about the pool regaining its composure after its varying experiences. The shark is nine feet long and is fed. on fish. So far, it has not molested the other occupants of the aquariaum, but the proprietors do not know how long their other stock will remain safe.