Terry's Reviews
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12
Days of Terror By Richard G. Fernicola, M.D. The Lyons Press - May 2001 ISBN #1-58574-297-X |
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| In July 1916, a shark (s) in the span of twelve
days attacked five people. It’s probably the most unusual occurrence of shark attacks
the world has ever seen. The story has become legendary, immortalized by the mention in
the movie Jaws and a couple documentaries shown on the History and Discovery Channels. The
story is so intense that last year we saw the release of two books written about this
historical event. Dr. Richard G. Fernicola has to be the world’s foremost expert on this subject. He spent over twenty years gathering people’s testimonies and rounding up the details of exactly what happened during those terrifying two weeks. He’s visited the locations, interviewed anyone associated with the horrifying situation and he’s compiled all the facts, which make up this potent book. He’s also spent a great deal of time pondering over the reasons why the attacks happened and what type of shark was responsible for throwing the country into a state of terror. Fernicola tells this story, setting up the reader with amazing details that will give you a clear picture of what the world was like back in 1916. He does this by inserting quotes from the people he interviewed and telling you what was happening in a straightforward manner. He also tries to tell the story in somewhat of a chronological order, even jumping back and fourth between the multiple real people, who were doing things simultaneously. We find out what the principal people were doing before and after the attacks and are able to see how fate can literally strike like a bolt of lightning. Fernicola has also chosen authentic photos of the main people who were involved with the attacks, maps and newspaper headlines from 1916. These images are invaluable, because they will give you a chance to see the unfortunate people who lost their life or limb. What could have made a shark or sharks suddenly attack, when at the time, there had never been a recorded attack in US history. It’s actually a more loaded question than it sounds and Fernicola gives you a variety of factors. He suggests there are many different possibilities, all of them fascinating. There were ships dumping horse and cattle carcasses near the jersey shore. A tropical current flowed close to shore during that time period. Or possibly the world war taking place in Europe was driving the sharks towards the United States. Fernicola first tells how during the summer of 1916, New York City was experiencing a Polio epidemic. It was also very hot that July, which gave New York City residents’ two good reasons to flock to the Jersey shore. But people were coming from all around and on July 1st in Beach Haven, New Jersey, shark and man met. The results were fatal. Twenty-five year old man from Philadelphia, Charles Vansant took a late afternoon pre-dinner dip in the ocean and became the first to die. 5 Days later and 43 miles up the Jersey coast, a twenty-eight year old Swiss bell captain, Charles Bruder lost his life. Bruder went into the Atlantic at 2:15 PM. He ventured 130 yards from the Spring Lake shore and shortly thereafter let out two strange shrieks followed by a deep scream. A woman standing near the lifeguard stand pointed in the direction of Charles Bruder and shouted to the lifeguards that she believed that a canoe had capsized just outside the swim area. The woman emphasized that the canoe’s hull was just at the surface of the water and painted a deep red. Six days later the most incredible part of this story happened. 36 miles north of Spring Lake, the Jersey shore curves inward facing Staten Island. Along that part of the shore, there are inlets in the form of rivers and creeks. During a high tide, a man-eating shark swam up one of those creeks. Matawan Creek is forty feet across at its widest point and no deeper than thirty feet. This narrow condition did not prevent a 7-9’ man-eater from traveling inland for more than a couple miles. The shark was spotted swimming upstream by a sea captain who was standing on Matawan’s trolley drawbridge. Captain Thomas Cottrell made a frantic call to warn the residents of Matawan. But just like some horror film, the town’s barber/Police Chief Frank Mulsoff believed the Captain had misinterpreted what he saw, after all the nation was in a state of panic caused by the two previous shark attacks. While swimming in the creek with his friends, a young boy named Lester Stillwell was the third person attacked. His friends quickly got out of the creek and ran into town screaming. A twenty-four year old dry cleaner, Stanley Fisher was the first to respond to the boys’ cries. By the time Fisher went into the creek, Lester Stillwell could not be saved. In Fisher’s attempts to retrieve the boy’s body from what he said was a log moving frantically around the boy’s body, Fisher ended up getting 10 lbs of flesh removed from his right thigh. Fisher was able to get out of the water, but an artery had been severed and he lost too much blood. A little ways up the creek, another boy Joseph Dunn could not get out of the creek before receiving a nasty bite on his lower left leg. Dunn survived the attack. Maybe the biggest question still not completely answered is what kind of shark was responsible. Dr. Fernicola assembles quite a few theories from shark experts and lines up all the known facts to come up with his own choice. Looking at it from afar, I would have to agree with Dr. Fernicola. The shark was more than likely a juvenile Great White Shark. 12 Days of Terror is written with a great deal of care. You will feel quite honestly like you are back in time, serving as an investigator, trying to find out the answers why everything happened the way it did. This book must be read.
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