The sun., 1878-10-16
WHALING OFF LONG ISLAND
A BATTLE WITH fO-FOOT MONSTER
ON THE AM40dNSETT BAR.
sand Bius Crowded with Spectators while
the Fishers struggled with their Furious
BIaek Prisener-F Fighting the Undertow.

niaek Fighting the Undertow.
In the fishing hamlet OF Amagansctt, near
Montauk Point Long Island and on the south
ern coast, a sharp lookout is kept for whales
and menhaden. Menhaden are used by the
farmers Tor manure on their land. while whales
which appear only about once year. make
money for the longshoremcn. Patrols ride up
and down the beach and whenever either
whale or monhadcn are discovered a rally is
sounded on a long tin horn carried by the
patrolman on horseback Then white nng is
quickly raised from the top Of Capt MT Ed
wardss house il the announ cement means fish.
but II IL means whale then an immense ma
tional flag is pulled TO tho stairs head us a sig
nal to the population Of fishermen.
II was fine weather on the LIST inst. whom at : .
A. ~ the rally was sounded and the ma
tional coors fauntcd cyor Capt Edwards's resi-
dence. resldent oi this city was in ANA
gansctt and he describes what followed The
hamlet has about Eve hundred Inhabitants
nearly hall of whom are fishermen or long
shoremen Two honts were quickly launched.
Three are always kept ON the shore. fully equip
ped for whaling In each Of the two boats were
elk oarsmcn besides the hcmsman. Capt Nat
Edwards. nearly 50 years Of age. and who il an
old whaler had the helm. and his brother
Charley was his bow oar and harpooner. Capt.
Tuule stoored the second boat. Edwards was
ahead and lac stcered for the whale which was
seen half mile away on the edge Of the bar. Ii
was gan boiling. napring its tail. turning over
and over and apparently having jolly time.
Edwards and his men crept nearer little 10y little.
yet IN" whale TOOK no notlce oi them. ana con
Unucd t. tumble about But as Charley Edwards
was iumbling around Tor his harloon and the
bout came nearer, thc monster stopped PLAYING
aud dropped out o. sight Ike n Shot. its iiukes
napping IN, water with noise like pistol
shot ~ they followed the mass OF the body down.
Tho TuUle boat had wnitol astrru n quarter
OF a mile 20 come up in Gus" of accident TO the
Gsneaf Ss & Ths BOAT @ then SH SRR Gus and
together the two crows flOatod about for nearly
500 thc whale rise. ON Sand Bun the farmers
had collected in throngs. some riding their
horses and others arriving ON foot and out OF
breath. Finally the patience OF the two Cap
iains wore out and they set the men to work
taking in fishing nets along shore. supposins
There she IL '' suddenly shouted ono few
minutes after the nets had been reached
amile distant. More carefully than before tn,
Edwards boat was rowed within two fathoms
reach ot the whale, Charley Edwards STOOD
whales side BAT tie blow was not strong
enough. and tho weapon was torn outs as the
enatchcd hie second harpoon and hurled H.
Il sank deep and had II struck u little further
Tho whale started ms though il had been stung.
and dragged the boat for mile and half at a
speed that seemed as the whnlemen described
seemed to 1 rise ana boil SIX inches above % SSt t6a
boats eunwnle. Suddenly with n below the
whale dove down but in ten minutes the black
shiny back again appeared. tn" nukes lashing
foam; Then apt. Josh gave up the holm and
took his carefully ground lance from its case.
Going 10 the bow. while the men padded RS
near the furious animal "a they dared. he
leaned fnr. over tho boats gunwale and with
shoulder aud worked it backward and for
ward three times Immediately a fanllke.
tlood-rod mist spouted three times from. the
whale More furiousy he lashed bindly about
him with his fluEes; Once tho boat narrowly
escaped being struck, but the experienced sea-
Suddenly the huge head rose four feet cloar
out OF the water. Then the liieless body re:
laNel and sank benoath the waves, Itremained
near me surface. however. and rope was
passed around the nukes and fastened. Row
ing tandem. the honts towcd the whale to shore.
Here new difficulty arose. The suri rolled
heavily. The whale tail was made fast TO the
beach. but the updcr,ow kent sweeping the
cut Il hole in the whales lower ip with a spade
and cable was fastened 70 II. The other end
o. the caOo was carried ashore. and Will
Heave, obs the men pulled the head w and
fastened H. But the sea swell was SO heavy
that the strain on the ihree-nch cable broke 1t.
Again il was fastened and pulled in. and again
4 was snapped Ike twine; For twenty-fou
hours tho Nictors worked thus to secure their
prze. ana az l9ri a new and larger cable was OBJ
Il was right whale black. smooth and
shining; II measured about forty icet in length.
its mouth wore whnlcbones which served ms a
siuve 10 retain it, food. taken with water into
Its mouth, while tho water escaped through the
carload and were twelve feet across. After
strippinG OF the bubber, cutting on the head
and carrying the JAWS tu land. the carcass was
released. For day II hoated around the wreck
OF the Caiharne. sunk on the rocks twenty
eight years ago and w holding aloit her ribs
sWin current setting away from land. 1t was
carried out T. sea. The whalebone alone paid
Ter The trouble ana every man got two barrels