The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1880-07-30
A HARNEssED WHALE
That Ran Away with n Piucky Boat
Crew at the nate ofa Mile a Minnie.
lNew Haven Union.l

whaling, Union reporter encountered
an old sea captain who had O good
story to tell. Near by, was moored a
whaling vessel, and casks Of Oil were
ranged about, so that the old tar SEEM
ed at home. The conversation turned
on the recent boat races and the time
made for two miles by the Harvard
and Columbia freshmen crews. The
old sailor thought that the boys rowed'
well and went pretty fast; but he had
gone faster, and probably faster than
The scribe urged the mariner to tell
ene ,a. Satosy. wn'cn ne n'a suostan''a'ny '"' 1i
cit is about thfrty-hve years tago
since I went out from. New London as
boat steerer. That is 4, pretty, lively
berth, as any whaleman can tell you,
especially when a whale is tackled.
The steerer has virtually the control of
the boat and the safety of the men in.
it, and when the whale begins to lash,
the water with Install, look out;
there's danger in being near the big
auke. Sometimes you can put an iron
into a whale and he WON'T splash on
the surface, but will start OF like a
rocket, or perhaps will go right down,
and You have to cut loose and lose
d
man gets used to these things, and
when boat is stove ebys~a~whaie, or
when the crew get into, any difficulty,
they generally know what to do, and
take matters philosophically. They
are tough fellows, and can row. for
hours [and without training) and with
heavy oars resting on the t;gunneP'
'(gunwale) of the boat.
"In those days different class Of
men went whaling from what go now.
Previous to the War-that is, some
years, previous-there was money in
both Oil and bone, though just before
the war they sold for less than you
could get them for. But when there
was money in whaling, Captains could
get passably good pick of men for
their crews. Stout young fellows, who
couldn't make more than their salt on
the farm, came down to New London
to go to sea. They had heard of the
big chances for good voyage, which,
if realized, would give them in a few
months more money than they ever
saw. If the owners got the lions
share of the money, there was still a
good lot left to be doled out in "lays"
(proportionate shares) to the men. In
fact, fortunes were made in one voyage,
or what would pass for an acceptable
competency for the man who was con-
tented to live nodestly. Well, on the
ship on which I was boat steerer this
time there was as fine a set of men,
pluck and endurance considered, as you
ever saw. In my boats crew there
were some particularly good men. But
what happened to us one day tried the
mettle of several OF them. E'''t't'S.
awe were laying becalmcd one day
"a f1,n of 1@~0st
smooth as q mill pond for miles; you
couldn't see a ripple on the water, for
not q breath of wind stirred. There
were several whalers lying off the land,
close in, waiting for a wind or some
thing to give them occupation. By
and by we saw two or three whales
coming up to blow, about two miles
away. The Captain called the watch
up, and couple of boats started for
the whales, which were lying still as
if summing themselves. In my boat
was big negro, black as the ace of
spades. Every time he rowed a stroke
the boat would shoot ahead, and he
would open his mouth and grin, show
ing wonderful display of ivory. We
raced with the other boat, and got
ahead, for my men were 1.-the and
tough, and by and by we got alongside
oar was pulled in; the oars were pack
ed-that is, pulled in so that they
couldn't strike the water; then an iron
was thrown into the floating island.
The whale laid still for a minute, as
if struck with amazement that any one
should dare to touch him. The rope
which was coiled up in the tub in the
bottom of the boat didn't seem to be
of any use for moment. In tho mean
time the other boat had come up. Sud-
denly the whale made up his mind
! what to do. He started off like n To-
comotive, the rope whizzing around in
a way to astonish q land lubber. The
boat didn't follow slow. When the
rope was out we were rushing by the
! Captains boat like mad. The Captain
| took off his hat and waved it at me,
shouting: -'tGo it, young man; you're
going out OF town faster than you'll
ever go again." All we could do in
that double-ended boat was to sit still
and see her go through the water.
candidly believe that we went at the
rate of Il mile a minute, and the water
was very wonderful sight. 1t re.
minds me, now that I think of it. o1