The daily gazette., 1880-03-29
THE GREAT WHALE.
HOW HE WAS CAUGHT - WHAT NE
LOOKS LIKE AS A "LAND LUBBER."

LOohn LINE Ab A LAND LUBBEH.'f
The great mammal which just now
is New York's greatest curiosity, was
caught in Cape Cod Bay, on Thursday
last, by q party of fishermen led by
Captain Levanier, an old whaler.
When first sighted there were two Of
them, and their spouting was the sig
nal for the hoisting Of the barrels upon
the signal poles for miles along the
Cape, to give notice to the fishermen
that Ash were in sight. Ofthe numer-
GUS crews that started in pursuit,
Lavanier and his men were the first to
put an iron into the monster, and, ac-
cording to whaling usage, thus ac-
quired q valid title to the fish. The
pursuers used what is known as the
bomb-lance, an instrument in the
shank of which is placed a Illuminating
powder which explodes after the
weapon enters the blubber. Two casts
were made with this instrument and
the marks of the wounds that resulted
are plainly visible. It Is said that the
death struggles Of the monster were
terrific, the water being dyed with
bload and beaten into foam by the lash
ings of its ponderous tail, the noise of
which could BE- heard at Pr0vincetown
nearly two miles distant. The entrails
were removed and water-tight barrels
put in to give the body greater buoy
ancy. Then it was towed to New
York. The head is nearly twenty feet
in length, or about one-third the total
length, and the mouth measured fif
teen feet from jaw to jaw and eight
feet in width--large enough to admit q
ships long boat, crew and all. The
body tapers from the head and ends in
a broad tail, whose fukes extend hori.
zontally. The girth Of the great fish
at its largest point, just back of the
head is forty feet.
A man who has never seen q whale
can have little idea of Its helplessnesl
on land. 1t 10 as awkward as q locomo
tive in q millpond. The back Of th,
Stanton street whale shone like polished
ebony. Its sides were lighter, while IL
immense belly was like Egyptian ivory
with massive wrinkles below the Jaws
running back at least twenty feet. Th,
mouth yawnsd like the vault of ravish
ed savings bank, and the sculptured tai
embodied the outlines of the fukes op {
White Star propeller. The flesh wa
hard as vulcanized rubber, and greaI
llvid spots on the sides showed WHERE
wounds had brought the blood to the
surface. The Captain explained to the
visitors tina. the whale was not 90 large
as he was before they cut him. open and
removed the contents Of bis internal rev.
enue department. ave found ten
bushels of herrings in him." said the
Captain" but no boots nor watches, nor
pawnbrokers' tickets" The eyes are
small and are placed very far back In
the head, 80 as TO leave room for the
whales countenance. A few hairs
sprout from his nose, like the chin
whiskers on Chinaman. II he had fur
like q seal the market would be ruined.
Whales breathe through the tops Of their
heads, and the water they spout out pre-
vents friction; consequently they never
snore when sleeping. If they did thun-
der would be at discount. The tail Is
forked, flexible, and formidable, and
with 1t the whale is able to prevent
sharks and flies from disturbing the
slumber Of his young. Whales never
laugh even when. in school. The
stomach Is bulkheaded into from three
to six water-tight compartments, 90 that
he does not sink when absent minded
and sailors and fish do not get mixed
when swallowed.
As rule their teeth are scarce, but
they carry $500 worth of whalebone In
their mouths. These bones terminate
in kind of scrubbing-brush fringe,
which strains food, and in foggy wea-
ther prevents whales from swallowing
sharks and steamboats, and other things
that might derange their liver and
spoil the quality of their oil. The
flesh of whale is red, substantial and
vigorous, but it is not SO delicate as
venison, nor 80 palatable as woodcock,
but it will go further in q boarding
house if the weather is warm. The
circus canvas did good service until
about 8 o'clock, when the wind blew
SO hard that there was imminent dam
ger of the fabric being swept away
At this interesting juncture fifteen or
twenty brine-soaked tars began rig
ging a derrick over the whales head
to draw up the upper jaw by pulley
and tackle. After much delay line
was fastened to the whales nose, and
the crew laid hold of the rope. But the
jaw would not move an inch. A
policeman smiled, the boys snickered,
and every time the wind blew up the
canvas the long-haired girls on the
dock yelled eli fellers, you're
healthy team" After much labor the
jaw was pried open few
inches, then some strong planks were
inserted, and new batch of visitors
lent hand, until the jaws were four
feet apart. What a mouth !! A yawps
crew might have seated themselves
therein. The cavern suggested Jonah,
and straightway lively discussions
we're opened as TO the truth of the BIZ