The daily gazette., 1882-06-20
A WHALE IN THE RIVER
A MONSTER or THE DEPTHS
NEAR HOME.
WHALE HUNTING YEARS AGO
An Immense Fish, ssGreat of Bone and
Great of TAIL" That is Exciting Della
ware River Watermen.

The proud ownership of new building
has sent the ambition of the Philadelphia
Record high above snake stories. To-day's
issue contains the following remarkable re-
cital:
ga whale a whaIev excitedly cried
Captain Hollinger, of the Philadelphia tow
ing-steamer Argus, as his vessel was enter
ing the Delaware river above Bonn
bay Hook on Saturday morning, and
sure enough, as the entire crew crowded to
the starboard bow, In full view was great
monster of the deep, blowing like great
natural fountain in the middle of the river.
A spectacle SO much out of the ordinary run
filled the tug hands and the officers with
astonishment When first seen the whale
was spouting great stream of water near
the upper end of Flogger shoal, and gradu-
ally moved up the river. AS the tugboat
swung around the bend in the river
the great fish turned about and
dived, lashing the river into white foam
as it disappeared. The whale was evidently
not satisfied with the depth Of the river, and
came up again In few seconds, blowing
like water-spout and swimming around
and around like big catfish in tub, max
ing great whirlpool in the middle of the
river. In short time the Jonah-swallower
became apparently exhausted, and reposed
quietly upon the bosom of the river, its
hard black back showing in the morning
sun, plainly visible from the deck of the
Argus. AS nearly as Captain Hollinger
could determine the whale measured fully
SO feet in length. Some one proposed to
make an effort to catch the monster, but the
tug having a heavy tow, and not being pro-
vided with very strong boats, or sufficient
chains and hawsers, the idea was abandoned
nj hn 10 hnar nbaa 1.n
arch of the deep lazily bask himself in the
sun for some time, and then disappear
below the rivers surface, making straight
course up the river, which could be plainly
traced by the spouts he blowed as he occa-
sionally came to the surface for breath of
air
Some of the bay fishermen, below Bombay
Hook, have for some days been greatly
exercised over the appearance in the bay and
near the shore, of great monster, which
they reported to their wondering neighbors
as a mighty devil fish. The monster broke
their nets and, they said, frightened all the
seatrout away from the shore, so that the
supply of this great staple of summer food
was abruptly cut off; fresh meat went up to
figure which would have frightened a
Philadelphia boarding house keeper out of
her wits, and the hundreds skirting the
river below Smyrna were in state of ex-
element bordering on panic. On Satur-
day passengers on the steamers from this
city to Salem say that they saw a great
eommotion in the river off Fort Delaware,
and something like fountain in the river.
Other reports of a like character have been
made, which show that the whale is making
his way gradually up the river, and may be
expected near Philadelphia at any time.
Only twice since the Delaware was dis
covered has a whale appeared within the
bounds of either bay or river.
De Vries, the first settler of Delaware,
saw whale at the mouth of the river in
1888, which is said to have gotten up as fan
as Gloucester. About 12 or 15 years ago a
small whale was captured in the river OPP
posite Philadelphia. 1t was bound by chains
and taken to a point above the Richmond
wharves and exhibited in a pen until it
become offensive, it having been killed by
its captors in the chase The news of the
appearance of another in the river at this
time of the year has caused a considerable
flutter of excitement among boatmen and
fisherman in the river, both being somewhat
superstitious about the matter, and the
latter are in a great deal of fear for their
nets.
SHOOTING A WHALE.
eyes, | had rather an interesting expert
ence with whale some years ago." said DIR.
M. j. Gallagher, the dentist, to a GAZETTE
reporter this morning when his attention
was called to the above article. ssLet's see,'
he went on rejecting, ssit was In the spring
of 1860 or '6l, was living in Philadelphia
at the time, and one Sunday morning word
ran all along the part of the city bordering
upon the Delaware that whale was out in
the stream. And sure enough there he was
royal big fellow IS long and seeming a
perfect monster as he swan about, spouting
water high in the air and desporting himself
as though he enjoyed getting into fresh water
once in while.
s'Half dozen boats at once started out
to hunt the big fellow, although the hunters
were all amateurs. had just perfected a
rifle with many Improvements and took it
along. Men in number of other boats
were armed with guns. l shot him large
number of times, but it did not seem to
effect him much, until one ball struck him
just behind the fin. The blood spurted at
least 10 feet, and the whale stopped and
| quivcred from nose to tail. After that
shot him II times in the head, but the lead
didn't seem to bother him in the least.
ale was chased by a tug, made fast and
| broke away. He remained swimming up
and down the river until Wednesday, when
he was harpooned, captured, and taken to
Kensington where he was exhibited. The
men who caught him got % barrels of oil
| from the blubber.
"People say that whale coming up the
river indicates war. My father says one
was opposite Philadelphia just before the
war of 1912, and the rebellion came just
after the presence of the one / have been
telling you about"
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