Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-08-11
BOstOn's Whale.

BOStOHS " naic.
There was an unusual excitement in
East Boston, yesterday, over the rumor
that the great Atlantic sea-serpent had
not only made his customary appear
ance for the season, but that he had
been cruelty slain, and that his remains
were coiied up1n Green's mammoth dry
dock on Border street. The rumor gave
his dimensions anywhere from iiftv to
five hundred feet in length, and, before
the business of the day had fairly COM
menced, the approaches to the dock
were crowded with an anxious concourSe
OF investigating humanity. As the
day wore On,the crowd became so great
that detail of police was sent for to
keep it in check, and, later, the ap-
proaches to the wharf were closed up
altogether. Among the crushing multi
tude were several anxious proprietors of
seaside hotels and other resorts along
the coast, who breathed sigh of relief
when they found that their pet adver-
tlsing agent was still at large, and that
the extraordinary curiosity which had
been hauled into Green's dock was
nothing but monster whale. While
the melancholy of the summer hotel
men was dispclled, yet the curiosity of
the crowds was not in tho least weak
ened. The leviathan of the deep is
probably one of the finest and most
perfect, as it is unquestionably the
largest, of the whale species ever brought
intact into an American port. 1t was
tound in ch srge of Capt. Hoe, an old
practical whale fisherman, and author
OF an Interesting book of these peculiar
kings OF the ocean. In the course of
conversation he said that he hal been
upward OF year engaged IN getting a
satisfactory specimen for company of
Boston gentlemen who had employed
hlm for the purpose. During this period
he had captured nearly one hundred of
one kind or another. but always, when
ne had succeeded in getting one that
was satisfactory, it was devoured by
sharks or dogiish before he could get it
into port. The present "bird," as the
Captain was pleased to denominate it,
he described in most enthusiastic terms
as the finest and largest that he had
ever come across. Even in death tho
monster seemed frightful and dangerous
as he lay extended on the bottom of the
dock. The skin is of yellowish or
dark blue, lighter on the lower part of
the body than elsewhere, and at q short
distance had tie appearance of huge
corrugated piece of pottery.
The whale was killed, said Capt. Hoe,
early the present week, off Province
town, and the capture of tho monster
was very exciting and hazardous piece
OF work. He was shot with Il I" bomb
lance" and, though evidently struck in
vital part at the first shot, vet he man.
aged to lash and foam the briny deep in
most violent manner for scverst min
utes before he gave up the ghost. He
was not permitted to sink, as is usual
when these monsters are shot, but was
Immediately hooked on to and towed
into Provincetown harbOr. Word of the
capture was Immediately telegraphed
by Capt. Hoe to his employers in this
city, and the steam tugboat William
Woolley, which was dispatched to
Provincetown on Tuesday, returned
with its valuable charge in tow yester-
day morning. The total expense eff the
captains twelve months fishing excur-
sion has been about $1,000, but he CON
siders this moderate when measured
with the triumph he has finally achieved.
He would not trade his ''bird," he says, |
for whole herd of Barnum's Jumbos. |
The huge mammal measures siytv-twO
feet in length, and its estimated weight
Is twenfy-seven tons. Whalers, in e.ti- |
mating the weight of these monsters,
allow ton and quarter to the linear
foot. His Titanic head, with the curl :
GUS growth of whalebone, and the huge
tail, reminding one of the screws of
Cunard steamer, are the most striking
features of the great fish. His jaws
have spread of twenty-five feet, and,
if his throat passage were proportion
ately large he could have swallowed a
Pullman sleeping car, passengers, col
Ored porter and all, with very little diff
GUILTY. He measures eighteen feet across
the tlukes, and has girth of fifty-eight
feet. He belongs to the great northern
rorqual species, which is said to be the |
largest of the whale tribe. Those who |
saw him yesterday were profuse in ex-
ClamatiOns of wonder and admiration. |
Most of the whales of this rare and par
ticular species sOund in Atlantic waters
are Insignificant in size, so Capt. Hoe
says, and this specimen furthermore
differs from most others in being bull.
He had evidently strayed from his
course by being attracted by the small
fish which abound along the eastern
coast at this season of the year. The
work of embalming the monster was
commenced yesterday, and will be COM
pleted during the present week, What
use is to be made of the specimen after
ward, however, Capt. Hoe declines to
reveal.-Bosto1 Herald