The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1882-02-22
a Successful syiiaIe Hunt.


When within two hundred yards
Of the whale we saw that the little
black thing by the monsters side
was her calf Captain Mariana,
seeing fair mark, quickly fired the
swivel gun. a sharp reDcrt follow
ed, and the boat quivered under the
shock for full half minute. Foi-
lowing the sound the harpoon could
be seen cleaving the twenty iathoms
of space between the boat and the
/ whale, III which it was buried out
of sight Just below the right fore fin.
Following and attached to the steel
missile was some two hundred feet
of the stout line coiled in the bow,
which bore the appearance of a
flash of dark brown lightning as it
zigzaged through tie air after the
powerful motor. The wounded le-
viathan lay almost raotionless fo- i
period OF twenty sec onds, ~ If una
BILE to comprehend Jhe aature OF
the attack, and then wi,ti Il short,
like the puff of Il loc oaao:iTs-, she de-
scended beneath be sErt..ce at u
rate that made the IaaRiii.. iii,o
smoke and emit s' parks OF 9ire rs IL
ran out over the bo- VS..
Suddenly the me veBent stepped !;
the men bent 10 tn cir oars, ready 20
pull either dire,a ivr, at tie first
sight of an uprisif IN she p,rt of
the invisible mons .er. Captain Ma
riano peered unea> lily into the blue
depths forward, their boat-steerer
performing u sim liar office astern.
-'Pacha patris" Back all ~ sud
denly shouted the CAPTAIN, and the
five oarsmen sent thr boat astern
just III time to Gle by couple of
fathoms the black, ugly hulk of the
lniurlated whaie. as II rose 10 q e
surface and spotted twin columns
of water forty teeth the. air, u bucket
or two Of the briily duid seeking out
the back of the repo rter's neck for a
resting place as it descended. Be
fore the animated waterspout could
repeat the dose the boat was out
OF range; both OF his fire extinguish-
ing apparatus and his terrible fiukes
now beginning to thrash the water
with a violence that created q cloud
of foam.
The Performance lasted ~ tno or
three minutes, during which the
captain was unable TO Obtain. Il safe
shot at the whale with i, bOnb-gun,
which he raised to lis shoulder
nsore than once only 10 lower it
again in despair. suddenly the
tail ceased its exercIa, and the
next instant n jerk Els felt that
bGried the bow of H. boat in
white-cap. 'a'sssd by the lightning
ike descent pf The whale Barely
mad the sta,,,ch craft htef itself
aite- the shock than seco II tug
was felt, and beti.re the .eS, iring
reporter could ofit up Il iear-inspir-
ed prayer the boat was .dashing
through the wats r at u terrible rate.
The speed was Ii ightful. and for ten
mlRutes the wa ter stood III !. wall
fuliy eighteen in ches above the for
ward gunwale q a each side of 1 e
boat, the velocity preventing even a
single drop frolr, entering the inte-
rior.
AT the end o. the time mentioned
fully four miles of the distance be-
tween where the animal was struck
and the head IF the bay had been
covered, and tn e speed of the living
tug began to ,lacken through ex-
haustion. Fin: lily it ceased alto
gether, and afl er spouting q strong
Jet OF a 'ood-rt d tinge the stricken
mother once lore sounded. Her
stay underneath \ the waves was of
short duration, and on reappearing
on the surface lier movements were
only sufficient to keep her gigantic
afloat. Pulling up to with
in five fathoms of the whale the
men rested on their oars. Ten sec
onds later Captain Mariana had his
chance; n second explosion was
heard and the rubber winged bomb !
buried itself in the mass OF blQbber.
Scarcely had the smoke cleared !
away from the bow wEea the muf- /
He'd boom Of the bomb, exploded in |
the historical residence CT Jonah. |
sounded the death kneIl of .he old |
The victims huge hulk
'nce more be'amie aiIim ated and |
he fiukes lashed IN, yat,r ~ the /
the whale strtlgsled il the thro, .
If death. The waterspouts charged 1
o blood spouts aud rev smalIer as
he struggles became more coinra<r-
81 until finally with one last effort
he lew .tban rolled olt It's back and
xpG'rd Tde reportcr hctv,d
IGN Of relief and heartily Joined in
ne crews shout o. 'ic.org. which /
vas answered from, tie utiler baats,
" tins time only lew fltbuans |
.lst'uce. SIN F-0ac,sc1 CH,Un scic.