The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-04-04
THERE SHE BLOWsr
An Old Sailors Story Of Life on
Board q Whaler
Net Al That Fancy Paints It-His Advice
10 Young Men Going s.Whal-
ing IL Embraced In the
Word Don't.

Zone of the Detroit dailies recentI,
contained an interview with gentle
man who once made two-years' cruis,
In whaling vessel, and 1 read it will
peculiar interest, for it recalled Incl
dents connected with my youth that
can never forget" remarked silver
haired resident of this city yesterday.
From it the general reader would oh
tain sort of an idea of what life OF
board 'Blubber Hunter Is, but onl,
enough to excite curiosity, and possibl,
ayearning for more of the same kind q
information. His experience was gained
hfteen or twenty years subsequent te
mine, and possibly the practices and
usages on shipboard were changed some.
what during that period. Certain il is
that my experience differed materially
from his, and was not such as to incline
one to try a second voyage.
when l made fool of myself and
went to sea (see a whale and other
things too numerous to mention) the
whaling business was at its best. and the
system of bounties, that he speaks about.
were not in vogue. Officers and men
had certain lay or share of the oil
taken, although it was the custom then
10 offer to tit out mer on the strength
or success of the voyage. If the voyage
turned out badly, and the men were in
debt to the ship at its close, that was the
owners loss.
ihere may be some young men who
read the Free Press who have become
flred with desire to go to sea. What |
snail say to you is spoken with a desire
10 aeter them from taking such an i'll
advised step. A sailors life. and es-
pecially sailors life on whaler. is
one should never encourage any Young
man to follow. Not but the life and
calling of sailor is a noble one when
entered upon and pursued by anyone
having a natural taste and inclination
IN that direction, coupled with desire
and determination to make it life bust
ness and to achieve success in its pur-
SUIT. But to go to sea, as thousands do,
merely to crafty an idle curiosity or
whim, or to get away from the restraints
OF home, is the worst step any bow can
take; and he finds it out to his sorrow
very quickly, but, alas! too late. Ispeak
from experience, for have sailed many
voyages, and the last one was on a
whajer. That cured me.
In fitting out whaler, the number
OF men shipped depends upon the num-
Der of boats carried, and this, in turn,
depends upon the tonnage of the ship.
A small brig or bark never carries more
than three boats, and these are the class
OF vessels that used to cruise in the South
Atlantic for sperm whales. Larger ves-
sells, those that used to go around Cape
Horn to cruise in the Pacific, never car
ried less than four boats, and were fitted
out for sperm and right whaling. These
whalers were fitted out for cruise of
four or five years, the boats were twen-
ty-six to twenty-eight feet in length, with
oars from fifteen to seventeen feet long
and each boat carried about $50 fathoms
OF line coiled in two tubs. The South
Atlantic whalers were fitted out for
shorter cruises.
IA boats crew comprised an officer
(the Captain or one of the mates), who
was called the header; boat steerer,
who was also the harpooner, and four
sailors, six in all. The boatsteerer al
ways pulled an oar until the boat was
near the whale, when he exchanged it
for harpoon and stood ready to dart it
into the whale.
ut was usually the custom to ship all
the green hands possible for the reason
that they could be hired cheaper than
experienced men, and often at the COM
mencement of a voyage it was found
that the ship in rough and stormy
weather was poorly provided with men
capable Of making and taking in sail, or
assisting in properly caring for the safety
of the vessel. The green hands were at
first almost useless, and until they had
learned to steer, and how to get up aloft
in rough weather and handle themselves
after they got there. the labor OF work
ing the ship fell upon few old sailors
and the boatsteerers, even the officers
sometimes being forced to do mems
duty
las soon as the vessel was fairly out
to sea. however, the green hands were
pint through course Of training which
quickly made them wish they had stayed
at home. They we're sent aloft to look
out for whales, and as soon as school
of blackfish were sighted. all the boats
were lowered, the green men manned
the oars, and away went the boats in
race to see which would strike the first
fish. OF course this would blister the
mems hands, but they learned how to
handle an oar, and themselves in boat,
so that by the time they reached the
whaling grounds. they were able to do
good service, and knew what was ex-
pected of them. These blackfish yield
. poor quality of oil, but it is used for
lighting purposes on board of ship.
They also learned to box the compass
and steer. Each boat carried mast
and sail, but these were only set when.
after whale had been killed, they were
engaged In towing their prize to the
ship.
s'As soon Is whaling ground was
reached the ship was put under short
ened sail--topsails, topgallant-sails.
staysail, jib and spanker-a and a look
ont was stationed at the fore topgallant-
mast-head (crosstrees),. and boat
steerer 1t the main topgallantmast-head
to watch for whales. each man taking
his trick ct this and ct the wheel. each
trick bsing Of two hours. The lookouts
were senf aloft 1T daybreak. and were
not called down until the sun disap-
peared. Then the chip was placed