Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1885-09-11
A WHALES BURDEN.
Carrying n Whaler's Barb for Ten Long
Years.
Tsan Francisco Builetin.i

/
Years.
TSan Francisco BuiletinI
On September 9th, 1876, the whaler
Helen Mar, Captain George Bau!dry, was
on the icy whaling ground of tho North,
oil Point Barrow. That was a good
season for the Helen Mar aad her skilliul
master. Thirteen whales were taken and
the cargo altogether was valued at SS1,
0O0, and the bark came bscS from the
North with flying colors. But on the
day in question the Helen Mar had the
misfortune to lose a hu ldred- barrel
whale which had been struck, and there
was disappointms on board. Waen a
whale elbows" strong and steady oars.
men man their sharp, double-ended boat,
and pull toward the monster. The boat
which started for this particular whale,
on the day in question, was in charge Of
! Charles Weeks, third mate. In the bow
stood a man of muscle, nerve and jadg.
ment, who was to throw the harpoon or
''iron." The harpoon has a carafully-
ground, sharp barb, which, when the har-
poon is thrown, is in the line of
the shaft, like the head of an ar :
row. The barb is onl held in this
position, however, by a wooden pin.
=
the pail causel by the barb. shall dart
away, the wooden pin shall break, and
he barb will turn around, or, as the
whaler's phrase is, will ''toggIe" This
prevents the iron from pulling out. The
boat is fast, and with ordinary good fer
tune the whale may be counted on as a
prize. In this instance the IRON was
thrown and held fast, notwithstanding
it did not ''toggle." The great fish drew
the line taut. The hunt was up. Sud-
denly, however, the iron broke Off only q
few inches above the barb. The whale
d sappeared, leaving a white wake behind
him. All that the boats cr.w could do
was to pull in tho slack line with the
broken iron at the end AMI return to the
ship. But as ali harpoons are plainly
marked on the barb, it was certaia that
should this whale ever again be caught
there would be way to identify it. On
the barb Of the broken harpoon were Sac
letters 'W. B." and "H NJ" and also
che words "Helen Mar" The Inscription
indicated that the barb had been shr Jwn
by the waste-boat on the Helen Mar.
About the middle of last June when off
Cape Prince of Wales, at the entrance of
Behring Strait, the steam whaler Thrash
er, Captain Leander Owens master, struc ck
q large whale, which, on being cut up, was
found to have the b irb Of the Helen Mars
iron imbedded in its blubber. The blubber
had completely healed over the iron, leav-
ing no visible scar. The iron was easily
identified. 1t was brought to this port on
the Thrasher, badly rustei l, and it is now
at the Office of the Pacific Steam Whaling
Company, relic of what MY perhaps be
called whale romance. The element of
rcm1nce comes in with the great journeys
which the iron has unquestionably mad Q
since it left the Helen Mars boat. In the
opinion of Captain Baul Try, the iron mu t
have gone with the whale a d distance
equal, or nearly so, to twice the circ1m-
ference of the earth. It had journeyei
continuously for eight years, lacking a
few months. 1t had probably been as far
east as the coast of Greenland 1t had
repeatedly traversed Behring Strait, COM
ing down to Carrycinkslxy to the Fox
Islands. The wooden pin still remaining
in the iron shows that the iron had not
'toggled." The unromantic blubbsr was
reduced to equally unronantic and com
mercial whale-oil. The iron, having trav-
eled probably further than the seaman
who threw it, will rem Ain a5 a relic in
California street.