St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1885-05-09
THERE SHE BLOWSw
AN Old Sailors Story of Life on
Board a Whaler.
No' All That Fancy Paints It-HIs Advice
GO Young Men Going a.Whal-
Ing Is Embraced in the
Word Don't.

One of the Detroit dailies recentl,
contained an interview with a gentle
man who once made a two-years' cruise
In a whaling vessel, and I read it with
peculiar interest. for it recalled Incl
dents connected with my youth that
can never forget;'' remarked a silver
haired resident of this city yesterday.
FROM it the general reader would OBJ.
tain sort of an idea of what life on
board 'Blubber Hunter is, but only
enough to excite curiosity, and possibly
yearnlng for more of the same kind of
information. His experience was gained
nIteen or twenty years subsequent tn
mine, and possibly the practices and
usages on shipboard were changed some
what during that period. Certain it is
that my experience differed materially
from his, and was not such as to incline
one to try 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,
We're not in vogue. Officers and men
had certain lay or share of the oil
taken, although it was the custom then
to offer to fit out men on the strength
or success of the voyage. 1.-THE VOYAGE
turned out badly, and the men were in
debt to the ship at its close, that was the
owners loss.
There may be some young men who
read the Free Press who have become
fired with desire to 60 to sea. WhatI
shall say to you is spoken with desire
to deter them from taking such an ill
advised step. A sailors life, and es-
pecially sailors life on a whaler. ia
one ! should never encourage any young
man to follow. Not but the life and
calling of a sailor is 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 busi-
ness and to achieve success in its pur-
suit. But to 60 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 boy 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 |
whaler. That cured me.
I'm fitting out whaler, the number |
of men shipped depends upon the num-
her 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 60 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 wears, the boats were twen-
ty-six to twenty-eight feet in length, with
bars from fifteen to seventeen feet long,
md each boat carried about $50 fathoms
If line coiled in two tubs. The South
Atlantic whalers were fitted out for
shorter cruises.
"A boats crew comprised an officer
the Captain or one of the mates), who
vas called the header; boat steerer,
Who was also the harpooner, and four
aiIors. six in all. The boatsteerer al
vays pulled an oar until the boat was
ear the whale, when he exchanged it
Or a harpoon and stood ready to dart it
lto the whale.
ut was usually the custom to ship all
ne green hands possible for the reason
nat they could be hired cheaper than
men, and often at the COM
lencement of voyage it was found
lat the ship in rough and stormy I
Gather was poorly provided with men I
,pable of making and taking in sail. or S
,sisting in properly caring for the safety 6
the vessel. The green hands were At t
rst almost useless, and until they had
armed to steer, and how to get up aloft
rough weather and handle themselves t
ter they got there, the labor OF work u
g the ship fell upon . few old sailors $
ID the boatsteerers, even the officers c
metimes being forced to DO mems /
lty. ~
LAS soon as the vessel was fairly out v
sea, however, the green hands were G
it through course of training which n
ickly made them wish they had stayed Il
homie. They were sent aloft to look o
= f~r ,.,b . loe and as som aS a school n