Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1885-03-07


Frequently the pot is taken off-that is,
the remnants of the horse pieces are
skinned OF. A horse piece weighing
forty pounds, on being put into the POT
Will all melt away TO oil excepting about
I've ounces Of hard, tough substance,
which serves as very good fuel for the
furnace fires. While the blubber Is be-
ing cut up and fried out there is no more
nCxiOus smell than might come from so
much sweet pork fat. The oil is pure
and sweet, and the disagreeable OdOr
which IS IN general belief attached to
it only comes when the oil has become
sour.
when the trying-out process begins
so do the Whalers' feasting and merry
making. The cook Is kept busy In his
pantry trying out pies, filed mostly with
dried fruits and cakes Of all kinds, and,
bringing them to the men, allows them
to do their own cooking. The pastry is
deposited in a big skimming-ladle and
then deXterOusly forced to the bottom Of
the try-pOt. And the men 90 on making
oil while their deliCaCies cook in At. Three
minutes suffice to turn the pastry a rich,
tempting brown, and pies and cakes are
ished out, and in q second or two are as
dry as if baked in an oven. The Whaler
is troubled by no thoughts of where the
oil in which his good things are cooked
was but a few hours ago, nor what a hOr-
rid stencil it might become if left exposed
to the air a short time. Such matters
never worry him, but he slows away an
astonishing amount Of grub and varies
the menu with a bOnitO OF a dolphin,
cooked in the try-pot the same way as the
pastry.
"When the blubber is all tried out and
the oil is slowed away in the hold, which,
with asiXty-barTel whale, will helm about
two days, the work Of cleaning up begins,
and the whole crew, except the officers,
turn to. The decks are slippery with oil,
and all the woodwork and irOn-WOrk are
smeared with fatty substance. The ashes
which have accumulated In the furnaces
from the burning Of the blubber scraps
are streWn on the decks and remain over
night. Next morning the decks are
washed down and the paint and iron
work Of the bulwarks scrubbed. When
everything becomes dry all traces of oil
have disappeared and the decks assume
a snowy Whiteness-sO white, in fact, do
they become after this treatment that
the first remark of a person visiting a
Whaler is almost invariably in reference
to this peculiar feature.
"But, alas the old days have passed
away and many changes have been
made in the last few years in the method
of whaling. The old processes required
some personal skill and experience. The
present system is founded on science,
and but little skill or experience Is need
ed. One Of the most important differ
enCes between the new and old processes
is the use Of the boom lance instead Of
the plain spearing lance. 1t consists of a
cast-irOn barrel pointed at one end with
a steel and with three rubber feathers at
the other to give it direction when IN
motion. The barrel contains a quarter
Of a pound of strong powder and a two
second fuse. The bomb lance is shot out
Of short, thick gun, resembling strong
ly a blunderbuss of old, and is either
laid in an iron rest when fired or sup
ported by the person who fires it. In the
latter case, however, the gun is fastened
to the boat by a short lanyard, allowing
enough slack for free play, but making
it recoverable if, in its recOu when let Oft
it should slip out of the gunner's hands
and drop overheard. But with many
Whalers, especially old ones, the plain
lance is preferred to the bomb lance be-
cause, though the bomb lance does more
execution when well directed, the plain
lance will kill almost as quickly, Just as
man will diewhen his head is cut of,
but he will also die, though not so quick
ly, when only his jugular vein is severed.
"Other ways of killing the whale have
been tried, but many Of them were IN
successful. An arrangement for explOd-
ing prussic acid in the whale was tried,
but whalers, seeing the acid to be so
powerful poison, refused to use it, and
in one instance would not touch a whale
that had just been killed with it."