Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-08-17
WHALE HUNTING IN THE PA.

The Mon,ery Whaling Company e
abou, the oldest institution OF the kind
on the coast, and the stock proves very
fair inve.tmen, TO the holders. Who are
the whale.killsrs themselves. The bust.
nss, Office. siore.room. and eating and
sleeping apartments Of the company are
in . white adobe building In the western
suburbs, and half . mile further 'ou,h IL
high cliff. ~hereon is the Company
lookout. lie 1, armed With powerful
glass. and q tall mas, 10 rugged With hall
yards for hsis,ins q sisn>l when game u
sighted.
The hunting tools consis, OF three OF
,ts regulation double. pointed boats In
use by whslsrs the world over, five long
osi. TO each boat. 900 fsthoms OF line
smoothly eoilsd in tubs Ia the bow. aud
tao guns 10 each boat. The larger sirs OF
the two ha. the proportions Of young
cannon and /. mounted on . pivot. The
missile discharged from IL is steel bar
four fee, 10 length, and provided With
folding barb that opens out when the
hsrpoon buries itself In the whale. This
takes the place Of the old.time harpoon.
aud Is much more certain and effective.
The lighter gun IL fired from the shoul.
der. and looks like q large.sired fovling
piece. II hasa inch bore. j, is used
10 pu, the finishing touches on the whale
ai,sr the hsrpoon has made him fast, and
the method !. to fire an explosive bomb
into q vital spot. The bomb Is inches
in diameter by rs inches long. the butt
end being winged -iih rubber tips. after
the manner in Which an arrow Is fea,h-
cred. TO secure guiding poser.
I, %. Early morning when the white
signal nausred to the top Of the siaa OF
the mast on the cliff. and having pre-
viou.ly obtained permission TO join the
hun, With Captain Mariana. the reporter
"a. speedily seated Ia the stern sheets.
awaiting the signal to shove OF. This
ws. soon given. and six miles 20 the
north~s., the three boats came up With
their game. ~bieh proved TO be an unus-
uslly large specimen Of the California
gray variety. The gigantic fish rolled
lady about on top Of the water. ell IN.
eon,ciou. Of impending danger. and did
not even dsisn 10 notice the approach OF
the boat. ,k., came upon either side and
bshird h'r. A hundred feet away the
men Icy on their oars. and Captain Mar
iano sighted over hi. s-is,l gun. The
men bent over their oars. ~iih every
muscle ready TO pull or back water a, the
,lish,,,t hostile movement on the part OF
the enemy. li~.s momen, ,ha, seemed
an age Of s.ial suspense 10 the green
hand. but suddenly the captain bad q
fair mark presented and pressed the mig.
ger The boa, quiver,d under the shock
accompanying the report. and the eye
could plainly catch the fash Of the har-
poon a. IL elesved the air and buried H..
.elf somewhere in the rish, shoulder.
Attached 20 the steel missile VAS the
s,ou, manila line eoil,d In the bow. aud
il bore the spps.raree Of a fash Of brown
lishining as IL rigE,gg,d through the aif
.nu Il, powerful motor
Th. whale hardly seemed TO eompfe.
bend the trouble thu, had ovsr,aken hsr
At frat. and /, "a. fully half q minute
before she emitted an angry snor, and
started for the bottom =, rate that made
the line smoke and emit spark. /. !, ran
over the bow. both the captain and
the boa, .,,er,r peered unessily into the
clear depth. a. the line STOPPED running
out. and q minute later the former .hoa,.
ed Back all. Back hard" The five
..hen blade. ben, aud quivsred with the
strain put on them bu, /, Was none too
much, as the boa, was scarcely doren
Zee, away when the huge bulk Of the
Infatuated whale rose TO the surface and
.pur,sd twin columns Of brine high 10
the air. Before the animated wAierrou,
could repeat the dose the boa, was out
Of range. both OF the FIRE eI,ingui'hing
apparatus and the terrible hakes ths,
soon commenced TO thrash the water into
foam. Her coniorions we're 30 yiolen,
tina, the captain could no, ge, in 'ho.
with hi. bomb gun. which be raised and
lo..red half dozen iim,s without pull.
ing the trigger. Finally the hake. qui,
their thrs.hing. and like flash the levi
a,han dashed away At terrific rate.
baryins the boat. bo~ between two
vail. Of ws,,r fully eighteen inches high.
bu, the speed VAS such ,ha, scarcely a
drop entered tie boat. This gai, vas
KEEP, up for good ten minutes, and then
the speed commenced 20 slseksn, ard the
wounded monster swan easily and quiet
ly on the top Of the water.
The living tug came 10 total stand
IT'LL At last. and pulling around to =
brOsd.ide position. the captain was given
bis opportunity. The second explosion
va. followed by the whis,ling Of the rub
ber.wineed bomb. which buried itself in
the great mas. Of blubber Scarcely bad
the smoke cleared away from the bow
before the mviilsd boom Of the bomb en-
ploding in the historical residence Of 10.
nah sounded the death knell Of the poor
old whale. The victims huge bulk grew
animated again. bu, only fer moment.
The aakes ,hr.shsd ,iolen,ly for few
seconds. while the ~s,spPouts became
,inged warm red Struggles aud 'pou,s
became more and more contracted. until.
with q las, and final Effort. the inwardly
wounded monster rolled over and expired.
The other boats made fast, and hard
pull Of three hours landed the prize on
| al. h..eh