Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1888-10-12
WHALE-FISlIERY.
HUNTING THE LEvIATHANs IN
FROZEN ZONES.
Tho hardy soamen Who Follow
Thts Exhilarating but Dangerous
CallinE-Methods of Captur-
Ing tho Various Species.

mouS speed. 1t Is said that ho can 90
through tho wntcr at the rate of hun.
drod milos an hour. lIe is not sought
Tor by whalcrs, because it is difficult to
capture him, and when caught there is
little profit for the captors. lilo has but
littio blubber, which is tho oil Learing
tissue cnvelopng tho body under tho
skin, and the bone is small and worth
but little. 1t Is short and frowsy, and
used chiefly for making coarse brooms.
It's worth only about twenty-livo cents
a pound, while that of the bow head,
Tho wha.e OF the Arctic seas, soils now
Tor ~. rs and 81 per pound, while sales
have recently bton made as high US 81. so
per pound.
Within few years 1t has increased in
price, as n new field has been opened in
us application to some OF tho electric
light systoms. While tho iinback whalo.
bono, that is located us fringe around
me lower jaw, is only about two feet
long, the bowhcad bono, that grows in
the upper jaw, is sometimes eighteen
feet in length. This is tho valuable
quality The bowhcad is also tho largest
whale as we'll rs tho richest in bone and
oil. One is on record as having Yielded
32O barrels of oil, and those of 15O aud
4
liable bowheads are caught in tho Arctic
waters of the eastern const of America.
MS the proportion Of bone is the greatest,
averaging about twenty pounds to tho
barrel; whio those in Behrng Sea and
to the northward thereof yield only from
ton to twelvcs pounds. The oil is OF little
value and is used mostly to mix with
other oils for painting
| SDcrm wlulpg nrn fouu1 In onv ,ooo
between the Arctic and IAntnrctc waters.
and nrc sought for on account of tho cx.
ccllcnt quality Of the oil, which is un-
surpassed rs lubricant for fine machin-
cry. They are not supplied with
whalcbonc, but their lower jnws contain
teeth that lit neatly into sockets in tho
upper jaw when the mouth is closed.
They live upon sluid, jc ly-liko living
mass, which They swallow in parts as il
breaks oil, and then dive for again un.
til they finish the entire lot. Tho finest
oil and tho greatest quantity is in tho
animai's head and is called tho cease" I"
A sperm whale that would yield 100
barrels, would havo sixty barrels OF this
in its head.
When whale is brought alongside n
ship tho head is cut OH and hoistcd
aboard. The oil is then bulcd out with
buckets. The sperm whale is fighter
when attacked and many aro tho thrill
ing adventures that aro met with by tho
brave men whose lives arc deyoted 10 its
capture. 1t .cxhilarating though and
the iron nerves of the hardy seamcn nro
additionally braccd with the reflection
that whn!c represents q big pile OF
money and each has his interest, or "layn
ms 1t IL called. II it were not n CONNER
cial pursuit whaling would be the grand.
est sport in the world.
Many ambitious hunters go to Ccylon
and India to kill an elephant. An clio.
phant is big animal lnrgc one weigh.
ing perhaps ten tons, but how small he
is in comparison withn whale. When n
whale is seen sporting in tho distance tho
man Mt the mast head calls out: "lherc
she blows' All is now activity
aboard. The vessel is headed toward
the spot where the spout was seen, and
soon the boats are lowered, ea.h con-
tanning five men and IN o'Iicer. Tho
bow man is called the "boat stccrcr.n
because after lie throws tho harpoon into
the whale he exchanges places with the
officer, who is called "boat header" and
the latter goes to the bow and lanccs the
whale until he is dead, or shoots n bomb
lance into him from an iron gun with n
barrel about three nchc'' in diameter.
The gun is heavily charged with powder,
and the recoil frequently kicks the bout
header overheard.
This is contratemps not 10 he con.
sidered if the bomb does its work. 1t
requires some resolution to come IN
alongside of whale which looks as bio
MS ship upside down, md stick sharp
lance into it repeatedly until it spouts
blood. When struck with harpoon
The whale usually darts of ut full speed,
dragging tho boats after IL Mt rnte OF
speed that takes away tho breath of the
crews. They care little for this, or the
long row back towing the mammoth
carcuss, rs long IA he has been caught.
When sitting in their seats with oars
ontstrctchcd, waiting for the whale to
rise and the harpoon TO be delivered, no
thought OF danger enters the head of the
sailor. lie only wants to lie prompt in
response to the order "Starn ali, for youI
lives" that comes the moment the blow
is struck.
Safety depends on getting back out OF
the reach of blow from that enormous
Guke. Perhaps the boat is struck and
all hands arc thrown out into the water,
DtC inc otncr boats do not como TO tho
relief OF their unfortunate comrades until
they have either caught or lost the
whale.
The fnback is not caught in this
manner, for it is very difficult 10 hnrpoon
him ut sea. lie swims so rapidly that,
when he comes up after going down as
nc blows, he may be many miles away.
They arc sometimes caught off Long
shoal water and grounding. when they
are harpooned and shot with a bomb
lance.
The whaling interest is very small
now compared with few years ago,
when from New Bedford alone, there
were 500 whaIers at sea, and from New
each
Whales arc scarce, too, and will soon
become extinct unless a syndicate should
be formed to charter lIudson's Bay as a