The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-06-09
FORTUNES IN BLUBBER.
pcIIING OUT WHALES AT THE
CAPE COD FACTORY.

Killing the Monsters with Bombs-A
pair of Them Captured After an Ex-
citing and Dangerous Tussle-Rich
IN Whalebone and Oil-Great Rolls
of Fat.
From the Baltimore american.
PRovINCETowN, MASS, May 30.-All
Provincetown is agog over whales. To be
sure. whaling is no novelty here, nor has the
odor of boiling blubber been infrequently
waited from the trying out-factory" back
of the town; but this time a decided ele-
n,ent of newness is added to the situation,
and every one is talking of ED Smiths
,chales.n The fact that the whales in ques-
tion are the first of the year, would be
enough to set tongues a wagging, but these
are right whales-worth double the ordi
nary kind, and doubly hard to capture.
Whaling vessels have been fitted out in
Provlncetown for a hundred years, and a
considerable portion of the towns wealth
was amassed IN that way To-day, a half
dozen vessels from this port are at sea in
search of oil and bone, and for three years
mast a systematic pursuit of the whales
which frequent the coast of Cape Cod has
heen one of the leading enterprises of the
town. These whales are of the tinback and
hunpback varieties, and are comparatively
easv of capture, SO that very considerable
hsiness has been worked up. A company
of townspeople has erected a factory and
hnilt steamer, and the latter killed thirty
odd whales last summer, which yielded a 40
ner cent dividend to the shareholders. 1t
was only last week that Capt Stickney
Nicksrson the commander of the whaling
steamer, remarked in a rather sad tone to
fine writer that no whales had been seen so
far this season. But, he said, he was ex-
pecting them every day. Sure enough, but
Capt. Stickney was not the lucky one. 1t
was only day or two afterward that the
nretty little schooner A. B. Smart, owned
cape on fishing trip, when whales were
seen sporting in the distance. With a
shrewdness to the manner born, they put
about returned home and, with never a
word. took on board whaling tackle and
hurried away to the cape again. Their
snartness-they are as smart boys as there
are in town, and as popular as any
was promptly rewarded. A half dozen
right whales were gamboling off the
cape and paid no attention to the
schooner, which rapidly slid in among
them. Manning their whaleboat, in which
was everything suitable to the dangerous
enterprise, the brothers and their compan-
ions pulled up beside the nearest monster
and hurled a harpoon deep into his side.
MIR. Whale Gt turned out to be Mrs, but
never mind jumped when the keen-edged
barb entered his side, and then sounded,
going down with a rapidity which made the
6arpoon-line smoke as it ran around the
loggerhead and out through the bow of the
boat When he next showed himself above
water the boat was at hand flor expert
enced whalemen can generally tell which
course their prey adopts to ESCAPED and two
bomb lances were shot into the huge Great
ure before he had time to look about him.
the bombs exploded, and the whale,
frightened and stung to death, sped away
like the wind, swapping the line, and spout
ing blood as he fed.
HHe's got his death wound" said Dick
Smith to his mates, land we'll get him
yet" Bright and early the next morning
the crew of the Smart were on the lookout
for their friends, the whales. The har-
poems were sharpened, the lances well
coiled, and bomb Iances were placed In
plenty in the boat. These lances are about
ten inches in length. The point is trl-
angular and razor-sharp, and the body con
taAls about quarter of pound of powder.
This is fired from a gun, the discharge
gniting fuse of twelve seconds life The
result of one of these weapons is almost
always immediate death.
The next whale which was attacked was
little smaller than the other, but far more
expert in gymnastics, and of a more pugna-
ciOus disposition.
FEARFUL IN THEIR RAGE.
Of all hunting that for whales is the most
exciting. These elephants of the sea, like
their brethren of the African forests, are
fearful in their anger and almost human in
their death. Their lashing of the water to
faYI fhai
zied divings aud leapings, the wild speed
with which they try to escape, their cir
clings when about to die, their silence under
all circumstances-all these, added to the
feeling of insecurity engendered by being
in small boat away from land, and the
| strangeness of an animal which lives in the
water instead of on shore, give this sport
elements of joy and danger not found II
any other. Old whalemen never tire OF
telling their adventures and never regret
the pursuit in which they passed their lives
Whale No. (which turned out TO be the
consort Of the other gave the crew Ions
and hard chase He would dive and double
on himself while down, coming up IN tint
direction opposite to the one expected. Ihe1
no would start off in a run, head in air, anC
all of a sudden dive and be out of sigh
from five to ten minutes. Once, at least
his whaleshlp treated the men in the boat t.
sul pI lSo dlltl lIlRub, up IiOhA CIV
of his excursions to the bottom right beside
the little craft. With startling velocity the
monster rushed up from below, not stopping
at the surface, but keeping right on up into
the air, until fully thirty feet of his ponder
Gus person was erected beside The
boat, like a leaning tower. Only
one thing could be done. The terror
stricken men thrust out their hands, SO neal
was the whale, and pushed the boat away
to an oars length, and then pulled out
harms way; for, had the creature com
down to the left instead of to the right
had he known his power-the little Graf
would have been crushed like an egg-shell
All the while bombs were being fired int
The whale whenever opportunity offered
Ten Of them we're planted in various por
tons of his anatomy before he gave in, am
1t was three hours after the first shot whel
the leviathan turned up his belly (he had n
toes) and was dead.
The right whale. unlike the humpbacl
and flnback, does not sink when dead; S
the carcass was anchored and search wa
made for the other one. The next day bot
we're towed in at high tide to the cove
near Race Point lighthouse on the end 0
Cape Cod, and when the tide went out tw
mountains of flesh awaited the beginning
Of the process which has by this time con