The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-08-29
WHALE-FISHERY.
HUNTING THE LEVIATHANS IN
FROZEN ZONES.
The Hardy Seamen Who Follow
This Exhilarating but Dangerous
CallinS-Methods Of Captur-
ing the Various Species.

The finback whale, says the New York
Telegram is so called from fin located
on his back about third of the distance
from the fukes toward the head. He is
a lean, athletic fellow capable of enor-
nous speed. 1t is said that he can 60
through the water at the rate of hum
dred miles an hour. He is not sought
for by whalers, because it is difficult to
capture him, and when caught there is
little profit for the captors. He has but
little blubber, which is the oil bearing
tissue envelop:ng the body under the
skin. and the bone is small and worth
but little. 1t Is short and frowsy, and
used chiefly for making. coarse brooms.
tits worth only about twenty-five cents
a pound, while that of the bow head,
the whale of the Arctic seas, sells now
for 81. rs and So per pound, while sales
have recently been made as high as $3.50
per pound.
Within few years it has increased in
price, as new field has been opened IN
its application to some of the electric
light systems. While the fnback whale
bone, that is located as fringe around
the lower jaw, is only about two feet
long, the bowhead bone, that grows in
the upper jaw, is sometimes eighteen
feet in length. This is the valuable
quality. The bowhead is also the largest
whale as well as the richest in bone and
oil. One is on record as having yielded
32O barrels of oil, and those OF $50 and
200 barrels are not rare. The most val
liable bowheads are caught in the Arctic
waters of the eastern coast Of America,
as the proportion of bone is the greatest,
averaging about twenty pounds to the
barrel; while those in Behr:ng Sea and
to the northward thereof yield only from
ten to twelvcs pounds. The oil is of little
value and is used mostly to mix with
other oils for painting. g..
Sperm whales are found in any seas
between the Arctic and Antarctic waters,
and are sought for on account of the ex-
cellent quality of the oil, which is un-
surpassed as lubricant for fine machin-
cry. They are not supplied with
whalebone, but their lower jaws contain
teeth that fit neatly into sockets in the
upper jaw when the, mouth is closed.
They live upon squid, je:ly-like living
mass, which they swallow in parts as it
breaks oil, and then dive for again un-
til they finish the entire lot. The finest
oil and the greatest quantity is in the
animals head and is called the lease" /"
A sperm whale that would yield 100
barrels, would have sixty barrels of this
in its head.
When whale is brought alongside q
ship the head is cut off and hoisted
aboard. The oil is then baled out with
buckets. The sperm whale is fighter
when attacked and many are the thrill
ing adventures that are met with by the
brave men whose lives are devoted to its
capture. 1t is exhilarating though and
the iron nerves of the hardy seamen are
additionally braced with the reflection
that q whale represents a big pile OF
money and each has his interest, or LAY"
as it is called. If it were not CONNER
cial pursuit whaling would be the grand
est sport in the world.
Many ambitious hunters 60 to Ceylon
and India to kill an elephant. An ele.
phant is big animal large one weigh.
ing perhaps ten tons, but how small he
is in comparison with a whale. When a
whale is-seen sporting in the distance the
man at the mast head calls out: "There
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, each con.
tanning five men and an officer. The
bow man is called the "boat steerer,
because after he throws tie harpoon into
the whale he exchanges places with the
officer, who is called "ooat header" and
the latter goes to the bow and lances the
whale until he is dead, or shoots bomb
lance into him from an iron gun with a
barrel about three inches in diameter.
The gun is heavily charged with powder,
and the recoil frequently kicks the boat
header overheard.
This is q contratemps not to be con.
sidered if the bomb does its work. 1t
requires some resolution to come up
alongside of whale which looks as big
as a Ship upside down, and stick sharp
lance into it repeatedly until it spouts
blood. When Struck with a harpoon
the whale usually darts off at full speed,
dragging the boats after it at rate OF
speed that takes away the breath of the
crews. They care little for this, or the
long row back towing the mammoth
carcass, as long as he has been caught.
When sitting in their seats with oars
outstretched, waiting for the whale to
rise and the harpoon to be delivered, no
thought of danger enters the head of the
sailor. He only wants to be prompt IN
response to the order "Starn all, tor your
lives. that comes the moment the blow
is struck.
Safety depends on getting back out OF
the reach of blow from that enormous
fuke. Perhaps the boat is struck and
all hands are thrown out into the water,
but the other boats do not come TO the
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 to harpoon
him at sea. He swims so rapidly that,
when he comes up after going down as
he blows, he may be many miles away.
They are sometimes caught of Long
Island and Cape Cod by getting into
shoal water and grounding, when they
are harpooned and shot with bomb
lance.
The whaling interest is very small
now compared with few years ago.
when from New Bedford alone, there
were 500 whalers at sea, and from New
London and NIartha's Vineyard SOO
each.
Whales are scarce, too, and will soon