The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1888-01-19
Whaling in the Polar Sea.

Every summer the Polar sea, Off the |
coast OF Finmarken, Norway, is alive |
with whales and the chasers. The |
nrincinal game of the Norwegian wlal- |
ers is The great blue whale, attaining
a Ienotb Of some 80 to 100 feet. This
mammoth champion of the Polar Ocean |
,,osscsses immense strength, and the |
whaler's s'tackle" must necessarily be
pretty solid. When killed the whale
sinks to the bottom, and the captor is
apt to lose his game. To prevent this
Mr.. Syend Foyn, the pioneer of the
whaling industry, has invented new
barpoon whereto is affixed a selt-eX-
plodinc bomb filled with gas-produ-
cino composition. When the whale is
harpooned the bomb buried in the flesh
of the animal explodes, and the gas
produced permeating the veins ana
cavities of the Leviathian prevents him
from sinking.
How periious and hazardous whal-
ING is, even with the most perfect OF
appliances and weapons, is we'll Illus
trated by the following narration re-
lated by an eye witness:
| .sIt was June day, with rough
weather. rougher even than usual on a
summer day at Vardo. The little fleet
of small. yet strong, whaling steamers
must try their luck, however. and on
! they 90 in the early morning, steering
! to and fro, battling with the high sea.
: To no avail Not whale was to be
; seen anywhere, and the sea increasing,
and the wind developing almost into
storm, they turned and steamed home
ward one after another, all but one.
| He must try little further. Ihe
waves tossed the plucky craft IKE
shell: the harpooner on watch must
take care not to be thrown headfore-
most into the frothing waters. Yet no
whale; nothing to be seen or heard but
the white mountains and dumb thun.
der of the rolling waves and the shrili
whining of the storm through the
steamer. The captain at last follnu
fine search fruitless, and turned ONE
ward. The vessel arriving at the
mouth of the -harbor, big whale shot
mn its front almost touching the bow
of the steamer The harpooner, sur
prised at first. was, however, up to his
business A fash, o roar, and in the
j very moment the harpoon was buried
to the handle in the big whale. But
strange, the bomb didn't explode, and
the animal, suffering intense agonies,
shot out to sea, towing the steamer at
ter him. Against the covering waves
against the raging storm, the whalel
] went with lightning speed, though 1t;
eug;ne was reversed. For eight miles
= the terrible race went on, only the
masts and the chimney of the steamer
3 in the mean time being visible above
the waters. The vessel was strong
, however, and the crew tried men, wh'
: did not propose to let 60.
. "But what's that? A fishing boa
? with its keel upmost, and two mel
r clinging for life to the wreck! 70 Gu
the line and save the men was the hat
pooner's first thought. Then we will
lose the whale, the line, and the has
). poon, thousand of crowns worth, wa
= his second, 1t must soon be done, an
in a few minutes we ran he haek an
save the men, WAS his cnncluslnll, an
on the vessel went Halo. there. wha
}. is ND? Tne line burst, the whale san
o out of sight, the steamer tossing am
e less on the rolling waves. There wa
: nothing more to do. The captive Wa
" free, sinking slowly to the bottom t
die. But two human lives were saved
and the whalers considered themselVt
!. richly rewarded for their terrible rae
1t aud the loss of their game as WE'LL
'' Minneapolis Journal.