Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-11-28

ably plentiful again Whather they dis
appeared because they were pursued by
man or for some other reason We cannot
establish. that they totally disappeared,
however. Is conclusive. The fact is that
when a certain kind of whale becomes so
scared as to bein danger of determination.
it then becomes improbable to chase it,
and the opportunity for renewed of the
breed is favorable The NorwegianS are
great whalers, and they follow the fn-back
whale. They. too have been effected by the
low prices of oil, and the business is not
likely to be again followed with as much
energy as IN the past. Consequently it Is
reasonable to assume that the whales viii
be more numerous in the future than
they are now, unless some new use of them
should be discovered that would prompt
a renewal of the slaughter
DO they breed rapidly?"
lone or two at birth is the rule. The.
smaller varieties generally bear twins. and
a single one at a birth is probably the case
with the greater varieties. The infants are
born pretty well able to take care of them
selves, though they are carefully nursed by
the mother until they are swift enough to
take care of themselves with food. 1t is
the belief that the mother floats on her
side on the top of the water when nursing
so that the young can suckIe with their
blOwholes out of the water. Whether this
Is true or not | do not know. 4 female
with young IS very wary and difficult to
approach, so that very little can be gather
ed on this point from actual observation.
DO WHALES EVER SLEEP
THAT is one of the many things that we
do not know. 1t Is not Of any practical
scientific value. and I do not know that
thorough investigation of that subject
would do more than to emil ghten the curl
Gus. Sperm whales have been known to
lie on the water motionless for a consider
able period, but it can only be guessed
whether they are asleep or not. A whale
could not sleep under the water for any
length of time. 1t has a capacity for stor-
ing great deal of air In the blood vessels
that fill the neck and are well down
through the body; but at furthest this
could not last it more than half hour,
when it would have to come to the surface
to blow. 1t is assumed that many of the
lower forms of life never sleep; but in the
case of the whale do not know that that
point has ever been investigated. 1t will
be a long time before we know all that is
necessary to know about the rovers of the
sea- 1t is, indeed, strange fact that
while the external and internal peculiari-
ties and the ife-history of numberless
insects and minute and lowly animals
have been thoroughly investigated, many
of these great beasts have been entirely
neglected"
The Mormon Women Are the Shameless
Adherents of the peculiar Institution
A New York World correspondent once
talked with Eliza Snow, relict of Joseph
Smith and of Brigham Young, and poetess
of much repute among the MOrmOns. She
was SO years cid at the time and perfect
skeleton. The demand for statehood was
pending, and the correspondent asked Miss
Snow what she thought of the prospect of
having polygamy abolished. She reused
from her usually passive state and with
some eloquence said that polygamy could
never perish. She spoke Of the sufferings,
and of the martyrdom of several Mormons,
and said that men who would make such
sacrifices for principle could not afford to
see it destroyed. She reflected the senti-
ment of the heads of the church. At one
time it is known that Wilson Woodruff,
then acting President of the church, want
ed to issue manifesto declaring against
the anti-polyganny plank in the proposed
Utah Constitution, but thespoliticians and
plotters talked the church government out
of doing it, and Woodruff kick was al
lowed 20 waste itself on the vast and vacant
air. Eliza Snow wrote poems to her broth
er while he was in the pen, and in one
way OF other she urged all the prosecuted
brethren" to remain steadfast In the
faith
1t is rather curious that the intellectual
women of Utah, of whom there are many,
take such favorable view Of polygamy. A
little volume called '"lhe Women of De-
seret, has sketches of some thirty or more
ladies who possessed great mental gifts,
and they were all stanch advocates Of
polygamy. They justify it on Biblical
grounds Indeed the Mormons build their
hopes more largely on the Bible than they
do on the Rock of Mormon, and they
claim to have more justification for their
creed in the Scripture than can be found
for any form Of Christianity in existence.
The wise Gentle does not engage in Bible
argument with the Mormon. The Latter
Day Saint can out-quote even Satan him
self, and any one who tries to best him in
a contest with the Scriptures for reference
will be sadly disappointed. The women of
Utah, however, accept all that there is of
Mormonism without doubt or hesitation.
They are the mainstay of the Mormon be-
lief In cures byfaith.