The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-01-29
HOSTING BLANKET STRIP OF BLUBBER

HOSTING BLANKET STRIP OF BLUBBER.
But here we were with big whale
seventy -four feet long lashed alongside OF
the old ship, lying to with mainyard
aback. The whale was in fine condition,
the feeding ground abounding with
cutie fish, mo!lusks and other dainties
in which cetaccans delight. We could
therefore afford to pay little heed to the
destruction of our boat, though we we'll
knew that it meant certain percentage
of loss to us, to be deducted from our
share at the end of the voyage. We had
a good days work before us. The carcass
of the whale had to be stripped of its
blubber, the head cleared of the sper-
macetic, and the teeth, which are of
fair quality of ivory, extracted from the
lower jaw.
After the body was lashed to the ship
with chains, the business began. A
powerful masthead tackle was hooked on
to a transverse slip of blubber close to
the neck. This was taken to the winch
and set up taut. Then the men working
on a platform rugged outside the vessel,
cut through the blubber with sharp
spades. Then they hove on the winch
ana the immense "Dlanket pieces" as the
blubber is termed, came off in strip
some six feet wide, being cut into con.
venient lengths. This process continued
until the whale was stripped of its cover
ing of blubber. Then the head was cut
off and its reservoir of fatty matter from
which spermaceti is made was emptied
of its rich juices, five men working like
beavers filling up buckets with the prec-
ious stuff, which was hoisted up on deck
as soon IS filled.
After the last piece of blubber and the
last fragment of head fat had been hoisted
on deck the boys congregated aft and
gave the old sperm whaling cheer:
"Hurrah for fve-and forty more!"
And then we piped to supper, we'll
satisfied with our days work.
At four o'clock next morning we
turned to. There was a busy day be-
fore us, the blubber having to be tried
out into oil and the oil put into the
casks. And here let me tell you before
I forget it that the cooper on board
whaler used to be very important per-
sonage and one with strong sense of his
own dignity.
just fewfeet abaft the foremast on
the AbiJah Adams there were two big
iron caldrons embedded on base of
brickwork. These were the try pots in
which the blubber was boiled. Abaft
this was the copper cooler in which the
oil was cooled previous to being pumped
into the casks.
The operation of melting the blubber
is very simple. All we had to do was to
take care that the blubber was dry be-
fore being put into the caldrons. The
blubber cut into thin slices soon parts
with its oil under the influence of q roar
ing fire, and the "scraps," as the refuse
matter is termed, in turn are added to
the flames, making the best of fuel. The
oil passes to the cooler and thence flows
into the casks in the lower hold. Only
upon rare occasions did fire break out
on any of the old New Bedford whalcrs
while oil was being tried out. Ofcoursc
if wet blubber is thrown into a caldron
of boiling oil the inevitable overflow is
very likely to be followed by serious
confugration.
Sharks follow whalers by the score.
The sperm whale seems to like warm
climates and so does the shark. The red
flesh of the whale is coarse and of strong
flavor. Personally can't say that han
ker after it, but some of the South Sea
Islanders take to it in very kindly fashion