Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1890-01-10
AFTER NEARLY 90 YEARS

ARI&M M AHA ~ AAAASs
hut True Tales or she
Decentralization Of . Venerable
Citizen Now Nearly 30 Years OF
Age.
Sometime ago the CouRIER published very !
interesting story, narrated by our esteemed
and venerable citizen Mr.. James Fordham,
who by the way is one of the oldest male
residents of New Haven; Mr.. Fordham be-
ing nearly 80 years years of age. He will be
90 on the 27th of next month. The story
was & big nsh story but true one, for Mr..
Fordham was an eye witness of the circum-
stance he narrated. It was one day in 1898
out in the Southern Pacific off the Patagon.
ian coast while the whaler Hannibal, Cap
tain Green commander on which Mr. FORD
ham was passenger seeking the restorative
effects Of SEQ voyage, that the whalers
tackled q big whale and after variety OF
exciting adventures, the maddened whale
turned upon his adversaries and sprang out
of the water clean upon the deck Of the ves-
sel, her bulky CARCASS landing abut the
main mast of the vessel. Before the whalers
could take breath the whale had Topped and
wabbled back into the water again and tried
to escape. It was, however, too seriously
wounded and soon gave up the ghost and
ETC., by the hardy marines on board the
good ship. Mr.. Fordham wildly remember
this memorable adventure with whale,
although half a century and nearly twenty
years more have rolled by, since the occur
renee and possibly no one besides himself
who was in the ship ia now in the land oft he
living. Mr.. Fordham is quite feeble physi-
| up with all the events of the day.
Mr.. Fordham, has among his clippings
another fish story which like the one in his
own experience Ii q true tale. It Is story
of the Massachusetts, coast and about gram.
puses. This voracious denizen of the sea
| IL called by the sailors ''black fsh, but they
are no fish at all, though they look like
members of that family. The name applied
to them by science is grampus, which comes
from two French words signifying great
6sh." The grampus belongs to the dolphin
family, and is own cousin to the porpoise,
but IL much larger, for while the latter is
only from four to six feet long, the former
is sometimes twenty-five to thirty
feet, and a. large In proportion. His
oody 10 spindle-shsped, his head is short and
his mouth IL furnished with forty-four sharp.
hooked teeth, twenty-five in each jaw. On
his back he carries q fin perhaps four feet
long, and each of his breast fins is about the
same length. His body is we'll proportional,
and his tail, which Is shaped much like that
VI tuo mhCkoIoi, Jus pinCco uOAiAouSnAAy 10
seven feet across from tip to tip if he 10 full
grown. He sometimes reaches weight of
four thousand pounds. His back is black,
and the throat has q large white patch, so
that you might think he was wearing bib
or dressed for fashionable party.
Strickly speaking, the grampus is no
more fish than dog is, for it is warm. Blood
ed, air breathing, and Its young are brought
forth alive and are tended by their mothers.
Ia 10 I.zA Ln, Ill - Al e..
pack Of wolves attack some old buffalo, and
tear the flesh from his bones, and leave him
dead upon the prairie, SO these hungry mon-
sters, sometimes in herd of q dozen or
more, single out some whale, aud with their
sharp teeth attack this giant of the deep,
tear away his flesh and devour him piece
meal.
Their principal food consists of menhaden,
herring, alewives, msckerel and squid, and
had, not long since, fine opportunity to
see their way of catching them. It was
O'Clock upon the afternoon. of August 20
when, looking out Of my north window, I
saw several of these grampuses moving slow
ly toward the eastward, and quite near the
shore. Again and again would they come
to the surface, sometimes singly, sometimes
In pairs, bringing their black backs and
long dorsal Fms Into sight. had often
seen them before and they excited no special
wonderment. They soon rushed through
the water In every direction and with the
greatest velocity. They often came to the
surface, sometimes showing their smooth
backs only; sometimes coming up perpen-
dicularly until nearly half the body was out
OF the water, and sometimes springing en-
tirely In their greediness; 80 that one which
must have weighed ton and half. rose at
least four feet above the water and did not
strike 1t again for something like twenty
feet from which he left 1t. Occasionally one
would show his tail only and with it he
lashed the water violently. 1t was thiuk-
Ing sight.
hibition such a. had never seen before In
my long residence by the sea.
Having feasted to their full content they
slowly moved of to the southeast, marking
their course by frequent visits to the SUR
face, spouting ct intervals, and tumbling a.
whom frat seen. This spouting often pre-
sonts beautiful spectacle, especially If It be
In the late afternoon when the setting sun
gives to the jets of water the appearance of
silver spray.
The grampus IL species of whale, and is
valuable for its oil. This is not found In
great abundance, but It Ia of such excellent
quality that 1t Ia used upon watches and
other delicate machinery. They are some.
times captured with the harpoon, but in this
region they are oftener driven ashore upon
sandy beach.
Instinct teaches them to follow leader az
sheep do; SO when herd is seen, q large
company Of men and boys who gather In
their dories upon the seward side, and
by splashing with their oars and shouting
they make all the noise they possibly can.
The whole herd become frightened
and, conducted BY their leader, rush
years since at Collins Beach, near Annis-
guam, Gloucester, and 1t no. infrequently
happens upon Cape God. By far the most
remarkable case on record took place at
South Wellheet, Nov. II, 1884. A large
herd had been attracted to that vicinity BY
the great quantity Of squid and
herring found there. It was sighted
of off. Wood Wood End .oo Light By single
ere long, - the news spread. quite Q feet
from Provincetown, Truro and WellAeet
Joined In the pursuit. For nearly fourteen
hours the drive continued until ct last they
succeeded in landing fifteen hundred upon
the sand. After being killed, they were
divided into lots, and sold at auction. Each
man engaged in the pursuit IL q share-
holder. and each boat 10 entitled to one
share. A president, secretary, and treas
ursr. who have charge of the sale and the
distribution of the proceeds, are selected
by the shareholders. The Bible tells of
the complaint made that those who had
worked but one hour shared equally with
those who had borne the burden and heat of
the day. Custom, for there is no statute
law, permits the same plan here, although 1t
does seem unjust. Some Boston drummers,
who CHANGED to be near by, secured boat
but an hour before the game was landed, and
yet they received the same amount as those
who had been beating the water and Shout
ing themselves hoarse through the weary
night. A friend of mine from Provincetown,
~ Il
the leaders In the chase, bought about Eve
hundred of them and tried out the oil, max
Ing very handsome profit by the purchase.
Il has been estimated that the whole herd
was worth $4,000. Ihave four fine photo
graphic views of them as they lie upon the
beach, in some places packed as closely to-
gethsr as hogs in q freight car.
Died as the Hospital.
Richard. Il. R. Emerson, a veteran of
Company I, Fifteenth Connections volun-
teers, died at the hospital of blood poisoning