Evening journal., 1891-06-13
SHE STRUCK A FINBaCK.
The Actaa's Collision with an
h. Enormous Whale.
SHE RIPPED HIN UP THE BACK.

Three of the Great Lewiathans bore
Down Upon the Big PiIotboat as II to
Attack Her, and One Of Them Struck
Her with ais Tail
NRw YORK, June ls-While running
eight knots an hour, $50 miles east OF
Sandy Hook, the New York pilotboat
Act@a ran down an enormous finback
whale A great gash was cut in its back
by the pilotboat's sharp bow. After strik-
ing the Actsea a blow with one Of its fiukes
that fairly made her tremble the whale
disappeared The water all around the
boat was bloody The whales dead body
was seen in the gulf stream last Wednes-
day from the deck OF the Anchor line
steamship Caledonia, which reached her
pier yesterday.
The Caledonia was in charge of Pilot
Keely, who was on the Actea TT tho time
she struck the whale He related his ex
perience 70 Pilot Barry, the owner OF the
Actea, and the latter yesterday repeated
the story.
He Saw the whales Coming.
The Actma, which is one of the largest
and feetest OF the New York pilotboats,
was, until last March, the schooner yacht
Actea. Of Boston. Fully half an hour be
fore the Act@a struck the finbeck the
man at the wheel saw the huge finback.
There were two smaller whales with him,
and the trio were travelling at the rate OF
about ten knots an hour in exactly the op
posite direction to that Of the pilotboat
Fearing that If the three whales together
struck tho boat the result would be Sc
rious the wheelman altered the Actea' 5
course slightly so as TO avoid them. He
remembered how the pilotboat Alexander
M Lawrence, No A. struck a whale two
years ago and the boat was fairly lifted
out Of the water, dropping back again so
suddenly that her topmasts went over
board
The whales Tackled, Too.
What was the surprise Of the Act@a 5
wheelman, however after changing the
boat course to discover that the trio OF
whales had also changed their course so rs
TO meet the boat2 The wheelman does not
think that the whales had any intention
OF attacking the boat, but as he told Pilot
Keely, they probably thought the ActRa
some strange kind Of fish and they wanted
TO examine her out OF curiosity.
At any rate the whales showed no in
tention of avoiding the pilotboat On they
rushed, plowing through the choppy sea,
occasionally disappearing, but never deyi-
ating from the course they had taken when
the pilotboat's course was changed. They
were bound 10 meet the Act@a.
She Cut Him Deep
Just before the whales reached the boat
two OF them dove and went under the
Act9a The third whale-one of the largest
of the finback species-attempted TO follow
his companions, but be was just a second
too late.
The pilotboat's sharp cutwater cut into
the back Of the whale, and as the fnback
passed under the Acteas forefoot the cash
was made larger. AS the wounded finback
finally cleared the boat one OF his hukes
struck the Actea ON the bluff ~ the bow
NJ was terrific blow dealt by the whale in
his death agony, and the boat was shaken
as II she had suddenly struck rock. Th'
dishes IN the pantry tumbled out Of theil
racks and all hands rushed on deck. Thel
were in time to see the whale lashing tn
water into foam IN his death furry. Th
Act@a, uninjured went on its course.