Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1892-07-31
WHALING OF TODAY.
SOME FACTS ABOUT WHALES AND
HOW THEY ARE CAUGHT.
Many of the Big Creatures weigh over
a Hundred Tons-one-u of Their
Bulk 10 MarkctabIe-somo Bring as
Much as $1,000 After neIng Cut UP.

70 hccessiry To know how whale
looks and what its habits are in order to
understand how they should be hunted.
They are about 80 to 90 feet long. and look
like immense black logs floating In the
water when their bodies appear on the sur
face. They are detected at distance by
the stream OF water they spout through
their blowholes. From one-fourth TO one
third the full length Is taken up by the
head. which is from 20 - feet long and
from o to ie feet In thickness.
Whales are entirely destitute of teeth,
but instead the mouth is furnished with
AN apparatus of baleen or whalebope, for
she purpose Of straining out of the water
the small fish and crustaceans which form
their food. The fibrous structure OF whale
bone, its elasticity and heaviness, are all
well known. The plates Of il in the mouth
ARE very numerous, several hundred on
each side and placed very close together,
the whole quantity sometimes amounting
10 over two tons in weight. The tongue il
soft, thick mass, and does not extend be-
yond the back Of the mouth. The gullet is
very narrow, not over Ia inches even in
the largest, so that animals not much
larger than ones thumb cannot pass down
their throats.
The skull il not symmetrical, the right
side being larger than the left; the flesh is
red and coarse, the skin is naked and
moistened by an oily fluid. Parasites in
fest the skin and some species OF mollusk
burrow and live In IT, Below the skin IN a
thick layer OF blubber from one TO two feet
in thickness, sometimes weighing over
thirty tons. This keeps the animal warm,
and enables II to resist the great pressure
OF the water in the depths TO which II de
sends The tail Is five or six feet long
and twenty to twenty-five feet broad, and
il "a most powerful weapon of defense. The
eyes, not much larger than those of an OK,
ARE on the sides OF the head, about foot
above the angle of the mouth Whales
weigh from so to l2j tons, and of their
weight at least half IL Of value and finds
ready market.
WHERE WHALES ARE FOUND.
In addition TO the two tons Of whalebone,
there are about 300 barrels of oil in bow
head whale Besides the bone and oil,
whales afford very valuable product
known to commerce rs Rmbcrgris. Ii Is a
morbid secretion Of the liver and intestiues
Of the sperm whale, n solid, Opaque, ash
colored, inilammable substance, lighter
than water, Of "A consistence like that OF
wax and having, when heated, fragrant
odor. II snfteus in the heat Of the hand,
biANN 80 hSESs IhAINhiitNh lUlO u
kind Of yellow resin and is highly soluble
Ina alcohol
IL is usually found floating on the sur
face OF the ocean or cast upon the shore in
regions frrqnented by whales, as on the
coast OF the Bahama islands, Aleutian
islands and other north Pacific islands,
sometimes in masses OF from 30 To ~
pounds In weight. In this substance are
found the bc1tks of cuttleilsh, on which the
whale Is known Ia feed II Is highly val
ued as n material for perfumery and was
formerly used in medicine as an aphro
disiac and for splicing wines. Sometimes
rs much as twenty to thirty pounds is
founds in one whale. and all this is addi
tional profit OF course. a bowhead whale
is worth from Goo to 900, or from q, 900
To about 81, 600
They feed by swimming along with their
mouths open. When it closes the water is
drained out through the valves at the
sides and some Is spouted up through the
blowholes The small fish and mollusks
thus captured make up their food.
Now for the mode OF hunting them On
all Of the whalers lookout is kept from
the 'crow's nest" on the mast, and when
one Is sighted sponting the lookout re
ports. There she blows.n "Where awayY"
IL called from the deck. Two points on
the starboard bow, sir, or wherever else
Il may be. Immediately boats are low.
cred aud the chase commences. The least
unusual noise will frighten them, and
after sail is set on the boat no one is al.
lowed to speak or move foot even II
there Is no breeze to carry the boat, then
the man in the stern paddles in that direc-
tion as noiselessly n possible, not daring
70 use an oar, for fear the splash will
frighten the victim.
HARPOoNiNG A LEvIATHAN
The bout follows as closely In the wake
Of the whale AS possible, and the bowman
stands in the bow, harpoon in hand. This
harpoon, or iron" as it is called, is a
broad bladed spear head three or four feet
long, very sharp and having about six
inches cutting surface on each side and is
fastened on pole about ten feet long Just
ahead OF "a gun that is fastened 10 the same
pole. spring connects the harpoon and
the trigger Of the gun, so that when the
harpoon enters the flesh the pressure back.
ward pushes the trigger spring, and the
bomb Is exploded. Then comes the fun.
Stunned and stung as he is, the whale
starts down TO escape, and the bowman
pays out the line attached to the harpoon
pole. AS soon rs Ii IL slack he hauis In
again and pays out when IL tightens So
OH u kteA uillii the isAkI may nave been
towed several miles, bat still holding ON
and taking another shot every chance Of.
fered, and as soon rs the whale is killed il
is hauled alongside aud fastened to the
ships chains
The process os ''fieshing" or cutting up
is then commenced. Some Of the crew,
having their boots armed with iron spikes
20 keep them from slipping descend upon
the carcass and cut into the bluhber with
blubber spades, removing broad strip or
blanket Of skin twenty or thirty feet long,
which is hoisted by block and tackle
Great cuhical pieces OF blubbcr OF half
ton or more in weight are then cut out
and hoisted To the deck. II is turned over
and over until the fat Is removed. Mean.
while part OF the crew removed the baleen
or whaiebone from the mouth The NJ.
mainder Of the carcass is flung adrift as
I food for hears and fishes The blubbcr.
after being received ON deck, is cut into
small pieces and heated in large pots, af
terwand strained, aud the scraps or crack
nets from one pot serve as fuel for others.
This Is called trying out and IL very simi
lar to trying out lard. process known on
every plantation In Georgia philadelphia
Bulletin.
She Looked Pleasant.