Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1892-09-03
A slAscoNsET FISH STORY.
An Old Whaier's Delightful w.y q RI

An Old Whaler's Delightful Way OF En-
4 tertaining Summer Visitors.
A number of ancient fishermen were
telling stories Of their early days in the
quaint little villageof Siasconset. There
were a number of summer visitors in the
room. and they seemed to enjoy the
yarns which were being spun immense
~. Finally an old, dried up mar with
q purple wen on his neck and a handful
of white chin whiskers said:
Talk aboat the whaling days in Sias-
conset; why, / can remember when the
whales were so thick around here that it
was q common thing for them to crawl
upon the shore like turtles to sun them
selves.
"How long ago was that?' asked an
anxious bystander.
about forty years ago." replied the
old man, land in those days the whales
had oil in them, too, that was worth
talking about. I have seen them tap a
whale, and by the time tho oil was out
of him there didn't seem to be skin
enough left to cover q baseball. But
now they are kinder nonexplosive.n
"What do you mean by nonexplosivey'
asked a %bystander as he handed the
hoary grandsire of Siasconset a flask
with which to warm himself up q bit.
81 mean" replied the Siasconseter as
he handed the flask back with a smile,
s'that the whales used to be so full Of
oil that if you put a wick in one of
them and lit it it would burn for almost
six months"
The crowd became very attentive as
the old man continued:
"We used to burn chunks of whale in
the stove, and it made the finest fire you
ever saw. We had the whale, or part of
one, hanging up like q sheep in the back
yard, and whenever we wanted to start
q fire we would just step out with a
Ratchet and chop a chunk or two that
would fit the stove"-
Have another drink" interrupted the
man with the flask.
Don't mind if I do" replied the an
Gent Siasconseter.
Here he took a good pull, and handing
the flask back continued In a sad. re-
Elective tone:
81 once knew al old whaler who has
been dead a great many years. His end
was very sad"
"How did he die?' asked a bystander.
"Killed by a whale" said the grand
sire of S%iasconset.
"Out on the water of course" Jug
gested the stranger.
emo; out in the back yard"
chit him with his tailY'
"No," replied the Siasconsetromancer.
"You see, the old man hauled of at the
whale with his hatchet"-
"And the whale bit him in half before
he could striker
"Not much; the whale was dead"
"Then how could he have killed your
ancient friendy"
This way" said the old man DELHI
erately; she dropped q spark by acct
dent out of his pipe and it fell upon the
whale. The whale exploded like a kerr
osene oil lamp and scattered my friend
from Siasconset to Tuckahoe.
"As it was night the ocean was light
ed up for miles, and wei at Martha's
Vineyard they thought Nantucket was
having its first volcano. I tell yon the
whales in the old days were"-
Here the old Siasconseter looked
around to find that all his hearers had
slipped softly away, the summer visitors
in all probability overcome by his grace
ful, easy going style of dealing with the
truth, and his compatriots sick to the
core with envy.-Detroit Free Press.