Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1893-10-23
LUCK IN THE FAR NORTH.
All Hands on the WhaIer Hume Will Be
Capitalists for Awhile. a

All Hands on the WIlaler Hume Will Be
Capitalists for Awhile. a
The chartered steamer Bertha, Cap-
Commercial company, arrived from the
Pribylov seal islands, via Oonalaska.
The steamer brings quite batch of in
teresting news, the most important item
of which is the phenomenal catch of
thirty eight right whales credited to
the steam whaler Mary d. Hume during
her 81 years cruise near the mouth OF
the Mackenzie river, and well within
the arctic circle. 1t is estimated that
tie catch will amount to over $500, 900
when sold.
he i.rv D. Hume may be expected
to :-.1.;;7-c here at any time, as she left
Oon4lasl-a three days ahead of the
Bertha. She has on board 40, 600 pounds
Of boac, which will be shipped east on
it's arrival. An additional Is, 600 pounds
Of this seasons catch has already been
shipped here by another vessel. When
the news of the immense catch reached
here there was joy in the hearts of many
outside of the stockholders of the Pa
cifc Steam Whaling company. The
boarding house masters, from old Horse
shoe Brown down, who will get the
crew to honor their establishments with
their presence, were wild with delight.
The lowest whaler on the lay scale on
this lucky vessel will not receive less
than So 900, while the scale will rise I'M
Ill the captain will pull down something
like $40, 600. Every whaler on the Hume
will be little king while his money
lasts. However, had these men had a
disastrous season and come home empty
handed it would have made an awful
difference with them. Many of the
sailor boarding houses are well filled
with boarders who have disposed Of
their ''pile,' and the Hume's crew would
hardly have found place to stop at, let
alone be welcome, but for their present
prospective wealth.
The steam whaler Grampus, which
accompanied the Hume two years and a
half ago to the mouth of the Mackenzie
river, returned year ago in command
of Captain Norwood. The men on the
Grampus told terrible tales at that time
of cruelties practiced on the crews by
the different captains, and how the men
tried to desert and were captured.
These stories all dated over the two win
tiers that had been spent in the ice and
before any whales We're taken.
There wintered with the two steam
whalers at Herschel's island the schOon-
er Nicotine. Captain Louis Ell. Herein
deem. of the latter vessel, who is one of
the Oldest whalers known here, was the
instigator Of the whaling expedition to
the mouth of the Mackenzie river, some
800 miles to the eastward of Point Bar
row. No whaling vessel had ever pene-
trated that far before.
Indeed such a voyage was equal to try
ing to find Il northwest passage. Two
weary winters were passed by the three
crews. Up to the time the ice broke up
last summer the expedition had been a
failure. Captain Herendeen became
discouraged, and after cruising around
awhile made a start to get out of the
Arctic ocean. The Grampus and Hume,
however, worked to the eastward, and
were rewarded with sixteen and twelve
immense whales, respectively. The
Grampus returned and the Hume re-
manned over another winter.
Only the whalebone in the head of a
whale is taken, the blnbber being thrown
away, as the Hume is only lightweight
tons net, and has no place to store the
hundreds Of barrels of oil that the whales
she has taken would have made had they
been tried out.-San Francisco Chron-
icle.