The Helena independent., 1893-12-04
THERE, SHE BLOWS. "

lantc ard several in southern waters in
search of sperm whales, have not been
heard from since midsummer, but no great
news is expected from their adventures.
Five of the fortunate steam whalers, with
193 whales to their credit, are shut in by
the ice and must wirster in the Arctic. The
Narwhal is reported as having taken 63
whales, which issomething almost unprece-
dented in the history Of American whaling
The average annual slaughter of whales
the world over has been about / 800 for the
past 80 years, with yield of 1890, 900 gal
Ions of whale oil, Or 6, 200 per carcass A
catch CT 44whales,by a single whaler from
Scotch port was thought remarkable so
years ago, when whaling on the whole was
more profitable than it has been for the
past 40 years. That is believed to have
been the greatest whaling cargo ever
brought into British port. The whole
product of that catch was worth about
100000. For many years the greatest
catch of New England whaler was that
OF the Pioneer of New London, Conn,
which returned'in September, 1865, after
year in the north Pacific, with / ,391 barrels
of oil and a. great load of bone, worth in
all $150,000. Before that New Bedford
whaler's cargo, valued at $132, ,450. was the
best catch Of an American whaler. At
even the present bow price of oil and whale
bone the catch of'the arctic fleet ought to
be worth considerably over 100000 An
authority here estimates the catch at
rather more thanI 400 pounds of bone and
at 1850 gallons of oil per whale This
would give the Narwhal nearly 10000
pounds Of bonesand about $4,000 gallons of
oil
The American, whaling fleet now num-
bers rather less than 100 vessels, and the
entire tonnage of >the feet cannot greatly
exceed 10000 tons. New Bedford is still
the hailing port gilmore than half the ves-
sells, but most of tthe steam whalers hail
from San Francisco, and they alone have
been the lucky vessels this time. Even the
New Bedford steam whalers rendezvous at
San Francisco, because by far the larger
part of the whaling is done northwest of
that port, and it. is expensive business
steaming home through the straits of Ma
gellan and up theAtlantic coast of South
America.
The popular notion.that whaling is played
out received shock two years ago when
the Mary D. Hume, which this season is re-
ported with IA whales, took 80 whales in the
Arctic. The decline of whaling is not alto
gether to be traced to the cheapness of min
eral oils, the discovery of substitutes for
whalebone and the scarcity of whales. One
determining influence has been the timidi-
ty of whales and the difficulty of finding
them in their old haunts. Whales have an
parently become scarcer during the last 40
years, and they certainly have changed and
limited their habitat.
The first whaler to enter the Arctic by
way Of Behring straits was New Bedford
vessel away back in 1S49. She found i'm
mense schools of whales, and her example
was promptly followed by other vessels
The European whaling business had al
ready begun to decline, and in spite of the
discoveries in the Arctic the luck of Amer
lean whalers soon after began to fall off.
Nearly 200 years before. the Dutch had TAX
en- 10, 600 whales in single decade in the
arctic waters of Europe. A century and a
half later the Basques were catching many
small whales in the bay of Biscay, but their
trade gave out long ago, although Il whale
of the species that once haunted the bay
was killed in the Mediterranean only l5
years ago. Coast whaling is still pursued
for about three months of the year at a few
points along the coast of California. Here
the gray whale used to be taken in great
numbers. 1t was the habit of these crea-
lures to breed in the shallow bays along
tdC COaoI, stIi0 AltHG SClCOiS VI Inc leEdlcS
gathered at such times in these protected
waters while the males disportcd them
selves outside the reefs. The business of
pursuing the gray whale was SO sharply
prosecuted that the species almost disap-
peared from the coast.
Steam whaling is comparatively recent
thing, and it is prosecuted chiefly in the
Behring sea and the Arctic ocean. The
steam whalers also carry sails. Few of
them exceed 800 tons, and they are built in
peculiarly strong fashion so as to resist the
cutting power of the ice and as well to
stand the strain that comes upon a vessel
when nipped in the tlOe. Each steamer has
tankage for 200 to $50 tons of oil. Such YES
sci may be built in Europe for about $50, 900
to $50, 600, and here for perhaps littia more.
The cost of running a steam whaler of 400
to 800 tons is about $500 per month Pay
ment is mainly in lays" but sometimes
part of the crew receives wages and part
both lay and wages. The lay of Il cap
tain in the New England whaling fleet is
about one-twelfth of the catch on the aver
age, while in the San Francisco feet it is
about one-lfteenth. The shares decrease
rapidly, and cabin boys lay is on the
average one-one hundred and siXty-tfth in
the San Francisco fleet and one-two hum
dred and twenty-tifth in the New England
leet. L.. \. FALLANDIGHAM.