Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1893-01-20
WHALEBONE IN PILES
A MILLION DOLLARS WORTH STORED
IN ONE BUILDING.


Care Is Necessary in the Handling of the
Product-Whalebone Is Very Valuable
Nowadays.
In little brick and stone structure on
the Potrero shore of the bay there is
million dollars worth of whalebone
stored, and it is guarded as jealousy as
if it were so many twenty dollar gold
pieces or its weight in precious stones.
It is the property of the Pacific Steam
Whaling company and came off the
whaling banks Beluga, Mary D. Hume,
Agenor and America, in from the arctic.
The building is perfect vault with
brick and stone sides, iron roof and iron
doors. All around the top runs per-
forated pipe by means of which the
whole interior could be flooded if fire
should by any possibility break out.
Rats are thick on the water front and
can do great deal of damage to cargo
of whalebone, so small iron doors have
been put in to answer as barricades when
the big ones are opened to air the place.
Oilskins such as the fire patrol use are
spread over the cargo as the final adj
ditional precaution that human ingenuity
can suggest.
The uninitiated on first stepping into
the cold, cherries place, with it's damp
cement floor, are apt to wonder why it
has all been done. The long black stalks
don't look like much piled against the
walls, and to hear their immense value
set forth is enough to take the breath
away. But the place does not always
contain 81 100000 stock. The season
was most profitable one and in conse-
quence the warehouse is nearly full.
''The lady purchasing few sticks Of
whalebone on her shopping tour scarcely
realizes the immense risk and the great
amount Of labor necessary to place it on
the counter" said w. R. Wand, one of
the Representatives of the whaling COM
pany. 'There is a big risk even here.
We can take no chances. In the rough,
after simple polishing, the bone is
worth five dollars pound, and we have
at least 100000 pounds on hand now.
When the vessel docks at the wharf yon-
der we pitch in and work day and night
until the cargo is housed here, and then
we try to get it off on the railroad as
soon as possible. While it is here this
little structure is guarded day and night.
A million dollars is something Of re-
sponsibility I can assure you"
"Where does most of the bone go?"
was asked
GA great deal of it goes to New York, :"
replied Mr.. Wand, 'but most of the cut
ting is done in Paris and at Bremen A
little is done in London. We polish it
off here, get the color, assert it out and
put it up in bundles. Then it is forced
through to its destination as rapidly as
possible. You see, the bone with light
or pearl shade is worth more than the
black and we have to separate it."
Several Of the bundles bore the mark
M. D. II. in diamond. "That," said
Mr.. Wand, sis the name of the vessel
from which the bone was taken, in this
instance the Mary D. Hume, vessel
which brought the most valuable cargo
ever received from the arctic seas. One
Or two Of these bundles are marked cut
you observe. That is to guide the buyer
when the bone is offered for sale. It sig
nifes that the bone is nicked on some
portion of it. The value is greatly re-
duced, and we must therefore handle the
cargo like eggs. If roughly handled a
cargo Of whalebone can be well nigh
ruined. The slightest cut in stalk
brings it down in value about one-half.
"The bone you know is the teeth Of
the whale, and fair sized front molar
is worth about fifty dollars. In every
whales jaw there are 473 teeth, and one
good sized head is worth a good deal of
money. On the last trip the men on
the Jessie D. Freeman brought one big
fellow alongside, the head Of which pro-
duced 5000 pounds of bone. The mouth
of the whale is simply huge suction
pump. The monster travels along with
his mouth wide open on the surface.
The only food he will take is little red
bit of animal life that floats on the
northern seas. He sucks in enough to
make good mouthful, and then elects
the water. The food is sifted down
through the soft teeth, and is filtered
like a lot of sawdust would be in a
sieve.
"This black hair that fringes the bone
has separate value. It is cut from the
teeth and is used for making fine furni-
ture. It has become so valuable, how
ever, that it cannot be used to any great
extent"
when do you expect to ship this cargo
OFF,
Gas soon as ever Providence will let
us. 1t is something extraordinary for us
to have such an enormously valuable
load here, and we won't hold it day
longer than necessary, I can assure you'll"
Ever troubled by thieves?"
mo-" was the laughing response.
1.-THE bone is a trifle too heavy to run
away with and the place is too well
guarded. Fire is the greatest danger,
and you can see how that has been
guarded against"
Out in the bay six of the most unsight1y
ships that ever huddled together in port
were tossing. Put up at auction the lot
would scarcely bring its value in old
lumber, but those hulks brought in as
valuable freight as many treasure
ship has been laden with.-San Francisco
Chronicle.