Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1893-12-17

Y - IN
tending this enormous catch; it has
brought down the price of oil aud bone.
This year the feet brought down $50
tons Of whalebone, the ordinary price
OF which is from $3.50 to 81 a pound.
Already the price of bone has fallen to
50 a pound 10 anticipation, OF this
enormous increased product. There
have been seasons within the last
thirty years when this mass OF bone
would be worth over $4,000, 900. The
product of bone from the American
arctic fleet this year is four times the
product Of 1880. 1t is nearly 800, 600
pounds greater than the product OF
1880, which was q banner year 10 the
whaling industry. The bone alone
this year, although the price is far be-
low what it was in 1889, is worth nearly
as much as the entire product OF the
whale fisheries of the United States In
that year. The Pacific feet and the
New Bedford feet, which latter rem
devious in San Francisco, together this
season took 5000, 900 gallons OF oil,
which is more than three times the
product Of the whole feet in 1889.
This, 1t must be remembered, is solely
the product Of the Arctic Ocean whales.
The sperm whale catchers have not
yet been heard from, but if the sperm
whales have been as numerous this year
as the common brethren sperm oil is
likely to be a much cheaper commodity
than it has been. There Is
another commercial commodity
connected with the whale industry
which is attracting o great deal Of at
tention just now because Of the proba-
bic increase in the sperm whale catch,
aud that is known as ambergris.
Ambergris, next TO uncut precious
stones is the most valuable article Of
raw product known TO commerce. It's
rarity and its extensive use in the
manufacture Of periumery gives it its
commercial value. Ambergris is a
substance found In the intestlneS OF
sperm whales. The biggest whale that
ever lived never produced more than
a few pounds, and about every five
years of his life he elects this from his
corUoroSity, so unless a whale is caught
before he has accomplished this feat
his crop of ambergis will be very small.
This product is never obtained in any
large quantity, and some years 1t is
missing altogether from the whaling
statistics. A ship occasionally slips
into port with a few pounds of amber
girls on board, which is sold to myster-
ious dealers In this product and In other
expensive p%erfumery stock for such a
price as the captain is able to bargain
for The product Of ambergriS report
ed by the sperm whaling ships In 1889
was only seventy-three pounds, and yet
its value was SEQ 200, or a little over
$500 a pound. The traditions OF the
ambergris trade are as mysterious as
the product itself. 1t is found In Jumps
varying from three inches TO a foot in
diameter and weighing from a few
ounces to twenty or thirty pounds. The
largest lump known to tradition weigh
ed lS2 pounds. This was sold to the
Dutch East India Company many years
ago for a fabulous sum.
The whale ships this season have not
only been fortunate in their catches,
but they have encountered very little
ice in the Arctic Ocean, and hence
have been enabled to pursue their prey
with little difficulty. As the whales
were numerous, they were soon enabled
to fill the capacity Of their vessels.
Whale fishing is about the hardest and
most tempeStuOus life that a man can
lead, and vet there is a certain romance
about it that, with all the hardships,
all of the hazard and the lack OF re-
muneration which so often accom-
panies 1t, there are hundreds OF people
who pursue the calling from year TO
year without hope of any change in
their life. If there is any more dis
agreeable known to landsmen it is al
arctic whale ship. Close and contracted
quarters, the cOarSest and rudest OF
fare, the vilest Of odors and the most
disagreeable Of surroundings are the
chief features of a whale ship. Add
10 this the dangers OF the ice, the dan
ger Of being caught in the Arctic Ocean
in an ice pack, the danger Of the pur-
suit and capture OF the ocean monsters,
AMI the wonder is that people can be
found to pursue such a calling.
Herbert Aldrieh, who, in 1889, ac-
companied an arctic whaling feet, re-
Gently published q book recounting
some OF his adventures In the Arctic
Ocean. His description Of the capture
OF a large whale is most interesting.
The whaler Hunter and the whsler
Lucretia were sailing together on the
edge OF the arctic ice when a large
bowhead whale was seen coming
leisurely along the fringe OF the ice
pack. Instantly 3 dozen whaieboats
were IN pursuit Captain Cogan. Of the