The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-10-08
MODERN WHALING.


FtoB, The San Ernnciaco ErdBtfHer.
The first two vessels from the whaling feet
| IN the Arctic Ocean arrived in port during the
past week, and with them came the oft-told sto.
ries OF the danger and death Of those who sail
! into the frozen north in search Of gain and ind
| only graves The crew Of one Of the vessels, the
Nicolini. spent nesriy three, years among the
/ ice and snow nerth of. nfty-three," a. Kipling
| calls II.
! whaling is not what 1t used to be-" said a
| grizzly old salt as lie sat ON the edge Of his
greasy bunk in the forecastle. THE ships that
20 after 'bowheads' nowadays are much better
| arranged for the com fort OF the men than they
were dozen years ago. but II amt ne picnic yet
you can bet on that. my son. you eau bet ON that.
the whalers is the lookout at the masthead who
hrtngs every man out OF MS warm bunk With
wheelsman tn steer. The crews Jump into their
BOATS and away they 20; The old harpoon IL
the boat approaches the spoutinR monster a
bomb filled with, an explosive equal TO
his huge body near the head. The deadly mis-
sile explodes as buries itself into the flesh and
great hole is blown almost no into the Ttais OF
taneous. A small steam or naphtha launch takes
the carcass In tow ami II IL hauled alongside the
from H.
Sometimes. u the bomb from the gun fails to
cause instant death or give a mortal wound. a
harpoon with a dynamite attachment Ii thrown
the same ~ the old whale-catching weapons
were, and as the needle point OF the spear sinks
into the flesh IL explOdes the bomb The second
wound will in almost every case cause death,
but II not the harioon clings to the whale, and
with the line attached the whalers wait calmly
in their boat for the cetacean to rise for another
shot at It from the gun. which Is by that
none Of that wild excitement OF being towed at
race-horse speed through the wafer behind
rades come Rallantly To the rescue to pick You
up in case the boat be smashed to atoms by the
beasts tail or crushed in the monstrous jaws OF
ships boats surround the whale as he spouts.
Little chance il left for 1t to- escape, and bomb
from gun or the auxiliary harpoon Is sufficient
Then comes the process Of taking the bone
sro I sIonnsde the vessel stage s reses
over the side and just over the floating carcass
Work is commenced at the head. a cut is made
nose and running clear back to the tail. IL all
the blubber is to be taken. Cross incisions
strips OF the fat encircling the whale are
marked out. Tackle Is fastened to one end
Snf !heSf oos eSs tSs tse
Der clear OF the body as IL IL being hoisted on
board, Every strip taken OF rolls the whale
soon as the bubber is taken OF Il TO get at the
valuable bone. That is the most difficult task.
ping TO get through the mountain OF flesh. As
soon as Il Is severed II 10 hosted ON deck. Then
the work goes on Of taking of the rest of the
Some OF the vessels save only tho bone, and
when the head Is chopped of the rest OF the
body is cast adrift. The whalers that take only
the heads are usually small ones, and not
fitted with the necessary apparatus for trying out
the oil.
After the blubber is all stripped from the car
cass II Is cut up into small pieces. and for sew
eral days afterward the crew Is busy trying out
the oil and slowing IL away In the hold In casks.
Smoke and smell are the principal characteris-
tics OF the operation and only an old whaler
will go to leeward OF the great pots when the
process is going on.
During the hunt for whales there Ii very little
to break the monOtony OF the whaler's life. IL II
the same thing day after day. with an occasional
gale and trip In the ice. but the vessels are
now built to stand such weather.
A winter In the Arctic has not the terrors IL
had few years ago. Quarters for the crew are
built on land In some sheltered spot, and before
the winter sets In all the vessels rendezvous
there. The tween decks of the vessels are
cleared and stoves are set up. Bunks are
arranged along the middle OF the ships
away from the sides, that the intense
cold Will not so quickly reach the
men through the vessels timbers, and as soon as
the Ice forms around the vessels high banks OF
snow piled up around them to break the
force OF the piercing winds. roof Is built over
the ships and on that snow Is piled several feet
thick: and 4 Al Is wet and frozen so solid that
1t will not drift with the hercest OF gales that
sweep across the frozen bosom of the ocean
when the long night Of winter sets In.