The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1894-11-14

((XXST HALING is not what it
\N used to be-" said q
Y Y grizzly old salt as he
sat on the edge of his
greasy bunk in the forecastle. "Tho
ships that go after 'bowheads now
adays are much better arranged for
the comfort of the men than they were
a dozen years ago, but it amt no pic
mic yet, you can bet on that, my son,
you can bet on that.
About all that remains of the old
customs of the whalers Is the lookout
at the masthead, who brings every
man out of his warm bunk with the
call, "Ya-a-arl She blows ~ and with
q wave of his hand points out the di-
rection for the wheelsman to steer.
The crew jump into their boats and
away they go. The old harpoon is
obsolete. Instead a whale gun is
used, and as the boat approaches the
spouting monster bomb, filed with
an explosive equal to about ten pounds
of giant powder, is fired into his huge
body near the head The deadly mis-
sile explodes as it buries itself into the
flesh, and great hole is blown
almost into the vitals of the mon
ster. Death is in most cases instan-
taneous. A small steam or naphtha
launch takes the carcass in tow and it
is hauled alongside the vessel, where
the bone and blubber are taken from
it.
Sometimes, if the bomb from the
gun fails to cause instant death or give
a mortal wound, harpoon with a tiy
Mantle attachment is thrown the same
as the old whale-catching weapons
were and as the needle point of the
spear sinks into the flesh it explodes
the bomb. The second wound will in
almost every case cause death, but ii
not the harpoon clings to the whale,
and with the line attached the whalers
wait calmly in their boat for the ceta-
cean to rise for another shot at it
from the gun, which is by that time
reloaded and waiting for it. There is
none of that wild excitement of being
towed at racehorse speed through tho
water behind wounded and infuriated
whale while your comrades come gal
lantly to the rescue to pick you up in
case the boat be smashed to atoms by
the beasts tail or crushed in the mon
strous jaws of the maddened leviathan.
All that is gone. The ships boats sur
round the whale as he spouts. Lit
tie chance is left for it to escape, aud
bomb from gun or the auxiliary
harpoon is sufficient to end the bat
tie.
Then comes the process of taking
the bone and blubber from the body.
The dead whale is brought alongside
the vessel. A stage is rugged over the
side and just over the floating carcass.
Work IS commenced at the head. A
cut is made through the deep layer of
fat, beginning at the nose and run
ming clear back to the tail, if all the
blubber is 10 be taken. Cross incis-
ions are made every four or five feet
and strips of fat enclrcling the whale
are marked out. Tackle is fastened to
one end of these strips and men on
the stage with long chisel-like tools
cut the strip of blubber clear of tho
body as it is being hoisted on board.
/ Every strip taken off rolls the whale
around in the water. The head is
cut off as soon as the blubber is taken
of it to get at the valuable bone. That
is the most difficult task. Axes are
used and it takes quite lot of chop
ping to get through the mountain of
flesh. As soon as it is severed it Is
hoisted on deck. Then the work goes
on of taking off the rest of the fat
from the body.
Some of the vessels save only the
bone, and when the head is chopped
off the rest of the body is cast adrift.
The whalers that take only the heads
are usually small ones and are not
fitted with the necessary apparatus of
trying out the oil.
After the blubber is stripped from
the carcass it is cut UP iuto small
pieces, and for several days after
wards the crew is busy trying out the
oil and slowing it away in the hold in
casks. Smoke and smell are the prin-
cipal characteristics of the operation,
and only an old whaler will so lee
ward of the great pots when the pro-
cess is going on.
During the hunt for whales there is
very little to break the monotony Of
the whaler's life. 1t is the same thing
day after day, with an occasional gale
and a trip in the ice, but the vessels
are now built to stand such weather,
A winter in the Arctic has not tho
terTors it had few years ago. Quar-
ters for the crew are built ON land in
some sheltered spot, and before the
winter sets in all the vessels rendez-
vous there. The tween decks of the
vessels are cleared and stoves set up.
Bunks are arranged along the middle
of the ships, away from the sides, SO
that the intense cold will not so quick
ly reach the men through the vessels
timbers. and as soon as the ice forms
around the vessels high banks of snow
are piled up around them to brake the
force of the piercing winds. A roof
is built over the ships, and on that
snow is piled several feet thick, and it
all is wet aud frozen so solid that it
will not drift with the fercest of gales
that sweep across the frozen bosom of
the ocean when the long night Of win
ter sets in. San Francisco Examiner.
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