The San Francisco call., 1895-10-09
The Whaling Fleet Has Made a
Most DeplorabIe Showing
Up to Date.
FEW WHALES WERE TAKEN.
Disease Was Prevalent, and Many OF
the Men Have Returned on
the JeanIe.

failure, and each vessel that returns from
the Arctic only adds to the tale OF disaster.
During the seasons of 1884 and 189495,
hundreds of thousands of dollars were in
vested in the attempt at securing whale
bone, but the entire fleet has not succeeded
in taking as many whales as the Mary ID.
Hume tried out in her memorable first sea-
son off Herschel Island. After spending two
years in the Arctic the entire fleet can only
| muster forty-three whales as follows:
Beluga 9. Newport 6, Mary D. Hume 2,
Nayarach 3. Jessie Freeman 2, Fearless 3,
Thrash er 4, William Baylies 2, Wanderer
| 3, schooner Rosario 4, Belvedere l, Triton
| 8, Horatio /.
| This leaves twenty-six vessels, which
probably cost from $4,000 to $4,000 each
| to fit out, without return. The men all
received advances when they left San
| Francisco, and having earned nothing
while away, will be paid off with 81 on
| their return.
| The Pacific Steam Whaling Company's
| tender Jeanie arrived yesterday from the
| Arctic. She brought down forty-nine pas
sengers, many of whom were the wrecked
| sailors of the bark Triton, while others
were members of the various crews who
are to again winter in the Arctic. They
| tell tales of sufferings and desertions and
deaths, all the main facts of which were
| printed in THE CALL from private letters
several weeks ago. Some of the men who
came down on the Jeanie are in the last
stages of consumption and some of them
are still suffering from accidents that hap
pened while the feet was in wipter quar-
| ters off Herschel Island.
''Look at my hands," said one of the
sailors yesterday. as he stepped off the
| Jeanie. 1.-THE fingers were crushed as |
was hauling ice to the Mary D. Hume.
| Now they are useless and so is my hand,
and all l have to show for seventeen
| months work in the Arctic is three deer
skins. If I'm lucky 1 will get 80 cents
owing TO the ship not paving expenses,
will only get 81 in order to sign off and
obey the law. Thus, you see, / have
worked nearly year and a half for my
| grub, and that in the ice and show, where
| the sun never shows its face for months at
a time. Of course, l was fed and clothed
by the company, but now L am manned
and penniless. 1t was a hard winter, and,
| as you know, there were thirteen or four
| teen deaths from accidents and consump-
| ton. Runaways we're common, but the
men, as a general rule, came back after
being out night in the ice and snow"
The Jeanie left Herschel Island thirty
three days ago and stopped at Point Bar
row, Ounalsska and Prince Edwards
Sound. At the latter place a disappoint-
ment met the skipper, as all the salmon
| fishers had left and the place was deserted.
Even the natives had retired to the inte-
rior and there were not dozen people TO
meet the tender, whereas hundreds used
to congregate at the landing. A death
occurred on board the steamer on the Sd
inst. William Mccoy, the cook of the
Mary D. Hume, died of consumption or
some similar disease that was epidemic i'll
the fleet. He was buried in latitude 48.56
north. longitude 134.42 west. Mccoy was
a West Indian and came here from Nova
Scotia about three years ago. He shipped
| for a two years cruise to the Arctic, but
could not stand the climate and was
shipped along with the other sick men to
San Francisco.
The Jeanie also brought down the re-
mains of Captain Charles E. Weeks of the
steam whaler Thrasher, who fell down the
hold of the vessel on March % last and
died from his injuries a few days later.
The body of Engineer Edward Peake of
the steam whaler Jessie H. Freeman also
came down. Engineer Peake dieo sud-
i denly from heart disease. Captain Weeks
will be buried in Mountain View Gene
terry, Oakland and Engineer Peake in Odd
Fellows Cemetery, this City.
The whalers which will return to San
Francisco this fall are the Orca, Thrasher,
Narwhal, William Baylies, Horatio and
, Rosario. Those that will tempt fortune
{ again and remain another winter in the
frozen depths are the Andrew Hicks. Alex
ander,. Alice Knowles, BeInga, Balana,
Belvedere, California, Cape Horn Pigeon,
Fearless, Grampus, Gayhead, Hidalgo,
: Jessie II. Freeman, John and Winthrop,
, jeanette, karluk, Lydia, Mary D. Hume,
Mermaid, Newport, Navarach, Northern
Light and Wanderer. Many of these are
clean and the crews are only too glad to
remain another winter in the ice in the
hope of making catch next spring.
The right whalers were all reported at
, Point Hope on August 20 last. Not one
of them had taken a whale, and they we're
, working to the westward in hopes of dong
something during the fall whaling. The
young ice was forming very fast, however,
and the chances were that some of them
might get caught in the ice if they did not
make for winter quarters early. Taking it
all in all, the season has been a most dis
astrous one and whalebone will be scarce
in the European markets next year.