The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1895-09-05
A VALUABLE WHALE.
THE BIG FISH THAT FOUND THE
NORTHWEST PASSAGE.

| frovcd-Sorrowful Fate OF the Coura-
geous Captain of the Neptune.
Among the old sea dogs that frequent
South street Is Captain Thomas Barnes.
He Is famous as a story teller, and from
his 30 years experience on the water he
has rich fund of yarns to draw upon.
The captain sailed his last ship some years
ago.
AS far back as the middle Of the six
teenth century" said the captain the other
day, attempts were made by daring sea-
men to circumnavigate America. Holland
and England eagerly desired shorter
| route to India.
"This desire for q shorter route to India,
when first felt by the Dutch and English,
was the beginning of the era Of polar en-
ploration. In 1915 the English offered a
reward Of $1,000 900 for the discovery of
the northwest passage. Later, In the fall
of 1885, I was second mate of the Nep-
tune, a stout whaling bark that had been
fitted out In San Francisco by her captain
and owner for an expedition In search Of
the northwest passage. We shipped full
crew for the purpose Of first making a
whaling voyage, and In the following year
after touching at the Sandwich Islands
some time In May, pass through Bering
strait and face the arctic winter In about ~
degrees northern latitude.
mot q soul on board the vessel save the
captain and his four officers were aware OF
the ultimate object Of our voyage, he ex-
planning his reticence afterward by saying
that II he should not succeed In making q
name for himself as an arctic explorer, at
least no one should know Of his failure
Leaving the Golden Gate, the Neptune
made her way to the southwest heading
for the sperm whale feeding grounds
among the South Sea islands In four
months we had the ship loaded down with
sperm oil. We had caught 20 whales, av-
eraging about 100 barrels of oil each.
"Then we sailed northward, and catch
ing the trade winds from the southwest
steered straight course for the Sandwich
Islands, discharged our cargo at Honolulu,
took on provisions and water and set sail
for the Arctic ocean. Rough weather, ad.
verse winds and general discomfort mark
cd our route to Bering strait. From Point
Barrow we steered a northwesterly course,
past Wrangell and Herald islands, to the
north Of which we encountered great ice
foes We saw several whales, but they
were always to the windward Of US, and
therefore we did, bother them.
lone morning big spout was sighted
not more than five miles off our lee bow.
The yards were hailed into the wind, all
hands called on deck and the boats lower
ed. We had eight Of them, splendid, fast
sailing whaleboats 80 feet long, with big
centerboards which enabled them to stand
up to almost any kind Of a breeze. After
a hot chase we got the whale, which was
tremendous fellow, and as soon as we had
him alongside the ship the work Of cut
ting him up commenced. One of the men
standing on the dead monsters back and
cutting through the neck bone with an AK
discovered rusty old harpoon sticking in
the blubber and partly in the flesh of the
whale. This was not at all strange, as II
often happens that whale is harpooned
and the line has to be cut for some reason.
This harpoon was cut out and handed to
the captain. Every one Of these irons bears
the name Of the vessel to which 1t belongs,
and it was certainly interesting to know
what ship had been after the same whale,
the blubber of which was now being hoist
ed on board the Neptune. A little sandpa-
per applied to the rusty iron soon disclosed
the name. It was Simon Davis.
"'Great heavens, exclaimed the captain,
that ship But he was too agitated to
say more His knees shook under him,
and great drops Of perspiration stood on
his brow, though the thermometer showed
90 degrees below zero. He recovered him
self quickly, however, and asked me to
come to the cabin with him. On arriving
there he gasped out:
" i have found the northwest passageP
1.-THE devilyou havei' exclaimed rath-
er disrespectively, thinking that his mind
was unbalanced.
I" No devil about 1t, he replied. Look
here, and he held that twisted harpoon
so that could read the name engraved on
IL.
"'Simon Davis, read aloud. What
about it9'
"'What about itH That ship has never
been in the western arctic ocean. This
harpoon struck the whale on the other
side, and he has found q passage through
the archipelago. The northwest passage
exists, and this little piece Of iron Is the
incontrovertible proof of 1t. There would
be only one other way for that whale to
get from the eastern into the western arc
tic ocean, and that Is around Cape Horn.
That Is not possible. He would have to
pass the equator twice. An arctic whale
would perish before he came within 30 de-
grees Of the line.
1--WE knew now that a northwest passage
existed. 1t remained for us to find 1t. The
next day a heavy fog set in and as bad
luck would have 1t we got into current
which drifted us south among a lot of
loose Ice. 1t was impossible to see any
thing half ships length ahead, and the
current took us along at a five knot rate.
Suddenly the lookout on the forecastle
yelled out to the man at the wheel; Hard
aportl Quick, quick, for Gods sakeP
"But 1t was too late An enormous
piece of ground Ice lay square In the ships
path and we struck 1t with our starboard
bow For moment the vessel quivered
like living thing, then she listed to star
board, going down faster and faster as the
water rushed into the great hole In her
side. There was no time to save any thing
Every man scrambled ON TO the ice as best
he could. The captain was the last to leave
the ship. When nothing but part of the
poop deck remained above water, he
jumped for the Ice but he sprang short
and fell into the sea- At that moment the
Neptune gave a sudden lurch and sank out
of sight. The vortex caused by the ships
descent drew our gallant captain under
and his kind, brave face was never seen
again.
II shall not attempt to describe our suf
ferings on that piece Of ice. For five days
NOT ,,,oroaI 80 food M elao,N o,,1 ~. oeh 80