Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1895-05-10
HUNTING WHALES.
IT IS DESCRIBED By ONE WHO HASN'T
DEPENDED ON BOOKS.
Old Biographies Responsible For Much
MISUNDERSTANDING the Big Fish Is
Captured In the Pacific and Arctic
Grounds-Exciting Situations.

The ex-hunter of big fishes told about
v,hale hunting as was whale hunting.
"There-she-blow " he says, is the
way that lantls1nen who know all about
whaling from reading biographies and
story books would make tho hail. But
those who seek the whale in his deep sea
Lair instead of in books tell about the
sighting of the prey in tlfcso words, but
with an infection impossible to reproduce
in print, "Oh, --, b-l-owcs!'
cit was in tho old whaling bark Ohio,
Captain Ellis" said tho narrator, that
made my first whaling voyage That was
back in 1856. It is Pacific and Arctic
whaling that a,u speaking Of
"Whcn cruising in those waters III
search Of whales, q whalcr always keeps
three men aloft during the daytime An
officer Of the ship and that functionary of
q whaling expedition known us the steer
err take their places in the GRO nest, OIL
the main, and another lookout Is sent to
the fOret opgallant crosStrecs. All three of
the lookouts arc furnished with marine
glasses, and throughout their tour of duty
aloft they carefully scan the horizon in all
directions.
"There may be days and days, with
never II cry from aloft, and then, on a sud-
den, will be heard the welcome hail to the
deck Of oh, -, b-l-o-wcs! The cry cleo
trifles a crew as does, Sail, no! from a
cruisers masthead when an enemy is the
quest.
1.-The captain Immediately goes aloft and
makes an examination Of the spouter
through his glass. In tho Pacific and Arc
tic waters there arc two kinds of whales
that he wants and three kinds that he will
have nothing to do with. The species he
wants is the bowhcad and sperm. The ones
he does not want arc the nnback. hump
back and sulphur bottom These ma
have other names, but they arc not known
by any other to whalcrs.
"The captain is enabled to tell what
manner of whale it is by tho nature of it's
spout. Tho sperm whale is distinguished
by tho full, bushy sort of fountain which
it projects into tho air. If the spouts arc
at frequent intervals, and if the water is
thrown high in a slender jet, the captain
says nothing that is nice, desccnds from
his perch, and tho vessel plods along her
way.
but II the stream is low and much dis
persed there is a bracing around Of yards
and u clearing away Of whaleboats. All
hands are called on deck. and four Of the
five boats are manned and sent in pursuit
of tho whale. Ono boat Is always kept in
reserve in case Of emergency. but only
enough men arc kept on board to trim sail
and work ship
whales have a most acute hearing, and
the swish OF tho boat through tho water
even when propelled by silent canvas, is
often enough to brighten n whale, and then
he Is off like locomotive. Now, as for
oars and rowlocks such US nre represented
in this and most other pictures of whale
capturing exploits, that is all rank alb
surdity.s The splash of an oar would send
a whale to the right about before you could
get within Il quarter Of a mile Of him.
They are harder to creep up upon than are
the wild deer of tho forest.
"Thercfore tho noiseless sail is used If
there is any breeze, and If there is not pad
dies such us the North American Indian
uses in propelling his canoe IRE got out
and tho boat pushed toward tho leviathan
by cautious dips. Caro- is taken never to
splash water. and the men move about in
the boat in stockingcd feet
"A boat is never steercd near whales
head or near his tail A blow from his
tail would smash a boat into kindling
wood, and his jaws are generally big
cracker can break filbert. Care, there.
fore, is taken to steer clear of the danger.
Gus cxtremitics and to sneak alongside the
monsters vast body.
"Tho stecrcr meanwhile has taken his
station in the bow of the boat, tho officer
in charge being Mt tho steering oar. The
boat nears the big hulk of flesh, and when
near enough to strike tho steerer hurls the
missile which he has held poised in air
and aims to strike the whale just abaft the
fin
Tho harpoon you are speaking OFF,
qucried tho reporter.
well, it is a gun and q harpoon COM
bined. On tho end of Il short wooden shaft
q detachable iron harpoon is fitted. On
the head Of tho same shaft is fitted u dyna-
mito gun, pointed at tho end, but not de-
tachable from tho shaft. Harpoon and gun
cut into the flesh at tho Same time. A
sharp jerk backward detachcs tho harpoon,
which remains fast in tho whale, and at
the same time explodes the dynamite car
fridge
IF tho steercr's aim has been true, the
crew have nothing more to do except to
back water quickly and watch tho mon
ster's dying agonics. That sometimes hap
pens, but most often the whale is only mad
dened by the wound, and, plunging under
the surface with a maclstrom swirl which
half swamps his puny enemy, starts away
with the speed Of an express.
'Then comes the excitement and the
danger The line which is fastened to the
harpoon spins out so fast that tho wood
work smokes where it rushes over tho side,
and heaven save any one who becomes en-
tangled in tho zippling coilsl The whip
ping rings would cut q man in two or am
putate a leg or an arm quicker than
cleaver could divide an apple.
1.-The line does not pay out without re-
sistance, and enough of. the whales rush
ing gait is impaired to the boat to make
the water foam and splitter as the craft
dashes along. The steerer, Ratchet in
hand, stands ready to cut the line should
the whale not stop before it all runs out.
The last fathom is called the bitter end,
and when that is reached the hatchet falls;
otherwise his whaleship would drag the
boat under water
But the lines are so long that that does
not happen often. The whale generally
stops before it has run out. When he does,
the line slackens, and then comes the SUI
preme moment. No one knows where ne
is going to come up, and he is just as apt
- 4 A. 4