The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1895-04-12

A RIDE ON A WHALE.
The Stirring and veracious Yarn of Mas
from North Carolina.


from North Carolina.
Capt. Jim Willis, who halls from
Morehead City, N. c., where he runs
pleasure craft for the accommodation
of northern consumptives, had an ex-
perience with whale that came near
making a Jonah Of him. In his own
story, as given to Washington Star
reporter, he says" :"One sunny after
noon, not very long ago, was sitting
in the shade of my own fig tree and
swinging in my own grapevine swing.
A party of my fisher friends who lived
farther up the beach came running by,
and as they passed me they sang out:
There she blows!' This cry woke me
up. / saw jet of water spurted up
ward from the sea, and down to the
pier / rushed There wasn't o real
whaleboat in the town, but four ordi-
nary fishing boats were manned by as
many crews. One carried the harpoon
gun and one the handwriting appa-
ratus. The other two were without
any armament excepting several shot
guns and one or two rifles. We rowed
off SO as to come at the game from diff
ferent points Of the compass. ] was in
the gunboat AS we approached the
whale it was seen that he was a large
and fat one. lie took no notice of our
coming. When we got within about
one hundred feet of the monster the
harpoon gun was fred, and the barbed
weapon took effect just behind the
head and pretty well up on the back.
This was painful, butnot necessarily u
fatal shot. The other boats turned
themselves loose and made some inser-
tions in the fish.
''Instead of going under, as wounded
whales do, he remained on top to fight
1t out. He swished his tail and turned
the sea into suds and made such a
swell that the good people of Alcxan-
dria would not have permitted
him to pass their port without slowing
down. He plunged hcadlong against
one of the boats and stove it so that it
would hardly float. Its occupants
were knocked overheard. There was
a good deal of excitement. The sea
round about us was boiling, the whale
was red-hot with rage, the men were
shouting and the guns We're popping.
The fish next hurled himself against
the boat in which was, and it yielded
to his wishes aud got smashed. 1t was
raised a considerable distance in the
mir, and when it came down was on
that whales back, just ahaft his
head, and holding on to that harpoon
with both hands, The line which had
connected the harpoon and the boat
had parted, and about two hundred
feet OF MANILA hawser squirmed and
wriggled saalse-like around in the
seething sea- The whale didn't seem
TO observe my attitude and continued
his attention upon the two remaining
boats. There wasn't any time to think
Of this. The hand harpoon had been
showed into the right place and the
whale was blowing his last. A column
OF blood was being sQuirted slSyNvard
and the scarlet flood fell over me, dy
ing me u CORY hue. A few feeble
swashes of the tail and keeling mo-
ton as though he was going to lie on his
side announced that the fish was dead
Our catch was dashed alongside the
pier and the next day we went to
work at his carcass. The fish was
sixty-tvo feet three and three-fourth
inches long, and the proceeds from the
sale of his oil bone and other valua'
hles were three Thousand five hundred
dollars,n