Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1895-05-14
4 GOOD wHALeR.

a GOOD WhAleH.
A LONG ISLAND FARMER STICKS A
KNIFE IN A WHALE, AND HOLDS FAST
TO IT WHILE THE WHALE swIMs SEA-
WARD. HE SLEEPS ON THE BACK
OF HIS PRIZE AND SELLS IT FOR
$3.50.
:, IA whaling storyp Well, there's .
man here named Phillips, . truck farmer,
and, Of course, q whaler. About eight
years ago he belonged to one Of our
boats crews. A big whale was sighted
about three miles out, and the usual ex-
element occurred. Every man OF q
crew knows his place, aud when the
alarm is given he drops everything and
makes for the beach.
$50, ut the first cry Of whale the
barber left his half-shaved man 10 the
chair, the man driving out Of town drove
back again, the storekeeper deserted his
customers, and everybody ran.
"Thls truck farmer happened to be
trimming some trees, and had no coat
on, though Il was pretty cold day"
quotes the New York Herald. "He
ran down the road Ia his shirt sleeves,
knife In hand, just as he was. II MEN,
Der Of q crew isn't there, you see, a
volunteer will get his place, and II the
whale is killed, also his share OF the
proceeds. Phillips got there. The
boats were manned-the oars, harpoous,
lances, etc., are always kept right there
under the boats for such an emergency
and with the general help got safely
through the combers that were rolling
In from pretty stiff sea.
snow, there's always a rivalry be-
tween whalemen as to getting In the
first iron. The two crews were pretty
evenly matched, and reached the whale
about the same time, taking either side,
the whales nose being toward shore. II
il trick they play on whale, you see.
He just lies there looking from one to
the other, a. II wondering which he'd
tackle, or which was liable to tackle
him. The bowman who was to throw
the harpoon was as much excited 10 one
boat as In the other. Both threw nj
once, and both fell short-yes, and both
boats were swamped at exactly the same
moment. The whale was so surprised
to see everything suddenly disappear on
both sides Of him that he never stirred.
A HARD CHANCE.
at was nasty situation.
"Phillips was thrown out OF the boat
right up against the side Of the monster,
Phillips was excited, and, being truck
farmer from Long Island, hated to 70
out three miles and get only wetting
He had the pruning knife In his overalls,
and while every other man was trying
to right the boats, he drew his knife and
struck the whale terrible blow just
back Of his left aipper-and killed It.
"Yes; that single blow killed It, but a
whale never dies right away when he
gets a death blow. Phillips didn't wan,
to lose his knife and he could not pull Il
out. While he WAS hanging on to 1t the
whale dived to the bottom of the ocean,
taking Phillips along with it. You
never heard Of Long Islander letting
20 of anything voluntarily that had
money In It, so Phillips held on. The
whale soon came to the surface, or else
the man would have been drowned, and
as soon as he came up he made for the
open sea, dragging Phillips alongside.
"The whale never stopped until he
got ten miles out, where he rolled over
on his side, AS dead as sailed mackerel.
Now, Phillips WAS sticking on to the
starboard side, you see, and when the
| whale rolled over the other way II
brought the truck farmer on the upper
side, and on moderately firm footing
To be sure Of not slipping of, he tool
of his suspenders and tied himself to his
knife, still fast behind the stsrboard fin,
and then went to sleep.
PHILLIPS TAKES A NAP.
swell, sir, ship came along and
found the man there asleep on the top OF
the whale. The skipper hailed Phillips
and woke him up.
"'what're We doing therer says he.
"'Sleeping,' says Phillips. Dye
want TO buy whaleT
"The skipper was Yankee, and saw
that there was money in this job, so he
offered TO rescue the truck farmer and
take him back to Southampton for moth.
ing for whatever interest he had In the
whale.
"'Not cent less than $3.50 will buy
me off, said Phillips.
Then stay on" said the skipper,
and he squared braces and sailed away
leaving Phillips where he WAS. He was
plucky man, and knew what whale
WAS worth. And he said to himself, I'll
stick to my whale till get my price, II
have to live on blubber all summer, and
then he cut out chunk for lunch.
"But he was right In the track OF YES
sells, and was finally picked up at bar
gain by whaleship just going round 70
Behring Sea. and they took In the oil
aud bone and paid Phillips big salary
TO 20 along-mOre than he could make
by his truck farm aud summer bOarders
In five years. The skipper reasoned
that man who could 60 out and kill a
whale alone with pruning knife, and
had pluck enough to stick to his lind
until he sold 1t, would be q good man t.
take on voyage. And he was right
for the vessel had the biggest kind OF
luck, and came home full Of oil. The
share of the truck farmer gave him
good start, and he invested In n sand.
bank, and sold 1t out to New Workers
for country seats.
"He lives over yonder In that pretty
cottage, but you'll know him by scar
on his nose, where the whale scraped
him on the bottom Of the ocean eight
wears a0o"