The Press., 1896-04-16
ROARED LIKE A LION.
A COASTER CAPTAINS STORY OF 4
 REMARKABLE WHALE.

REMARKABLE WHALE.
 It Didn't 'Blow," but Its Roar Was Some.
 thing Awful--It Was Eighty Feet In
 Length and Had Queer Looking Head
 Tried to Swamp the Schooner.
 "No," said Captain J. A. Crossman of South Portland, i've didn't encoun- ter the sea serpent, but we had strange experience with a whale, and I don t believe anybody ever had the like be- fore. I've been at sea, man and boy, since was g years old, and I never saw the like of the whale we encountered. I never saw a whale before that didn t blow, but the one we met didn t, but it gave roar that was awful" "
 'It sounded like the lions in Central park, New York" said Miss Houston, who was one of the party that had the strange encounter.
 It certainly was more like the roar of lion than anything else can think of," said Captain Crossman.
 The schooner Grace Webster, Captain Crossman, was on her way from New York to Portland with 414 tons of coal. Besides the captain and crew Mrs. Cross man, her daughter and Miss Houston were on board.
 The schooner was about ten miles off Wood island and making good headway under full sail, the mate, Merrill Cross- man, at the wheel, when there was a sudden commotion ahead, and the great head shot up into the air and was on a level with the deck.
 One of the crew first sighted the strange creature and called Captain Crossman, and in a moment all on board but the man at the wheel were looking at the strange sight. They saw before them an enormous head, one mass of great punches, through which the wicked looking eyes of the creature gleamed. They expected the whale, if such, would 'blow," but it did not then or after. Once narrow thread of what looked like steam shot up, but not a drop of water was sent into the air. As they looked at the creature it roared savagely, and then drew close up to the side of the schooner, giving them ample time to observe the head, and all agree that it was very broad; that it tapered almost to point, and that it was not very thick through the thckest part The creature was about 75 to so feet in length and had g. very broad tail, very different from that of an ordinary whale. In fact, at thetime there were three or four whales ill sight, and they had no difficulty in noting the points of difference between them and the stran- ger.
 The great creature went down head first and then made a series of attempts to strike the side of the schooner with it's tail. It did not succeed and swan around them, roaring loudly, in evident anger. Then it went down and under the schooner.
 Captain Crossman, who had watched for this movement, gave orders to be ready to lower the boat, fearing that the whale might come up under them and break them in two. It was very fortu- nate that they were not forced to lower their boat, as it proved later to be leak ing and would not have carried half their number safely to land.
 For more than an hour the whale con- tinued it's remarkable acrobatic perform ance, standing on it's head, with it's tail waving in the air most of the time. It seemed bent on hitting the schooner, and it took the best of good seamanship to prevent an encounter.
 At last the whale seemed to get tired | of what had been fun at first, and it | headed for the westward.
 Captain Crossman is of the opinion | that this strange whale must have been | mistaken for sea serpent many times. | Seen but short distance off, the head | would look more like that of a great | serpent than of a whale
 The creature, while making its long and repeated attempts to hit the schoon- CT, continued it's roaring when above water. It would scrape against the side of the schooner and then would draw off, seem to be calculating the distance, and then strike. The schooner was kept off at the right moment, and the crea- ture missed the vessel every time. It was an odd experience, and for a time there was something closely resembling a panic, the women being badly fright ened.
 Miss Houston said that the sight of that great mass standing almost upright ln mldocean was something not to be forgotten. Captain Crossman is uncer- tain whether the whale is a natural fighter or whether it was frightened when it came up out of the water, and as result of it's confusion made the re- peated attempts to sink the schooner. One of the crew hit it with a bolt, and many times Captain Crossman said he could have hit it with board from the deck. He did not venture to do anything to further arouse its anger and let it go in peace. ce.-Portland (Me. Press