Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1896-08-14
MILLIONS OF SEALS.

MILLIONS OF SEALS.
OR So THE SAILORS I'll OUGHT WHEN
They SAW THE SCHOOL.
a Story About Josiah Dowse's Good Tor.
tune Which Reads Like nm ''Arabian
n Nights" Tale "A Fortune Inthe Chart the
Old Navigator Left His Benefactor.
Josiah Dowse was Rhede Islander and
had a farm at Point Judith in 1878, Il
bleak, sterile region, where the people have
to anchor their wood piles and the girls are
bald headed at 80 because the wind blows
all their hair of. He had been sailor in
his youth. M I'D 81 to s55s $ 5@ /. y, Nh
L He was in Providepce one day and pass
ing the dock saw a man, evidently an old
sailor, sitting on his chest. Dowse spoke
to him and learned that be had just come
off a West Indian voyage and had been
sick and was very feeble and wanted to
get into the country and recruit his
strength. He added that g he could make
itWorth mans while to help him a bit. y
Ills lldlc WIS IlCulutiLl, ttlu llC GcSStille
a useful servant, but his health declined
daily, and one day he called Dowse to him
and said: ss" Cap n, my time is nigh up,
and for your Kindness to me I will give
you {. chance to get rich. n 4le years ago
was on a sealer from ST., Ohm IS called the
Seaweed. Captain Tibbsewas master, and
we was bound for the South Shetlands
and on the 10th 81 May was pitchin off
Cape Horn. Captain Tibbs was afraid of
nawthin, and when he found the way
clear he. Jess kept crackin on south, and
when he took his recl1 min we was far
ther south than any sealer had ever been
before. BY night he was to the Ice of an is.
land, 'csrlse we heard the surf beat on the
beach, and next mornin when the sun
rose. saw a sight that made all hands jump.
Making for the gravelly beach was not less
than 10000 fur SEAL some as big as wal
rus. Well, there was 10 OF us, and we went
quietly to work to drive the seals. They
had never been near q white man before
and were tame as chickens We killed in
daytime and skinned all night It was
KILN work, and by the time we had
10000 skins in the hold OF our 90 ton
hooker all hands were used up, but we
were on the road TO fortune. Sure, them
skins was with eco apiece in China, SO
we LETT the island Aug. 10, 1910. -
d, We took the longest .route sailin cast,
SO as to strike the cape OF Good Hope, for
our provisions would last no longer, ard in
1873 days We're in Canton river. Our cargo
must have brought 100000: ard as we
was on the laytI got $1,000. Well, of
course, I1nado q fool of myself, was drunk
for u month, and finally some Of the crew
took me, aboard in that condition, and !
awoi.e to ind myself Off soundin's. Sec
ond day out we was caught in u typhcon.
y was in my bunk, and when l got on
deck the mast VS. gone and all but five OF
my 1ness1natcS had been wcshcd over
board. The Sessweed was Tallopin about
like u mad bull. All at\once she struck,
and when l got my breath l was layin
ashore among q lot Of wrc3:!zagc and all
bruised up, and there I WAS when day
broke. never saw Il splinter OF the sloop
or any Of my lnessHlatcs again. Solnethin
black was washed up On the beach that /
knew was the captains chart case, and
this picked up. l YVES in luck, for three
hours afterWard Chinese junk came
along and took me aboard, and got to
Shanghai. Nov, cap H. thar s. the chart
case ii my chest, and the island is marked
plain as u hole in a gru1nmet, and you
can try your luck. - r. z -
j 5Dowse examined the chart. It was cor.
roborative Of the old man S story. Ec grew
excited. His wife had $4,000, and her
brother was we'll to do and would be a part.
ner. "Hurrah for the south seasv'
a A week after RcdMan PASSED away, and
inside Of a month the North Star, /, 100
ton schooner, with Dowse ard u hardy
crew of Is men, was beating out ci N;:r.rtl-
gansett. !" On the 9th CT April, 1926, tncy
sighted Cape Horn, and 50 i;.r had met but
little ice. Everything depended On iris. In
some seasons 200 miles OF lie might lie be-
tween them and their Iro,...isod Lind. L he
chart was consulted hourly, ;.-d /. l.!4n
lashed on the forctor1nast d~y and night.
About middle watch one Of the Gov called
down the cabin hatch: ''Capt;.in DoVsc,
thar's seal about. / can hear ITEM We're
near land" Sure enough, the noarse grov'l
Of q bull was distinctly heard. Sail H;;s
taken in and the schoouer's way checked
until daylight, when the cry Went up:
"Good Lord! Thar they arc-1 600, 900 on
'em.''
This was Rednan's island-a wide beach
with an upland of rocks But the seals!
For mile they lay ten deep. The golden
sands Of India were no comparison. TIE
4l1Cu 'WcIO tIAA EcApCIlcuCcO LII Ullc DuoluCSS
and went to work SO as to bring out the
best results, and by the middle Of July
$4,000 seal skins were barreled on deck or
in the hold, leaving scarce room for water
and provisions. The Pacific route was
taken, and in los days they reached the
coast Of China and Hongkong. Their car
60 brought over $500, 600, as the market
was bare of skins. OF this over $500, 900
went to the captain and schooner.
\ 1t was too late to make another trip
back, SO the North Star sailed for Sydney,
and in the spring tried her luck again. It
proved another open season. They made
q full cargo. sailed for Hongkong and
disposed Of their furs on satisfactory terms,
got English exchange, 10 per cent premi
UNI, for their money, and, finding q pur-
chaser for the North Star, took passage on
an English ship for London, thence home,
having been gone two years and six months.
s Josiah was now worth $500, 900, and he
went to Canada to engage in the timber
trade, was very successful and left large
fortune to his son Hugh. In 1924 not less
than eight boats left Newport for the
southern Ell Dorado, but for years after
the ice pack was solid for $50 miles north
of Dowse's island. Some of the boats new