The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-04-26
FAsoINAT1oxs or WHALING.
Thiss- Abeut che Calling thst Make Sea-
men and 0aleers Like ne.

"A whnler IL tho best of all vessels for n sea
man 10 ship aboard Of" said n South street
shipping agent. ''and whenever I put on IN,
bulletin that | want men FOR a whaling voyage
] have ten applications for every one I would
have for ordinary merchant service. In the
first place. on a whaler there is no fancy wood
or paint to scour; no metal TO be polished
There Ia lots Of time below. and the ship Is
never short-handed The sailors have little tc
do between the capture and getting aboard shir
OF one whale and the sighting Of another. and
whales are not so plentiful as TO make that In,
terval very short. The whales of the North
Pacific are now about the only whales that are
hunted. Tho weather there Is 80 intensely
cold that the snilors enjoy immunity from
work In the rigging.
Then, again, the officers OF n whaling vessel
are uniformly kind and considerate TO the
crew, even If they nre inclined TO be other.
wise. There Is no beating or punishment OF
any kind on board a whalcr. This isn't be-.
cause officers on n whaling vessel are naturally
more disposed to kindness and leniency than
the officers of merchantmen. There are two
reasons for such q pleasant state of affairs
aboard a whalcr., One IS that the men all hnve
an interest In the catch, and the better they
conduct themselves and perform their duty
the, creator chance they have of increasing
The other Is that the officers depend for the
AMOUNT OF thor profits on the size of the catch,
hiu hlsO LOT u reputation Tor TuturC lucrative
enRaEenents on the success they make OF n
voyage. They are held responsible for tho
success or non-success Of a vessel on the, whal-
Ing grounds. In the knowledge Of this the
mon have u weapon with which they tan al
ways protect, themselves against tyranny and
whale, is a tiny thing to be in such an enor-
nous head; and IL the whales mower Of vision
were all the ,whalcr had TO, guard against In
more whales !" would Tiidd''tbe be RRiiiiTesd. But sntq hearing %ins
Is the whales strong point. 1t can, hear suspi.
noise will Brighten it. and off IL will go on the
instant Tor tho north. perhaps. into unknown
cruel superiors, could easily Fl girhten every py
whale away, and the vessel might cruise aud
cruise IN vain. such tactics would work to the
but they would soon bring the officers To terms.
SO no officer cares to give n crew reason to
San Francisco is the chief whaling port Of
the, United states In these latter days of the
business, although the vessels engaged in It
Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Whale
bone, or baleen. as the commercial term hns
whale fisheries. and, only. the Arctic or Green.
land an whale provides i. The Greenland
w whhhiiSS has has no ple setyh' of qf the@. 'h and i0f form %R%,S;
ones, too. but its mouth is lifted with biz
strainer-like appendices with which It nets
the. myriads OF minute mollusks on which
IL feeds. These appendages furnish the ms
teriai known as the whalebone of commerce..
tain. Not that whale oil is no Longer an OBJ.
1ect OF the long and nerilous search. Oil is
still an important article to be sought for in
whaling. rs there are many uses which no
O. other %rs oil his has yet been found to serve. but Il
even the small whaling fleet of to-day would
be much smaller than it IS.
1T is IA clever piece of work to get within
harpoOning distance of one Of these whales.
They have become so alert from much pursuit
in these CONTRACTED icy seas that It is no Sadavs
next TO impossible to reach one in n, boat pro
pelleu Dy oars. sails are now Used AS the
boat ,neurs the whale. a whisper, the tapping
of n boot heel on the bottom Of the boat, a flap
sounds. will alarm the whale instantly. and
away 1t will go like a hurricane. leaving fur;
useless, to follow. even II the boat was pro.
by steam; AS the boat draws near the
breathe. But the instant the harpoon is quiv-
erine in the monsters ribs. or the bomb is
buried there, they may yell and whoop them
But even after n whale is harpooned. killed,
and bropght alongside the chip and dashed
crew has got it. The whale is not a safe and
cure prize Intil every hit of blnbber is stripped
from It, and the bone all removed and hoisted
donS".three days not being STiG't too shor; a
and force the crew to let the big carcass go.
No work can be done on it while the gale is
It's bulk banging and pounding, against the
ships side, Many a good catch has been lost
81 Just such critical times, and an eager crew
to bid good by to IA hard-earned prize
as II tossed and tiooted away on the tempestu-
ous sea. These derolict whales are frequently
come upon during 2 cruise. They nre some
times detected by the sense of smell long he
they are seen. In spite of the frightful
1dor that issues from one OF these floating car
'asses-no landsman could endure it there
ire always members of n crew who are willing
2 row out 70 the tloater and Investigate it. on
the chance that the bone hasn't yet separated
rom the jaw. There are from 100 to 200
pounds OF baleen, in a big whale. and 1t is
The perils of the whalcrs in these frozen
waters are many. but the profits are CORE
'pondingtiy large. The common danger makes
'els. although they may be sharp rivals for
he possession of a whale, If a ship is nippcd
n an ice pack every vessel in sight will hasten
accident TO. one whaler becomes the
concern OF all, and nothing else Is thought
In the fleet, until the unfortunate is relieved
# deeds OF heroism have teen done by whaltrs
n the far away seas of ice which are never heard
except when old messmates meet.
~ good Captain of an Arctic wha ling yes
el is "A most independent man. So is an ex-
'ert harpooner. Some Captains have reputa-
ions for uncommon good luck in finding
'thers and are followed closely wherever they
ruise. Thus 1t Is no uncommon thing to soc
he crews CT a number of vessels in Arctic
watching and trusting TO the move
whose luck has served him particularly we'll
n previous voyages. There are Captains
Tho have done SO well in years of whaling
hat they have become very rich men. vet
here Is such fascination to them In cruising
mong the ice foes and storm beaten waters
{ the Arctic region that they cannot resist
'hich they may surround themselves At
and they turn their faces eagerly to.
'ard the whaling grounds with every return
az season. and sail away TO tempt once more
he DeIilS of those frozen seas"