The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-14
Store Closes 63O Every Evening Saturdays Excepted

schooner as possible and scans the water
with the glass, at first nearly ahead,
and then, as the boat runs on, In
widening circle to port and starboard
While doing this he explains that 20 is
worth a good deal to catch a whale feed
ing. as II then les nearly stlll on the wa
ter, and is more easily approached than
when IL Is moving about
He has run on for what seems to be
more than two miles and is just about
to turn the boat back again. when the
water, and, without taking 10 from his
eye, he slowly swings the wheel over un-
III the bow Of the boat Is pointing for
the place on which 1t rests, point
nearly south Of the course on which we
have been running. Sure enough, a look
through the glass shows another whale
or, what Us more probable, one Of the
same two which we chased a short time
ago. but he looks very different. He
shows more plainly IN the water and has
none Of the restless shifty motion Of the
other two. Gradually the speed of the
boat Is decreased for care and not speed
must be used in getting up with this
fellow, and at length she is sneaklng along
with the screw, turning over just about
fast enough to Keep Storage way on
her. Slowly she creeps along, making
slight curve I'm her course, so as 70 come
al him as much from behind as is consis-
tent with placing shot well, for that
makes It more difficult for him to see
the boat and IL he once takes alarm he
Will be off like a shot, and there viii be
but small chance Of seeing him again.
At length we are close enough up for a
shot, and Capt. Ed, signing to the POrtu-
guese to take the wheel, lifts the bomb
lance gun and steps out on the deck.
The vale Is floating high IN the water and
presenting an excellent mark, an import
ant matter, as the bomb, to be effective,
must be lodged either under his back
bone or close above IL, and there Is a vast
amount of blubber and flesh rising above
the backbone and serving as a protection.
Capt. Ed draws the bead on him just a
the water line and as far forward as he
ftF rFlfa sff aT asfa-
by the forward range of the bomb, and
pulls the trigger. There is a loud coarse
report something like that made by a
Standing at one side Of the gunner, the
bomb can be seen to strike the side of
the whale pretty well down toward the
water, but rather too far back to be i'm
mediately effective, and on the instant
the whale darts forward with a Writhe
and disappears under the water. He
comes to the surface again in an instant,
rushes forward, dives again, and then
coming 10 the surface again starts Off n
a pace that taxes the little craft to the
utmost to keen M with Soon however Ar
can be seen that the bomb has done It's
work for the speed quickly slackens, and
In a few moments. with a last struggle
which reddens the sea all about him, he
lies quiet on the surface.
The boat is instantly run for him al
fun speed, for killing a whale Is not get
ting him BY any means, as he almost in
variably sinks to the bottom within a few
moments after being killed. Lying along
harpoon, and attached to it is a long line
and a keg marked r. NJ. AS the boat
comes alongside, the Portuguese catches
up the harpoon and drives IL as deeply
al he can into the whales body The
shank Is then Withdrawn, the line and key
thrown overheard, and the whale is salts
factorily marked for his owner If he
should sink. It is quite evident that he IS
going to do this, for he is settling rapidly
in the water which Is already washing
over the CHASTITY hole where the bomb
lance entered There is no pos
as the Alma NJ keeping him adoat:
so, as he sinks slowly down, the wheel
Is once more spun over, and the BOATS
head turned for home. In few days he
will rise to the surface again, and the
owner win then claim him.
Most Of the whales are disposed OF at
Nickerson's oil works in ProVincetown,
where they are tried out They are strip
ped of their blubber by cutting a strip off
round and round the body. This strip is
started with sharp edge spades, and the
end Of IT is hooked into a tackle above.
AS this tackle Is hauled upon, the whale
turns over and over, and the men stand
ing upon him keep starting the blubber
with their spades. so that il peals off as
one would peel an orange In addition
to this, the sperm whale has a great tank
of oil IN his head, which holds about half
of what the rest of the body win YIELD
and the right whale has the valuable
backs have neither Of these.