Southwest-sentinel. [volume] (Silver City, N.M.) 1883-189?, 1896-04-28

Hlns hnlnl-n wes E1eni1 fe.t ~
nen1IA aef ua1 . Qnt.r rootior ne,a
nise q, erenp ~ tsse.sr
rNo aslf CarlaIh T. "A. Csonn.n
81 ecrlh Portland. eve didn't cnc1ln-
lU the go snrrent tut wo had ar'fonga
mreflooco with q whale. end I dont
believe nnytoiy rVsr had tho like BE-.
FORE I've heen af Gea. man and boz.
gInco I was ytnra od. end ! never rau
ere iiko az tho whale We encountered 4
newer saw n whale before that didn't
blow. bit ths one We met didn't bus il
save n roar hnt WAS awful"
"n eonudcd Ike lhe htu1 m Central
para, New Xolk. " said Mim Houston.
who waa b Of the party thni hnd TIE
strange cncounloE
IL certainly was more like the roar
81 g lien than anything else I can think
81. said Captain Crosman.
The schooner Graco Webster. Captain
Crotsman. was a. her way from New
York to Portland With 4fs tons q coal
Besides ne captain and crow Mra Cross
man. her dauQhtor and Miss Houston
were On board
The schooner was about ten miles on
Wood island and making good Roadway
updoE fuii sail. tha mate. Merrill Cross
man. - the whesl. when thero was 3
Sudden commoiion ahead. and the great
bead shot up into the air and was on q
level with the deck
One q the crew first sighted the
strange creature and called Captain
Croeman. and in a moment all IN
board but the man 40 the wheel were
looking az the strange sight They cav
before them an enormous head. one
mass 81 great bunchos. through which
She wicked locking eyes q tho cEsaturo
elaamed They expected the whale. II
such. would blow, but Il did not thou
q after. Once e narrow thread Of what
looked like steam shot up, but not .
drop Of water was sent into tho air. As
theY looked AZ the creature Il reared
savaEely, and then drew Close Up 10 the
eide ~ she schooner, giving them ample
time 10 observe the head, and all aeres
that u was very broad; that IL taporod
almost 70 q point. and that it was not
very chick through the thickest part.
The creature was about 70 70 80 feet In
length and had a very broad tail. very
different from that Of an ordinary
whale In fact, &c the time there were
three q four whales Ia sight, and they
had no difficulty IN noting the points Of
difference between them and the stran-
ser.
The great creature went down head
nrtt and thcn made q series Of attempts
20 strike the side Of the schooner with
its tail Il did not succeed and swan
around them, roaring loudly, Ia evident
angey. Then Il went down and under
The schooner.
Captain Or0sBmau, who had watched
Cor this movement, gave orders 70 Be
ready 10 lower the boat, fearing that tho
whale might come up under them and
break Them IN two Il was very fortu-
nate that they were not forced 10 lower
their boat. % il proved later to bo leak
iR and would not have carried half
their number safely 10 land.
Scr more than an hour the whale con.
ti1fued its remarkable ~acrobatic perform
ancs, standing on ita head. with lie
tail waving Ia the air most Of the time.
10 seemed bent On hitting the schooner,
and Il took the best Of good seamanship
70 prevent an encounter.
Al last the whale seemed 10 get tired
o. what had been fun at hrst, and Il
headed for the westward.
Captain Crossmnn Is Of the opinion
that this strange whale must have been
mistaken for q sea serpent many times.
sson but q short distance on. the head
would look more like that q q great
serpent than Of q whale.
The creature. while making Sc long
and repeated attempts ohit the schoon-
ca, continued itB roaring when above
water. Il wouid scrapo against the side
of the schooner and then would dfGW
on. seem 10 b calculating the distance,
and then strike. The schooner Waa kept
OF nt the right moment and the crea-
ture missed the weasel every time Il
Waa an odd experiences, and for q time
there wa something closely resembling
. panic, the women being badly fright
enod
Miss Houston said that the sight q
that great mass standing almost upright
in midocean wa somethinR not 20 DO
forgotten. Captain Crossman is uncer-
tain whether the whale 1s q natural
fghter on whether Il was frightened
when Il anne mp out Of the water, and
a. q result Of lie confusion made the re-
peated attempts 20 sink the schooner.
One Of the crew his Il with a bolt, and
many times Captain Gresham said he
could have hit Il with . board from the
deck Ho did not venture 20 do anything
20 further arouse its anger and lot II 60
in psaca-Portland me Press