The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-06-12
Thrilling Times Experienced by a
New Bedford Whaler
HAD NO MEANS TO PURSUE
Whaleboats Crunched to Splinters in
Their Huge Jaws Miraculous Es-
cape Of Crews Cruising in
West Indian Waters.
From the New York Press.

the whaling bark President, Capt. An
tone +. Benton. The experience CT
the President is unprecedented in the
history of that port and tho voyage is
the sole topic of conversation among
the old Whalers To have boats car
rled away by the seas and OCCASION
ally lose one in capturing a whale is
nothing unusual in the trade, but to
lose six small boats five of them IN
hghting whales, is astonishing. For
tunately none of the crew was lost.
although their escape from death was
nothing short of miracle.
The captain says: Il left New Bed
ford on New. Z, 1896. for an unlimited
whaling cruise with a crew of % men.
The weather on the trip out was mild.
l headed the craft for the Cape Verde
islands and arrived there the last Of
December. Then l started for a cruise
to the Barbados and. succeeded in
capturing five small whales, which ret
ted me 70 barrels of OIL After that
catch l cruised to the West Indies and
took aboard supply of wood and
fresh water. My next cruise was to
what is known as the Western
countered a fearful storm. The an
cry seas swept over us, and many
times l thought we would never rise
again. In the blow one of the whale
boats was carried away from the
cranes and washed overheard, leaving
me with four boats After the storm
broke we had fine weather for a time
and caught some whale which fur
nished 100 barrels Of oil
ON August 20, 1898, the outlook re-
ported an exceedingly large whale about
mile and a half from the ship. I
hove to, and ordered three boats low
cred away. First Mate Joseph P, Ben
ton, my brother, had charge of one,
Second Mate Valentine Rose another
and Third Mate Paul Andrade the 9TH
er. The boats proceeded cautiously in
the direction of the whale and got close
to it. Andrade was the first to fasten
to it, and my brother ran close to it
to shoot. Like lightning the whale
rushed toward the first mates boat,
and bringing its mighty jaws down.
crushed the boat as you would an egg
she'll The monster instantly wheeled
around and made for the second mates
boat, which had line fastened to the
whale. The second mate cut the line
and tried to reach a place of safety,
but his efforts Were unavaling, for, as
before, the whale opened wide his jaws
and with one crunch reduced the boat
to bits. -
of the wrecks made by the angry
whale there was hardly piece of wood
left large enough to support man,
and the crew were obliged to swim
about. Fortunately the whale swan off
without further molesting the men. I
saw it all from the deck of the ship and
bore down on the scene. All the men
We're picked up from the ship without
loss. The third mate in the mean
time had made fast to another whale,
but l signaled him to cut off the line
and return to the ship. That left me
with only two boats, so I Immediately
sailed to ST. Michaels, in the Western
islands, and bought two more boats
From that port / went SOUTH and when
off Madeira captured two small whales.
From that time until February, 1899, l
cruised about those waters with vary
ing success, and little occurred to mar
the usual customs TO life aboard a
Whaler
In February, while off Barbados, I
sighted another extremely large whale
| and lowered three boats, I myself TAX
| ing charge of one. The first mate was
| the first one to strike him and he had
| no sooner done SO than the whale
| turned toward the boat and with the
| speed of a locomotive rushed at the
boat with open mouth. He caught the
craft full amidships and smashed it.
| themselves by jumping into the sea.
| The second mate then fastened to him,
| and he also made rush at that boat
They, realizing the danger, also jumped
| overheard and the boat was smashed
| by the whale as he had destroyed the
| other. | was standing close by with my
boat, when without warning the whale
| diverted his attention to me and came
| upon me like a gale. The crew of my
| boat remained cool and we prepared
to save ourselves and also the boat If
| possible. We struck the whale with a
| shot but he stood to his course and
| continued toward us. When alongside
he opened wide his mouth and our boat
| was directly between those monstrous
| jaws. AS he was descending upon us
| a mighty wave struck my boat and, as
| if by guiding hand, we We're thrown
wide of the jaws and clear of danger
| Fortunately the whale did not pursue
us and we hastily retreated toward the
| vessel. The experience of being so
close to death is beyond description
and 1 shall never forget it the longest
day l live. 1t was so close that the
| marks of the whale were left on the
| side of the boat.
| Soon after we got aboard the vessel
a gale blew up and it gradually in
! creased to a hurricane. We weathered
| the gale all right and went to Barba-
| does for provisions l then sailed to
| the Charleston grounds, arriving there
the early part of April. The latitude
| was 80 to 30, longitude 70 to rs west
On April gale struck us just be-
| fore midnight The weather was black
and the seas washed over us continu-
| ally. The squat struck us so suddenly
| that we lay over so much before the
! sail could be taken in that I thought
| we would never rise. During the gale
OH wa re InIf ,-nr,
| the cranes and washed overheard. Dur
| ing the remainder of the two months
| we had nice weather, and with the only
| boat l had left we got several small
| whales. On the 9th of this month we
came upon a school of whales and the
| boat was lowered, with the second mate
in charge. When he reached the school
| they turned as If by signal and rushed
| upon him like a stampede of wild steers.
! In jiffy the boat was smashed into
| kindling wood and the crew left strug-
| Cling in the water, but fortunately
/