The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-08
YANKEE WHALER IN PORT.
STRANGE TIsITOR APPEARS JUST
BEFORE THE PARADE


people noticed tho marine novelty anchored in
the Narrows II was an American whaling
brigantin of the old style, flying large national
ensign from the main truck and with her dusky
crew staring in delight over the high bulwarks
and enjoying tho marine pageant THIS was
the Francis A. Barstow, recently arrived in port
! with a cargo Of whale oil. The whaler is brig
! antine, heavily SPARED yet handly rugged
! She has Ave large boats each about thirty feet
| In length, sung from davits two on each side
! and across the stern.
On Thursday evening, Sept ~ during strong
southerly breeze she sailed up to the Quarantine
| and anchored a short distance from the shore
| A long double ended boat dropped into the
water and a number of men jumped into IL and
! headed for the land, tall steersman standing
! i'm the stern. On approaching nearby the crew
were seen to he half naked negroes large musc,l-
| lar active fellows who pulled a brisk stro..c
| The steersman gave the boat a sharp
| turn around the of the pier where
| the landing was made by a simple twist II
! huge steering sweep, oar, and the
| pilot was landed The boat, which was like the
| other four fitted with spare ruddcr dashed on
| the port outboard side of the stern ready TO he
shipped for use in case a sail was required The
| men towed four on a side with immense oars
| fastened to the rowlucks in fact everything was
made fast to the boat SO that, in Of accident
such as n capsizc. the articles could be- secured
| Onc man stood in the stern to steer with an I'M,
mense sweep. in the handle Of which about
eighteen inches from the butt was set a
! peg OF wooden pin. al rgh. angles 10 the oar.
With one hand on the pin, the other on the oar.
| the steersman with a flirt of his wrist
| can swiftly swing the boat to the starbuard
| or port To avoid the attack Of whale or
| follow an abrupt turn Of the creature in its
| attempt to escape In the stern, near the after
thwart is placed a large tub with four hundred
| fathoms oflnc, which leads throughout the length
Of the boat passing out of the bow through small
! hole in the stem Near the steersman is a stout
| sanchion or Stumpy post. around which a turn
| is taken when the whale is made fast Alongside
| the oarsmcn, in brackets made for the purpose
| are kept four six harpoons their keen
| points covered with leather or canvas shcaths
| These harpoons have the finest tempered steel
! blades and are Of various shapes and kinds each
| adapted to its own particular use The metal
| rod connecting the blade with the wooden shaft
| is made Of the best nalcablc steel and is very
| pliable. When fast 10 the whale the metal rod
will bend without breaking This formidable
weapon is fitted with wooden shaft Of ash or
| other equally tough wood
A visit To the brigantine was made by SrS re
! porter who welcomed on board by Capt n, Coz.
| The latter planned the various contrIvances with
| Nh'H 'idi' IN tVulHHtu VI course lne
principal implements of the trade are the boats
| and harpoons Capt Mccoy showed harpuons
fitted with explosive bombs ofdynamte and a gun
charged Win high explosives the Bars,eS has
a crew OF twenty four men, all told; Capt Mccoy
%heI% arc nSuVe s we Of the " Vest Indian ns
| Islands and the Azores, The only other living
TSe Fnne S%aId s Snst Pg
! on Oct %, 1897, and has been absent from her
home prt since that date Capt Mccoy is her
th.,r ~,
| vessel He is, therefore. in no particular hurry
% return to New Bedford, lie has shipped to the
Of his vocation. His expeI cnccS have been varied
and some OF them exciting: His log, parts of
navigation and reference 70 the chase and ca ture
| Of whales. blGckfsh and other creatures Of the
senr Dnt nm the rsS nine months they have
270 barrels of fine oil twenty-five gallons Of black
FISH head oil, product in much demand for deli
Of oil from the BODIES Of the blackhsh. All these
oils are hrpi in separate casks and barrel and
! each has its own commercial value. The best of
! the catch vas SIX pounds Of ambcrGris which is
/ morbid secretion found in the stomach Of the
prIfumcry This produ is very valuable and is
rarely found Capt Mccoy says he expects to
CHAIN S,n@lll 500 pound for the ambergris. Capt
! cabin under the stern, a semic rcula, room. Here
he produced a small deal box from which he took
+! Next Capt Mccoy tooE his visitor on deck and
X,
mense caudrons, each Of a capacity Of five bar
relS Taxing of the tarpauns, with which they
are coye1sd to keep out the water in heavy Weather
a lesiduum of blubber. which was void Of
oil G1d and b.lr LIKE 1i.t large Pics o" fat which
the remains Of the ried.out blubber, is kept
to use as fuel when the next whale is cutup Thus
nothing is wasted. as each whale furnishes fui
~ trying out It's successor. The blubbcr is cut
oil IN layers ten inches in thickness and in huge
pieces for the watts or cauldrons; after the oil is
tried out each piece is reduced 10 the size of mans
hand and is hard and crisi.
The brgantne is handily rugged. having only
four yards on the foremost, the forcyard upper
and lower topsail yards and the topgall ant yard,
ana is splendid senbYal All her boats are
after being hoistcd clear rest on heavy beams
projecting from the vessels sides and stern and
| Her fore topgalant mast is fitted with a hoop
lookout station and another such station is ioca
hounds and truck. Al each Of these lockout
stations one of the crew is continually on duty
while cruising From one Of these elevated points
| " trst sighted the spouting water which ca Is
forth the announcem, III. There she blows" and
from these sta tons the lookouts give the dircc-
| ton Of the chase
Amidship on each side. the buwarks are cut
TO the deSk leaving an open gangway through the
vessel at this open gongway, an immense frame
attached by strong bolts to the vessels side is
lowered over the carcass, and upon this frame the
into the bubbcr. which is hoisted inboard through
h .is E" AZ Ss by tackle sttaGh s "o The
ing nearly as high as a mans shoulder. The
| forepart Is fitted with forctop foreCastle deck;
the forecastle is under the deck: the after part is
| a poop deck unbroken by house.. although a
| large skylght gives light and air to the cabin
below. On the poop deck near the rail each
| side is placed a wooden box. about fifteen feet
long. In these are kept various harpoons guns
| spades and other implements OF the trade,
| number Of tubs filed with beautiful soft rope
which runs freely from the tub when the whale is
struck struck by the harpoon to which It is attached.
| These tuDS are Kept in convenient places.
and are put into the boats when they leave the
| side
| The BarstOw is Coppercd on the bottom To pre-
vent the worms and borors Of the warm lattudes
| from penetrating and destroying the hull as
the vessel is necessarily long time at sea and
unable 10 dock Tor G eansing. For whaler there
is very little odor about the craft and everything
is kept clean and in order The vessel, though
small, being Of only l2l tons register is quite
comfortable in her appointments and her crew
Of seamen, all fine, strappng fellows, show that
! they get plenty 10 eat.
Capt Mccoy is a veteran in the business, hav-
ing followed the whale for thirty years. During
the war with Spain the Barstow cruised from
! off Honduras around Cuba and through the
Florida Straits On July and g. 1898 she
was within hearing distance of the sound of the
,nftl kattl, q 4