The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-01-10

TIE HEAD OF A AARPOON MADE THE
SPOUTER A FREAK.

Who Crushed Small Goat Between
HIS POndcrOus JnWn.
The oa!y time ! ever MAS really
frightened was when l was fast to IL
whistlInE whale OH the Japan grounds
III ISL" Old Captain Rogers OF New
London was talking. 1T was my sec
ond voyage whaling, and had shipped
as boat stecrer on the Nautilus. We
had been out from home some is
months and had met with fairly good
luck, when one morning There She
blows" came down from one OF the
iookouts alOft. 1t was just after six
Delis. and the second mates watch was
below The mate, whose boat steer
ed, was In charge Of the deck.
Where away" he shouted.
About three miles off the weather
BEAM
1.-The whale, after it had sounded.
broke water half mile nearer the
ship, spOutcd once and turned hukcs.
That whale acts to me as II lie was
CALLED said the old man as he came
down on deck. Hes got separated
from Il school,
Yes. but spread your chances and
work cautious. for you'll find him shy
"-All three boats were lowered, ami
for some 90 minutes we pulled hard,
taking courses Il little different. Then
all three crews stopped and waited for
the whale TO come UP again. The
three boats were then about half Il
mile apart ours Il little the farthcst
from the ship.
'Suddcnly the whale broke water Il
short distance from the second mates
boat and began TO spout. And he
sp0Utcd with 4 most uncarihly whistle.
1 tell you. it scared us. The men sat
motonlcss in their seats until the
whale went circling about 1t didn't
seem 10 know we were near till Ec
boat open mouthcd.
''As he came Oh with Il rush the crew
to man leapcd overheard. He tool;
the empty boat in his jaws and crush
ed it like an cggsicll. Then. catching
sight of our boat. he came ut us. but
our crew had partly recovered their
wits and sprang to the oars with Il
will.
''TO escape by speed was no go. but
just as the whale overlook us the mate
gave the boat Il sudden sheer TO port
by quick stroke of the steering oar.
and the monster shot by. just grazing
the starboard oars.
''As lie passed let drive one iron nt
him, and it planted firmly, but before l
could grasp the second he turned flukes
and went down like lightning The
sting Of the harpoon had taken all the
fight out of him.
II tell you lie went down deep. and
his speed was surprising. We had to
pour water on the clocks to keep them
from blazing. One drag after another
was bent on to stop him. Bu:, no. Only
single flake Of line was left in the tub
when the strain ended and the line be-
gan to slackcn.
He's risin" exclaimed the mate.
Haul in slack. and when he breaks wa
ter I'll let daylight through him"
"When about half Of the line was i'll,
the whale came about a dozen boat
lengths ahead. and he was spouting
again with the same unearthly whs-
ting. 1t put terror into all but the
mate who was forward with his lance.
bent on 'grcasing it, 1 had taken his
place at the steering oar.
1--WE started to pull UP to the whale.
but away lie went, towing the boat aft
er him so fast that the water rose like
walls on both sides
"For half an hour more lie kept this
up, then suddenly stopped and lay al
most still Oh the water. Slowly and
cautiously we pulled up to him. When
we came within striking distance, the
mate thrust at his vitals with the
lance, and pretty soon he rolled over
dead.
"On cutting into that whale the next
day we found the cnuse Of the wlis-
tling. 1t was the head of harpoon
imbcdded transverscly across one Of
the animals spout holes in such a man
ner that the escaping air produced n
shrill sound. The iron bore the initials
OF the ship James Loper of Nantucket,
and we afterward learned that she had
struck and lost large sperm whale
by the breaking Of n harpoon some IS
months previous.
1.-TWO New Bedford ships and bark
from New London. which reached
home before us. reported having sew
orally chased but failed to get fast to
lone whale. which whistled like a
steam engine when it spoutcd.
ellis roaming about alone is account
ed for by prcsuming that his whistling
frightened and scattered every school
thnt he approached. He was noble
fellow and slowed down 81 barrels of
sperm OIL"
'But what became OF the second
mates crew. who were left struggling
In the water when their boat was de-
molishcd?" l asked.
"Oh. the other boat picked them up
and took them back to the ship" re-
piled the old captain rs he lighted his
pipe and settled back for smoke
Youths Companion.
What Poverty Did.
In poem on Poverty" an Arkansas
poet says:
Poverty's coming: you cannot shirk;
ia urti