The Nome nugget., 1901-11-20

they can grow up undisturbed by their
enemies to maturity or until they be-
come so large they needs must stay In
the richer pastures of the south, where
they quickly become the prey of the
whalers.
The large number Of steam whalers
cruising in the Arctic for the last &C
years las tended TO make the whales
more wary. THY even learned to
know the noise made by the charming
OF the propellers. They would keep
we'll ahead of the ship and retreat
further and swiftly betw cen the
heavy Ace pack, which they would
not leave until absolutely forced out
again b. The freezing Of the ocean. OF
la, G years, therefore. it has be, II more
AMI more only while the whales were
migrating to asar that the wLalcrs
have been able to catch any. Still in
some season, conditions prevail in the
Arctic very favorable to the whalers,
ana there is enough of the hog in the
whales nature, and The fact is notice
able today with the decreasing number
of steam whalers, to make them banker
after and induce them to linger again
on the rich feeding grounds they had
been driven fronA.
Take it .all in al! the catching Of
Whales is surmounted with ndltiou-,
which carefully looked into, will in
crease the chances OF success, and now
that an intelligent population has
settled ON these shores, more attention
will naturally be given to the habits OF
the whale, and The prevailing i'll con-
Litions. THAI there are still number
less whales in the Alaskan waters
have from personal observation.
was stationed for years at PIT. Barro~
engag ed in the business OF shore wGal-
ing. The whales in their uOrthWard
migration pass close to this point every
spring. From the middle Of April to
the middle of June they would stream
by day after day in IL seemingly endless
procession. rushing to the north like
statnreA ers to new digging-. Later
under the bead Of "Shore whaling
there will be occasion to treat this more
fully.
In the early days of the New Bedford
whaling industry many youn. men of
New England were proud to ship aboard
wha!er and go off on a cruise lasting
fromsthree to four years. The expert
ence gained and the training made
them daring and resourceful. 1t was
to the men raised in that school tt at
American shipping was largely in
debsed for its prosperity during the
first half of ,he nineteenth CENTURY.
Later VIXEN the industry cook On It's
large proportions, the ship owners
mo, and more had to repleniSh their
crews from the Portug uese natives OF
Cape Verde Islands, ship Kanakars
and scour the slums of New York for
sailors. So too. it became the fashion
in San Francisco to ship the scum OF
the water front on the whaling vessels.
This not only ten led 10 make the crews
inefficient, bat also brought the bus
siness, as a cal eer fer young man,
more anl more into disrepute. This
should not be. The occupation is
healty. well aiap Ell to make good men
and with just enough danger attached
TO it to give it zest. The day willcome
when ttere Will be living men will
families on these shores who will make
whaling their sole occupa ion. just like
it ueed to be,in New England.
1t is well tn willie for the inhab-
liant of Northwestern Alaska to lock
carefully into the situation and the
opportunity afforded to them by the
whaling business. They should get
together and fit ent a vessel or two.
The industry would soon grow by its
own weight here as it has done in ether
places before, and it would not he many
years when the wealth produced by th q
whaling industry here would rival tha
wealth produces. by our mines.
CONRAD STEM.