The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-06-08
WHALING DAYS.
But Few Are Still Engaged in This
Dangerous Pursuit.
Boston JournalJ

1t was Professor Agassiz, the en-
inent naturalist. who made the predic-
ton twenty years ago that within fifty
years the whale would become extinct,
and the prediction made may be veri
fed in less time than he mentioned. in
the years gone by, when great fleets
went out from the United States, Eng
land, Germany and Russia to hunt the
whale in every sea, even to within a
few degrees of the north pole, he was
annually slaughtered by the thousand,
and one might have safely predicted
his total extinction if the fleets con-
tiLued their work. But they did not.
Other oils came to be preferred and
in place of fleets, vessels went out only
by threes and tours. The whales have
been given a quarter of a century in
which 70 restore, their number, but 1t
seems as if the respite came too late.
In every known sea they have been
growing scarcer and scarcer year by
year, and hunting the leviathan of the
deep is now as uncertain as hunting the
elk Of the forest.
The hunting of the whale for his oil
ceased several years ago. as the price
dropped to a low figure, but there are
quite a number of vessels pursuing him
for the whalebOne he yields. This is
found in the Arctic whale alone, as no
other species is thus supplied, and he
must be followed to the frozen seas Of
the north. There are uses for whale
bone which no substitute can fill, but
it seems. as If there would not be a
pound Of it TO be had in a few years.
In 1925 no less than eighty-six whales
were taken by the Nantucket fishermen,
and old Southampton, /. l., was ia
nous for the taking Of the whale as far
back as 1869, when the catch OF that
port was twelve.
To this day the men Of Amagansett
put off from the shore TO the stirring
cry of There she blOwsi" The Ameri-
can whaling industry has had some
serious setbaCks. In 1871 thirty three
vessels belonging to the Arctic fleet
were crushed in the ice, and during the
civil war the confederate privateer
Shenandoah captured and burned a
large feet. There is precious little ro-
nance left in the whaling business as
well as mighty little profit.
Whale fishing was about the first in
dustry engaged in by the cOlOnists.
All along the coast from Wilmington,
Del to the mouth of the St. Lawrence,
It was pursued with great success.
During the year 1892 forty-twO ships
were sent from the town of Sag HarbOr,
L. l. That town and Nantucket were
the principal whaling ports of the coup-
try. Today there is not a single whaler
hailing from Sag Harbor At the pres
ent time the majority Of all the ships
enga ged in this trade are owned In
New Bedford which is now the seat
of the American whaling industry.
Latest advices from the whaling fleet
are woefully discouraging. The catch
for a twelvemOnth amounts to thirty
nine whales. The best for one vessel
was twelve. and three vessels had no
luck at all. During the present season
only twenty-five were taken, the others
being credited to the season Of 1900.
A few years ago there were 100000
pounds Of whalebOne in the American
market. and on Oct. Is of last year the
supply had declined TO 1880, Of which
s. 500 were held IN New Bedford. At
a. recent sale the price of whaleb0ne
pound was quoted at $3.50, and New
Bedford dealers say it will advance to
81 a pound.
The whale lives principally upon the
devilfsh, or octopus, and its mortal
enemies are the shark sand swOrdfish.
The meat of the whale tastes some
tnlnE IKE DtE1s Dul - NOd1Scl anu mas
a strong flavor. Ambergrfs is the most
valuable product Of the whale fishing
industry. 1t is rarely found by -whalers
upon removing the blubber of the
whale The substance is Of enormous
value, and is found only in the sperm
whale. The largest quantity ever found
at one time was taken from whale
by the schooner Waterman. of Nan
tucket 1t weighed $40 pounds, and
[ was sold in Boston for 81 500.
Whales are great travellers. For ex-
ample, the ship Catawba Of Nantucket
: struck a whale off the coast Of Brazil,
and twenty years later the same whale
was ca ptured by the Andrew Hicks off
/ the Galapagos islands. In 1902 Captain
Paddock of the ship Lion of Nantucket
struck a sperm whale OFF the River La
Plata. but was forced 20 abandon Il.
/ In 1915 ne captured the same whale of
I the Galapagos islands.