The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-10-04
SEEING THE FAIR
in DETAIL

in DETAIL
fools 1t ! Once Great lndustry-Whal.
ers, Outfit From North Carolina That
Has Seen Years Of Uss-The Killing
81 Z Whale-The Kind Of Fowling
PIscs George Washington Carried.
Birds Of North carolina-Two That
Tsnnyson Mentions - Fisher Birds
and Robbsrs-How the Demands Of
MilIiners Nearly Exterminated the
Snowy Heron ~ Shore and Marsh
Birds.
ESPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE BY
MARK BENNITT.l
Perhaps because a near neighbor OF
mine followed the sea in his youth and
used to regale me in after dinner hours
with narratives Of life aboard a Vhaler
I was more interested than you may be
IN the old whaling outfit which hangs
in the North Carolina exhibit. What
exciting scenes must have accompanied
their use! The picture in the old geog-
raphy labeled ''Whaling In the Arc
tics represented a whale breaking a
boat in two with a flip of his tail, while
men were flying in the air like so many
pairs of open shears in the hands of a
juggler. That picture gave me a per-
petual distaste for whaling in its rigor-
Gus reality, but the narratives have
never lost favor.
You may not know that whaling is
still an industry of no small Importance
along the Atlantic coast, for we still
must have whalebone. Whales are, In
fact. more abundant than at the time
whaling lost its greatest Importance,
following the discovery of petroleum.
The whaling of North Carolina is "shore
whaling" but the whalers outfit is the
same as used aboard ship when the
whales are dashed to the sides to be cut
up and the blubber tried out on board
the vessel. This outfit was in use as
late as last spring of Beaufort. On one
OF the lances we may read upon a label
In the whaler's own language, BIN In
As Whales"
When a whale was sighted in the
old days the first act was to harpoon
him. This act was usually attended
with great peril. I suspect that the
men in the geography picture had just
harpooned a whale and the whale hat
resented 1t. Then came the lancine
with the long sharp spear to reach thu
lungs and cause death. Between the
Ih%arpooning and lancing a considerable
interval usually occurred. The whale
would sound" after harpooning, go
ing below and taking with him a boa
load Of rope attached to the harpoon
The harpoon has cruel barbs, its frs
purpose being to fasten q line to tn
whale. Sometimes the line would no
run smoothly as the whale went down
Now and then it would loop aroun'
some object in the boat-perhaps on
Of the crew-and many a whaler ha
gone to Davy Jones locker by tina
swift route. ~
The drag, which you may see here
is a wooden block twelve to hftee'
inches square, with a hole through th
center. Through this hole the harpoo
rope runs, and when the drag may b
safely launched the rope Is knotte
to hold the drag, which is intended
retard the progress Of the whale an
tire him. =.
The lancing Of the whale is scarcel
less dangerous than the h%arpooninl
for the victim may still have muc
strength and a worse temper tina
liz $50 A. h.~ Io~Aol horvo0nr nnforQ
his side.
The toggle iron is another form {
harpoon, with point and barb on
hinge, SO that a backward pull whe
It is once in the whale spreads the to
In the animals flesh and holds it mo-
securely.
The whale gun was invented durir
the later period of the whaling indu
try, and the harpooner became the ms
behind the gun. The whale gun has
bore Of nearly an inch and carries
ten inch bomb with rubber feathers
guide the explosive missile. The gu
ner is not always sure of his whel
abouts Immediately after a shot on q
count Of a tremendous recoil. 4.
bomb has a fuse set at two seconl
and when well within the vitals of
whale makes quick work Of him. 81
powder horn and cap box hang best
the old gun, and this whale spade,
cut off the blubber, has seen service
hundreds of whales. When passi
along the north aisle Of the Palace
Forestry take a look at these tools us
In the romantic industry that built
New Bedford and other New Engla
towns in the early part Of the Il
century.
When George Washington went
into his preserves to shoot a few dr
or other birds, he carried a fowl
piece with barrel ven feet long.
was a muZzle loader and had a iii
AL4 ~ 49, A$-<1