Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1904-11-17

WHALING DAYS


: tcaused the loss of all on board save tn,
D two mentioned. 1t was said by som,
+ that the bark was top-heavy, with spar
disproportioned to her size.
; Little did that crew of % men dream
| of such an ending, when on beauti
t full summer day in June they sailed ou
r of Padanaram hartor, with the cheers
of encouragement and expressions o
= good luck ringing in their ears until
well out of sight of land. 1t was OF
, June IL, 1854, that she left the ole
stone pier near the yacht clubhouse fol
: the beginning of this memorable cruise
and there was no prouder man in
town that day than Capt. Spooner Jen
p kins when his friend sailed away II
command of the ship which he had
/, watched from the laying of her keel tc
; the set of every sail The Grape was
given an old-fashioned whalelnan's
send-off, and there are several living
in the village today who remember
her departure, for the departure and
arrival Of ships then were events In
which nearly every one was interested
II was none of your send-offs while
anchored below, later towing out 70
sea, as is done today, but a clean
start direct from the wharf where she
fitted for sea.
The crew were largely American cit
liens, for Dartmouth took a pride in
sending ships to sea manned by her
Town sons. There were a few from
foreign countries, and these were prin-
cipally Kanakas, then quite numerous
III this section. There were but two
Portuguese on the ship, a somewhat
different finding than now, when a
ships complement is largely from the
western islands, with never a Kanaka
and but few Americans. Here is the
list of men who left Padanaram that
day, and 1t is safe to assume that the
same men were on the Inflated bark
when she went down: Archelaus
Baker, Jr., master; Elihu Akin, frs,
mate; Elijah B. Devol, second mate
George A. Macomber, third mate; john
Daniels, Fred s. Mosher and Theodore
Lockwood. boat-steerers; William
Brown, James Thomas, William III.
Peckham, Reuben II. Mosher, Ben
jamin F. Page, Thaddeus Baldwin,
John Williams, Daniel Turner, Joseph
G. Shnfelt, Antoine Manual, Jose
Rorotonga, Villain Grape, William
Moui, Joseph Francis and Henry H
: Grape. Manual and Francis were
the Portuguese on the vessel, and both
Grapes, Moui and Rorotonga were
Sandwich islanders. The Kanaka
who took the name of the bark went
down with the vessel while he who
selected the name of William Crapo
} had better luck, and with Capt. Baker,
was rescued by the British mai,
/ steamer England
The voyage proceeded without Incl.
dent until just after leaving st
, Augustines bay, island of Madagascar
| This was January H. 1857, when the
| bark was homeward bound. Eight days
out. while in latitude $3.50 south, long
, itude $3.50 east, the ship met hel
doom, and carried with her to the bot
: tom 20 human beings. who that morn
! ing looked forward to a speedy return
to home and friends. The weather thai
day had been exceptionally fine. The
wind was light from the north, ant
: during the whole day, from sunrise
until the last half of Ne dog watch
= with all sail set, the bark could not dc
l letter than two knots an hour. Abou
2 { o'clock in the evening, however
2 clouds were noticed in the northwest
5 indicating a squat. The lightnins
I played its part in the distance, and the
: squall worked up toward the ship yer,
5 slowly. All light sails were taken il
5 and the studding booms rugged In
. ready for the blow which was antic
n pated, but which petered out befor,
. reaching the ship. An hour later
fell dead calm one of those tropical
n like calms-forerunner of blow. TIL,
courses were hauled up and the spank
T. err taken in. The squall apparently ha,
d passed over to the southeast. 1t wa
n raining at the time. and the only re
c minder of the sQuall was the thunde
y and lightning. which continued for
o while. The topsails had teen clewe,
r down. reef tackles hauled out an
Il buntlines hauled up snug. At 9p. m.
J. light breeze sprang up from tn
g south. gradually increasing in violence
" II looked bad and threatening. the con
Z. ing of this second squall so close upo
II the heels of the blow from the north
d and Capt Baker ordered the topsail
IS double-reefed. No sooner had tn
Q, foretopsail been reduced to a doubl
IS reef than all hands were called o.
a. deck to clew up and furl the foretoI
y sail and mainsail While in the act @
5. furling the foretopsail heavy gust c
d wind struck the bark. and she wen
'. over instantly. The men on the for,
II topsail yard were washed overheard a
:. the ship went over. and were drowned
e Capt. Baker then ordered the lar
n yards to the rigging cut and the stal
S, board boat launched. The boat wa
& found 20 have been steven, and file
d Immediately upon touching the water
l. and not another boat that could b
5. reached. The matches ha0 not bee
AAwn anA hN x,~ant Nx.-