The San Francisco call., 1905-06-30
Biz WHALE
hII "IHh
SW|NS NEAR
CITY DOCKS
Monster SpOuts up
Vast Clouds
Of Spray.

Somewhere in the bay of San Francisco
an adventurous whale, said to be a mon
sex Of his kind. is pIunging reckIessly
among the ships of commerce. Last
night the unusual visitor was first seen
passing within fifty feet of a wharf. and
FOR a tirlic il appeared as II he mignr
bump his sides against a pier or scrane
the fottom Of the bay with his keel.
The monster from the outer world ~
waters lashed about furiousIy in the con-
hnes Of the bay. to him mere cage.
As he swan he sent clouds of snrav
sloolpg into the air, believing '.ah-
Eioo-ah. as the true cachaIot thunders
when ne sDouts. Whether he will rind
ms way back TO old ocean or bacouna a
naroOned treasure of bone and all or
Some muddy reach, within sight of ad-
Nenlurous harpies Of the shore is a
conjecture among whaling men.
JOHNSON BEHoLDs MONSTER.
The whale was first spied by Harry
Johnson, the boatman at Folsom-str or
wharf. Johnson was in one of hts
launches on his way from the German
cruiser Falke- Whe within about fftv
1eet OF the wharf h saw what he snn-
posed 10 be a huge pile or part of a
bafge loom up about one hundred feet
away from his boat When he perceived
INNS AnONSQ ana QlSne0 the
water into foam he realized at once n
vas whale and put for the dock full
speed
ne whale swan calmly along. drawing
nearer TO the wharf each moment Wt,en
about fifty feet away, the animal rested
aho spurted Vaporous spray, which as
cenoed into the air about twenty feet
This sttracted the attention Of many Der-
sons On the wharf and for several ~
n1ents they stood spelIbound, fntentIv
watching the deep sea monster as he
lashed the water into foam and sent the
spray into the air
After the whale had finished shouting
and lashing he began to swim leisureIv
soUth' put Kept within about seventy feet
OF the wharves as he passed along. Rv
this time the news Of the leviathan.s
presence In the harbor had spread along
the water front and a long procession ~
persons paraded the docks, their ewes
following the visitor as he swan touard
sission Rock
The progress Of the deep sea monster
was watched till he reached point north
OF mission Rock Here he changed his
course and began to swim eastward 90
II he intended to make a landing some
place along the Alameda shore. The
whale seemed in no hurry and paused
now and then to spout and lash the wa
. ter.
During his progress along the wharyes
the whale passed several barges and
9 smaller boats but made no attempt to
modest any of them. AS soon as the hoat-
men caught sight Of the black mass nIovv-
ing through the water they invarIabIv
took pains to quickly change their
courses fearing they might be tipped over
by coming in contact with the tail of the
whale.
SMELT WHALES BREATH.
.. johnson was nearer the whale than anv
one else along the docks He swears the
whale was between 100 and 12O feet long
His excitement may be gauged bv the
fact that the largest whales do not exceed
SO feet in length. johnson said his clothes
were drencheG by the vap6r cast un. as
the WIND was blowing gale and carried
the moisture more than a hundred feet.
the breath Of the giant permeating the
wind
Ed Hendrickson. one of Johnson's en-
ployes, caught sight of the animal. Hen
erickson realized in a moment what the
dark object was. and. thinking johnson
did not see the whale al first, began TO
shout warning to him But his efforts
were unnecessary. for Johnson was al
ready doing the best he could to change
the course Of his launch in order to avoid
coming in contact with the king of the
deep.
II the whale continues in the course he
took when last seen he will undoubtedly
wind up some place on the Alameda shore.
Should he get that far over it is certain
he VIII be stranded, for the water there
is very shallow. If the residents of Ala
media see something lying on the shore
this morning they may rest assured ii IS
not a pile Of wood or heap Of wreckagc.
but fortune in blubber. possibly Curry
ing ambergris enough TO make the finder
Af the hotsam a miniature Monte Cristo.