The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-07-03
The DEADEST WHALE EVER.
,o>G BEiCH DEMORALIZED BY
lI,IIOR FROM TIE SEA.
mi, Folks From Long Island City Able
10 stand ttmospherc with Euuanimity
e. BOARD " Health Appealed TO-Drus
stare Wan Does a Rushing business.

1o,i BEACH, l.. J., July 2.-There is
uboI,. on the beach just of the Long Beach
uo,c 1t ita dead whale. 1t is the deadest
,,tsl. that there ever was in tho world.
Mind nan could tell that without asking
= single question. The deafness of the
ah,le was a feature of the beach to-day.
0,c might think that the mere fact of the
arrival If any sort of a whale off a summer
,s.,r would he the most important thing
,ba, could happen in Il season; in this case,
REMEMBRANCE of the arrival of the leviathan
is nothing in comparison with the SUPER
sbunGn,,t evidence of the fact that 1t ia
very, very dead.
Long Beach Hotel fronts an eighth of
mile stretch Of low, sedge grown sandhills
which slope down in wide stretch Of gray
n the tumhling surf Far of on the heav-
Ing green rollers steamships trail their
smoke up across the blue sky. The winds
come sweeping in from over the salt spray
n the white caps. Altogether there could
hardly he a more advantageous seat for
the tired city worker on gray Sunday.
Few, indeed, however, were the guests
n the hotel who could be found on that
broad south porch yesterday afternoon.
These few seemed to have very bad colds
or equally bad cigars. The other side Of
the hotel looks landward, across rather
uninterestng salt meadows, to the fishing
shacks and unlovely whitewashed hotels
which line the bay back OF the peninsula
on which the hotel is built. There Is no
Inspiration in this view and little that is
refreshing about the hot vapors that float
M to the north porch from the kitchen.
But he north porch was crowded with peo
ple Yesterday.
II was the only spot outdoors to which
the evidence of the entirely deceased state
Of the whale did not permeate with its full
strength. 1t was there, but 1t was in
direct and modified. They were silent
crowd; they read newspapers and maya
zines. they did fancy work; they sat with
their heads in their hands and brooded.
There was something in the atmosphere
which made one hate his fellow man and
desire to exchange no views with him.
There was nothing to talk about except
the whale, and nobody felt that the sub
ject was altogether decent. Besides, it
seemed to be king for itself with great
distinc,nesS.
Some Of the porch sitters derived gloomy
satisfaction from watching the road over
from East Rockaway, over which moved
struggling procession Of country carryalls
and smart automobiles. Coming toward
the beach these vehicles moved with an
even, becoming Sunday pace until they
reached point in the road about nor nor
east of the hotel. Crhe wind it should be
mentioned was sou sou '-west.) Then, as
though they had been struck physical
blow by some giant hand they stopped
short for a moment.
Horses reared and paved the air. Auto
mobiles skidded; no auto can run without
its smell, and for superfine, resublimated
smell, the whale put out of business the
worst gasoline motor ever built. Women
passengers ducked their heads into their
hands, and then when the first shock was
over, drivers laid the lash to their beasts,
chautFeurs let out their machines to the last
notch and sped through the affected zone
with the desperation of Madison Square
Garden audience clearing out of its seats
half way through one of Elijah Dowies
sermons Few turned back, although a
whale is rare sight even if it is dead
whale
Along late in the day the news came
along that there was shark, or sturgeon,
or swordfsh or something of the sort about
a mile farther up the beach, The an
nouncement created temporary languid
interest
-Isid aibe'" asked dozen voices, through
dozen muffled noses.
'oh, no." said the informant, they say
It's dead"
Silence reigned again on the north porch.
Nobody was interested in the shark any
more. 1t was superfiuity, somehow,
lnder the circumstances.
There was lots of material for the study
Of air currents and other things Of purely
scientific interest in the occasion. There
was split in the air currents right at the
railroad station which caused it to be an
oasis of odorlessness. Word reached the
city and many of the nearby island towns
sInt hall l1l -h~ n
Beach, by this morning nobody within
twenty miles will need to be told-hell
know it, Large numbers of people went
out to feast their eyes on the sight; it wasn't
the whales fault if they did not wish, be-
fore they went back, that they had left
their noses at home.
They got off at the station and wan
dered out toward the beach. The vagrant
wind currents frequently contrived 1t SO
that they got clear to the beach and we'll
into the crowd which was gathered on the
sands down by the tide-lii without know
ing that the whale was not off somewhere
beyond the bar, fioundering in an effort
TO get back to sea The sightseer shaded
his eyes and looking far out toward the
horizon for the rising fountains like those
We used to see in the geography illustra-
mons which would reproduce in his breast
the emotions Of the New Bedford lookout
time
lhar she blows"
And then and then. the wind would waver
a !ltt!e, east or west the crowd would break |
and scatter like a flushed covey of part
ridges and the circumambiant would become
ore vast overpowering essence of departed |
whale
Almost Invariably the seeker after mowl- |
EGG, would join the panic stricken rush. |
W men he was out Of the direct path of the |
sr"nrge and not until then, would he stop |
and look back. This is what he saw:
:, a shape'ess thing, rolling in the curl of |
the surf, shaking like a mold of jelly as
each wave struck it. 1t was about forty |
lee' long. forked tail ten feet broad, !
fiaShed heavily to one side and the other |
out OF the smother of foam. As it half |
turned over the gray back disappeared, |
and dirty yellow belly, lined with dark |
stripes was turned toward the shore Here !
ana there along the side were great holes |
u! r, the skin as Zig the head of barrel.
ne whole thing allowed and shook from !
END to end. for NIL the world like a half |
hlIed water hottie in shallow basin of |
1uds' Vow and then an onrushing wave
EXPO ed the head of the thing; it had de-
.erlorated until the curved outline of the |
laws held out the kin.
mere were some spectators who stood |
'or an hour or more gathering iov out of |
ileSe thlngs. 1t was generally understood |
nat most of them came from Long Island |
NY and along Newtown Creek. and thanks
% hene''cent Influences of the Cassidy |
NOT -.