Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-08
WHALING INDUSTRY REvIvINa.
Recent Good Luck of Provincetown and
New Bedford Whalers

From the Boston Herald
THAR sh' blo-o-ows," The ancient CALL
trumpeted by leathern lungs from cloud
aspiring crows nests" rings anew DER
all the me-honored Atlantic whale
grounds" AS of yore. the New England
copper bottoms" come snoring homeward.
bearing fat freight of "sparm" and ivory
from far southern seas. Again is profit
accruing from a pursuit long deemed I'M
remunerative. for the Physeter family has
multiplied apace in recent years and sperm
whaling is coming to its own again.
With the exception of the schooner John
R. Manta of Provincetown-four months at
sea on her maiden voyage not one of the
whaling vessels now sailing from New
England ports is less than twenty-five
years old. while many of the lot were built
for other work The Ellen A. Swift TWEEN
ty-two years old, and the Pearl Nelson.
twenty-three. were codfishermen originally;
the Adella Chase. twenty-nine. was a
mackerel catcher; the Charles H. Hodgdon
and Mary f. Simmons. forty years each,
and the Eleanor B. Conwel forty-fiye.
were Grand Bankers, while the Pedro Va
rela. forty eight years old. was a revenue
cutter.
OF the tiny Atlantic feet of the present.
two were constructed in the sos, five In the
T0s, five in the Cos. six in the sos, two in
the 4Os, while the bark Canton, patriarch
of the whaling fleets of the World made
her first courtesy to Father Neptune away
back in 1S35-sixty- nine years ago
All engaged In the pursuit are well pre-
served and in fine fettle, however and good
for many more years of similar service
and the splendid success achieved by
the mass during the last three years
pr esages the revival OF the work and the
speedy enlistment of more, perhaps newer,
bottoms.
Some startling lucrative voyages have
marked the progress OF the business of
late. The Morning Star. the Canton, the
Sunbeam and others of the older ships have
excelled their best previous records in point
or phenomenally rich cargoes brought home
to swell the bank account of owners and
ofncers. Even the smallest of the schooner
class have struck luck" and the renewed
spectacle of lone whalers boiling" here
and there over all the track of sea from the
Azores south to Walf1sch bay, West Coast
or Africa, reminds Of the paImy days of the
American whale fishery. when ''spouts''
were legion In all the western ocean.
Take the case of the schooner Eleanor b.
Conwel That craft left Fayal, where she
had landed her previous catch, early In Oc-
tober. 1903, to cruise south, "sparmn' /"
The hurricane that swept the Azores Oc-
tober caught her in it's track and stripped
ner OF all boats, ETC.. driving her to Cape
De Verde to report. Obliged to proceed 10
ST Kits. West Indies. to procure new
boats and repair. she did not resume whal-
ing until March, when she was rushed north
70 the Hatteras grounds She found whales
there and in twentyseven days after sight
ing her first spout" she was homeward
bound. full ship. reaching New Bedford
June q with 400 sperm and decks still bear
ing traces of the last cut" the last whale
having been taken only four days prior to
arrival.
The bark Canton. whose sixteen months
voyage. ending September, 1902. yielded
ZOO barrels sperm. record equaling the
best of the palmy day voyages, garnered
nightly among the whale herds south dur
ing the voyage just ended. 1850 sperm con-
stituting her total catch from May, 1903, to
August rs last the date OF arrival at her
home port.
The bark Sunbeam, too. whose catch of
the voyage Immediately preceding Is said to
have been worth 200. was a prime factor
OF fortune. this lucky-box of a ship reach
Ing New Bedford on June % from a twenty
two months trip with grand total of 2 900
barrels of sperm. almost the banner CATCH
time and quantity considered, of the entire
whaling record.
The Sunbeam's. latest voyage. good for
$4,000. proved a money winner from A to z.
When she entered Fayal in October. 1909.
only two months from home. she had $50
barrels OF sperm on board When next she
touched there (April. 1909. after a southern
cruise, her total was ,S7b barrels. The