Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-11-03
HEROIC DEEDS OF WHALERS
DARING Acts in the Everyday Life Of the
Down East EailOr
WITH SALT WATER FLAVOR
Lively Times with crew OF wild
Men-PeriIous Cruise in an
open Boat I'm the
Arctic Ocean.

No clnss OF men in the whole world have
performed more daring deeds than the
hardy WhaIemcn Of New England. who in
the paImy days of whaling, when Nan
tucket and New Bedford boosted of COM
bined fleet numbering a trihe short Of SO
vessels. traversed every ocean on the globe.
Reared on the shores of the turbulent At
lantic they inherited an Unborn love Tor
its violent storm-tossed pillows. and 1t
might truthfully be said that they rather
enjoyed doing battle with the angry waves
Give one of the New England whalemen a
staunch boat of the whaleboat type, and ne
will chance many an undertaking from
which others less familiar with such craft
would shrink. And from this class OF
hardy seainen there have arisen many
heroes Of the sea.
The heroic deeds Of these mariners might
all volumes. yet theirs is a story which
remains unwritten, simply because their
acts OF daring have been In the line Of
duty TO employer The words of the inn
mortal Perry, I'VE have met the enemy
and they are ours" and the dying appeal
of the brave Lawrence, Don't give up the
shin" will live forever, for with them Is
carried the memory Of heroic acts in naval
affairs which meant much TO this nation.
4 They appeal to every true man and woman
who adnlres bravery. Yet heroic acts have
been performed on the great ocean which
called for far more courage than was ever
displayed I'm any conflict at sea urged on
in the heat Of most intense excitement.
wild Men in the Crew.
The ship Sharon, while cruising in the
Southern Patihc, had the usual luck which
followed whalers in that warm latitude
desertion OF members of the crew-and
Captain Howes Norris found it necessary
to recruit from the Kings Mill group of
islands 1t was the act OF a commander
4 who was put to the last resast in thus ship
ping wild men TO assist in working the
/ ship. and the remnant of the crew who
: remained loyal to Captain Norris found
trouble the moment those savages stepped
| on deck They were utterly useless as
sailors; they could neither go aloft nor
stand q trick at the wheel. They were use
full only in failing on in handling the ropes.
In a whaleboat they were even worse than
a dummy. and so it was that in the fall Of
/ 1879 the Sharon found itself in a peculiar
predcament while on the whaling grounds.
After these savages. four in number. had
been on the whaler two weeks they re-
pointed OF their foollshness. The restraint
OF ship life was too much for them, and
with each day they gave evidence of
trouble, but no one on the old whaler
feared the quartet. knowing fun well that
they could easily be handled with the first
appearance OF an outbreak. Captain Norris
was only a young man. with ideas of his
own about discipline. 1t was his effort in
maintaining discipline that had caused the
desertions, and it was in reality his own
doing that brought on the trouble which
followed.
One afternoon whales were raised anC
every boat was lowered, leaving on the
ship only Captain Norris, a Portuguese Lac
named Jose dos Refs and the four savages
Oftentimes in giving chase to whales the
boats go long distance from the ship, anC
SOFT was that day. While the boats were
away the Kings Mil islanders executed &
scheme which no doubt had been in theil
minds for days after leaving their island
home-that of taking the ship. While Cap
tain Norris and the Portuguese lad wer,
on deck watching the boats engaged in tn,
chase the four savages bounded from tn,
forecastle decorated in war paint and
armed with spears. The Portuguese Lac
had the wheel at the time and. seeing then
coming aft, sang out to Captain Norris, bu
just too late. for the captain was instantly
killed by a spear thrown by one OF this
would-be sailors. This caused the lad Il
run for mis- life, and he fed to the mizzer
rigging, UP which the savages did not dar,
ascend They had control of the ship, how
ever and knowing nothing about a vessel
it waved and wabbled like an old scov
g adrift. Its strange actions attracted tht
attention Of the officers away in the boats
and after signaling each other they gave
mp pursuit of the whales and headed FOR
the ship. As the boats approached the
Sharon the Portuguese lad warned the
crews to be wary and explained what had
happened.
Attacked by savaEes.
Reaching the vessel the savages showed
fight, darting q spear with unerring aim