The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-07-08
INCIDENTS Of THE
OLD WHALING DAYS
The Sabbath Question in the Whale Fisheries
1.-The Confederate Cruiser Shenan-
doah's Raid on the Arctic Fleet.

March 80, 1865, which was the las
news Captain Halves had respectin,
her.. The Shenandoah IS captain in
/ CURED of the master of the Hawaiian
vessel where the American whaling flee
was, and on obtaining some informa
ton, he Immediately ordered the Shen
| andoah sent in pursuit. On April l tn,
! pirate reached Ascension Island where
| he found lying at anchor the San Fran
cisco whaler Edward Carey, Captain
Baker, with 275 barrels of sperm oil
the Hawaiian bark Harvest, Captain
Eldredge, with 800 barrels; the Ameri
can bark Pearl, Captain Thompson
empty, the vessel having just prior tC
that time sailed from Honolulu; and
| the ship Hector, Captain Chase, with
2l5 barrels. All of these vessels were
burned, and their officers and crews
with the exception of those men who
joined the pirate, were left on Ascen-
sion Island.
The Shenandoah then set sail for the
Ohkotsk Sea- where on the 9th of May
she captured the American whaleship
Abigail, Captain Nye, with 80 barrels
of sperm oil. After remaining along
side the Abigail about day and tax
ing from her such clothing and supplies
as were wanted, the whaler was com
mitted to the flames, and the crew was
taken aboard. The Shenandoah then
steamed toward the Arctic Ocean. Some
members of the Abigail s crew joined
the pirates. These included T. s. Man
ming, the second officer; John A. Dow
den, boat-steerer, and thirteen men,
mostly Sandwich Islanders. - Man
ming Joined the Shenandoah as pilot
and steered the pirate toward the
American boats. When off Cape Thad-
deus, the Shenandoah fell in with the
Euphrates, Captain Hathaway, with
two whales, and that vessel was burned
Then followed the ships William
Thompson and Jireh Swift The Milo
was also captured. The commander of
the pirate cruiser, Captain WaddelI,
formerly of the Z. S. navy, had so
many captives by this time that he con
Guided to bond the Milo instead of
burning her. which he accordingly did,
in the sum of $4,000, and putting all
his prisoners, who had not deserted
their flag, aboard, sent her to San Fran
cisco. The Shenandoah is said to have
procured her coal supply at Melbourne.
1t was while the Shenandoah was off
Cape Thaddeus and after the capture of
the Euphrates that Captain Waddell
was informed of the surrender of Gen
eral Robert E. Lee at Appomattox, that
Richmond was taken and Lincoln assas-
sinated. The captain refused to believe
the statement of Lees surrender and
proceeded to destroy vessels as though
the Confederacy was still power on
earth.
The Harvest was owned in Honolulu
by Messrs. Pfuger, Dowsett and Mol
teno, none of whom were Americans and
the vessel was also under the Hawaiian |
flag. The Pearl was owned by Homo |
lulans.
The Advertisers list of whalers ar |
irving in October is given in the Friend |
Of November. 1866, as follows:
GAS we anticipated last week, the
fresh trades have brought in a feet of |
whalers from the Arctic, with most |
gratifying reports. We can now an
1ounce the arrival at this port of II
vessels having ON board a total of |
II, 00O barrels of oil, and 16S, 200 pounds
IF bone. This, as will be seen, gives
IN average of about 700 barrels oil and
1900 pounds bone to each ship, surpass-
ng, even thus far, the best season for
several years past.