The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-09-09
REVIVAL OF INTEREST
 IN WHALI NC INDUSTRY Three Vessels Sail From New Bedford to South Atlantic
 Grounds. NO SCARCITY OF GAME Schooner Margaret May Hunt Sea Elephants Around
 Cape Horn.
NO SCARCITY OF GAME

New Bedford, Mass, Sept, 8-1n- terest in the whaling industry, on which the reputation and wealth of this city was based a generation ago, has been revived within the past few weeks by renewed activity in that line. With in the brief space of ten days three vessels have sailed from this port for the whaling grounds and on Tuesday there arrived In port the whaling brig Sullivan, which returned from twen- ty-seven months cruise with one of the richest catches ever taken by a New Bedford ship While the industry probably will never in the future reach the proportions 1t attained thirty years ago, nevertheless New Bedford is still the principal whaling port in the world and the prices of whalehone and whale oil continue to be fixed by the New Bedford markets.
 One of the features of the Old Home week celebration in this city a little more than week ago, was the depar- ture of two vessels on extended cruis- I es to the whaling grounds in the north and south Atlantic oceans. The ves- sels were the barks Bertha and Jose phine. both of which had been engaged in the whale fishery for many years and which in their day brought hum dreds of thousands of dollars in pro- fits for their owners, agents, officers and crews.
 On Thursday last the schooner Mar garrett, originally built for theGlouces- ter fishing fleet, sailed for the eouth l Atlantic ocean on whaling cruise. The Margaret is owned at Norwich, iConn., and is commanded by Captain Erastus Church of Montville Conn, while James w. Buddington' of Gro- ton, Conn, is first mate. Captain Church and Mate Buddington are old time whalenen, though both of them have been living in retirement for some time, not having been on ''deep water" for more than ten years. The pros poets of a profitable voyage at the present time were alluring and the old whalemen finally decided to make one more voyage in pursuit of the great deep sea animal.
 The destination of the Margaret is the whaling grounds in the vicinity of Cape Horn, and it is thought probable that an attempt will be made to make a catch of sea elephants, a species of seal whose oil IS as valuable as that of the whale, and whose pelts also of- fer a fair profit. While neither Cap tain Church nor Mate Buddington would discuss the sea elephant phase of the cruise, it is believed that an attempt will be made to catch them, inasmuch as the Margarett's outfit i'm cluded power boat and other irnple- ments necessary for successful sea elephant hunting.
 1 The belief that whales are scarce was exploded when the brig Sullivan arriv- ed here Tuesday after 8 whaling voy- age of twenty-seven months in both the North and South Atlantic. Cap tain Heggarty commander of the Sulli- van, said that in all his whaling ex- perience he never saw so many whales as on the voyage just ended. The Sul- 1 livan's catch for the entire voyage was | $500 barrels of oil. A record for whale fishing was established when whales yielding 375 barrels of oil were taken in five days So fast did the whales come during those five days that there were at one time more than 300 barrels of oil on the deck and nnere was no time to boil the blubber, the best that could be done being to cut the blubber and | 1o& si,, F luck was over for the time being.