Los Angeles herald., 1908-11-09
.CHUTES WHALE
HOLDS RECORD
WEIGHED 150 TONS AND WAS
450 YEARS OLD
SKELETON BEING SET UP FOR
PUBLIC EXHIBITION
Superintendent of Company Says
Flesh Is Superior to 5eefsteak and
Eventually VIII Become a
Priced DeIioacy

The largest whale ever killed. so far
as there is any authentic record, was
harpooned May 70 of this year off the
west coast of Vancouver island by the
crew of the ST. Lawrence of the Pacific
Whaling company. The whale was a
sulphur bottom, 102 feet long. 1t
weighed 100 tons and was supposed to
be 450 years old. It's skeleton has been
shipped to Los Angeles and is being
erected at Chutes park for exhibition.
The skeleton itself is sc feet long, the
remaining sixteen feet being in the
sweep of the tail. The next largest on
exhibition, 20 feet in length, is at the
Smithsonian institution.
Capt. @. F. Langley of the Pacific
Whaling company is experimenting the
putting together the big skeleton. He
is a soft-spoken, pleasant-mannered
man, who can tell the answer to any
question that may be conjured up about
whales or their capturing.
The sulphur bottom is the largest of
the whales we get" said Capt. Langley
yesterday. Last season we killed 700
whales, worth on an average $1,000 each.
The company secured but two sperm
whales in the lot. They are very scare,
and the ivory and sperm oil they fur
nish make them extremely valuable.
0pCInl WidltG clIG NOlloAdSlCo W. Va
$12, 900 to $4,000 each.
I'm the last ten years the method of
killing has been more closely system
atized, and machine methods enter
largely into the handling. The bomb
harpoon, which is fired from a gun at
the bow of the ship, weighs 14O pounds.
You can see by this one which was used
to capture the big whale how they twist
the iron, but the killing is over in a
second or SO. The forerunner rope at
tached to the harpoon Is usually 300
fathoms Of two-inch rope.
After a whale is killed the ship
comes alongside and air is pumped
into the lungs until 1t is blown up like
balloon, so that it will float Then
the company's flag is stuck on it, and
the ship goes after another. Whales
are quite affectionate with each other,
and where one is found 1t is usually
possible to get one or two others. The
worlds record is seven whales killed
in a day,
1.-THE dead bodies are hitched together
and towed, like so many barges, to the
islands, where they are pulled UP on
the ways. Just like ship. The cutting
up is now done by machinery mainly,
as If the whale were delivered at one of
Armour's or Swift's packing houses
In addition to the oil a whale is ValU-
able for furnishing fertilizer and meat
for canning. The skin and intestines
are used in manufacturing This big
fellow furnished 10 barrels of oil.
Canned for Table Use
"a large industry just initiated by
my company is the canning of whale
meat for the table. The sulphur bot
tom is a very clean animal, feeding
only on the animalculae of the ocean,
and the flesh is pronounced a delicacy
by those who have eaten 1t. 1t is now
served at some of the best tables in
Paris. 1t is of a pinkish color, but
does not possess the slightest fishy or
oily taste, having the flavor of the
finest roast beef. You could not tempt
me with any roast beef If l could have
good whale steak.
How about some for Los Angeles?"
1.-The company's canery will have a
capacity of 150 tons a month, and con-
tracts covering that have been made
already for delivery to Japan and
China. I believe ultimately that whale
meat will be in staple demand in this
country"
The jawbones of the whale now in
Los Angeles are twenty feetalong and
weigh $50 pounds. The head, as it was
delivered boxed at Chutes park, weighed
four tons. Capt. Langley says that
four double beds might be placed inside
the skeleton,~ where the heart and lngs
were situated, and that there would
still be room for a dining table in the
whales interior
"If Jonah lived now he probably
would insist on modern conveniences.
and with that fellow he could have
en-" said the captain.