The sun., 1908-12-06

and rubber Feathers" at the base TO
keep Il end on In its flight. II contains
one ounce Of powder and has two second
fuse In its base that 10 iRnlted by the dis
charge Of the gun This gives time for
II to penetrate the whales vitalB before
exploding. The vital s,pot is the lungs,
'aSS wS.Sy by wnSlsEs nSsIs nS srhtsd s and enough
are at hand to form q Grew. one or more
boats are manned and put out In chase.
The first object OF the whalers In TO get q
harpoon In. To do this the boat ap-
proaohes very quietly when the animal
10 up to breathe, broadside on, and II the
approach II successful and the boat gets
close enough the harpoon - thrown.
are used on the harpoons, In contrast to
the very long lines used In the deep sea
and Arctic fisheries. There is no par
tloular effort made to maintain O constant
connection between the whale and the
boat Until the former ls killed, and the
drag" (wooden block) at the end OF the
warp remote from the harpoon 10 usually
whale is struck. This drag acts as q
buoy In marking the course OF the fish
and the boats follow on In readiness for
the whales next rise.
When he comes up they endeavor to
be as close az possible. and before he gets
through with his breathing and goes
down again every effort is made to ap-
or both. The lance has q leaf shaped
blade. with no barbs. ground very sharp,
and has q long iron shank fitted to a
wooden handle This Is driven into the
whales back between the ribs and into
the lungs. II possible, with q stabbing
motion, being withdrawn or LETT sticking
In as the case may be: The gun also
comes into play, the objective point Of
its projeotile also being the lungs.
And 30 the contest goes on, the whale
usually heading out seaward and the one
object Of the whalers all through being
to get close enough at every rise to the
surface of the stricken animal TO get at
last the death furry comes. Streams OF
blood are spouting from his blowhole
and the water is beaten into foam by, the
struggles of the great beast. gradually
getting weaker and fainter, until at last
the vast bulk lies still and lifeless, gently
rocking and rolling to the never ending
Atlantic swells. m
In 1894 the final act Of the chase took ten
miles out to sea and the great carcass
had to be towed by the rowboats that dis
tance back TO land This was quits vaiu-
able take. The "bone" was long and
weighed over 300 pounds and the blubber
produced about thirty-nine barrels Of
oil. The total cash value Of this whale to
the fishermen was about 81 800. Its length
was So fest. go,
As q contrast the small male killed
last May did little more than pay ex-
penses. As this last is the latest cap
ture on our coast some details may be OF
interest On Sunday morning, May II,
1908. a whale was sighted inside the blight
of Cape Lookout John Rose, fisherman
living nearby, manned n boat and put
out in chase. The boat was run up close
with but little trouble. and Rose himself
put the hsrpoon in.
The harpoon--a toggle iron in this
case--was well put In and the boat fol-
lowed with lances and gun to make the
kill. The gun, one OF those old fashioned
muzzle leaders before mentioned, missed
fire and the men went to work with the
lencea, killing the whale in an hour or
less from the time he was first struck.
1t was regarded by the fishermen as an
exceptionally easy kill.
There being no trypots or cutting
spades available near by, the owners de-
cided to tow the whale to Beaufort and
exhibit It there. Though not q large
specimen by any means 1t grounded on
the shoals In towing In and whole tide
was lost before II was finally brought to
town and hauled out on the shipways.
1t proved to be q small male specimen
Of the north Atlantic right whale, about
thirty nine feet in length. Its color was
the usual dense ivory black all over.