The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1908-02-25
THE QUEST OF
THE WHALE HAS
NOT LOSTITS LURE

w
lost all of its lure for adventuroui
spirits, is shown by the presence il
these waters of the bark John and Win
throp. Aboard it are forty-one men
everyone of whom hopes for success
in encountering and capturing the levi
athans of the deep, for upon that sue
cess depends his compensation and
profit for the cruise. For whalers are
not paid by the month but by proper
tion of the catch
Captain William T. Shorey, the mas
ter of the John and Winthrop, has been
a whaler for thirty-two years and a
master of whaling vessels for seven
teen. He has many "reminiscences to
recount, and the waterfront has been
reveling in whaling adventures as ii
might if it had suddenly taken to read
ing 1.-The Cruise of the Cachelot." and
other of Frank Bullen S whaling stories.
Captain Shorey had select audi
enee at the Inter-Island ship chandlery
yesterday afternoon which was inter
ested in whaling and displayed it by
the questions fired at the Captain.
"Whalers ship on lay,' said the
Captain. THAT is, each man, in lieu
of specified wages, receives specified
portion of the results of the catch, ac-
cording to his position and experience.
Thus every man is directly interested
in the success of the venture. For in
stance the first mate will get say a
twentieth of the catch. The second
mate win get a twenty-second, or TWEEN
ty-third; the third mate a twenty fifth !;
the fourth mate thirtieth and fifth
mate a fortieth. Then come the boat
steerers, each getting say sixty fifth.
Then there are the ordinary seamen
getting less still, and the beginners say
the one hundred and ninetieth part.
The cook will get a ninetieth or a hun
dredth lay.
"There are as manv mates as there
are boats, and vessel the size of the
John and Winthrop carries five boats
The first mate and usually the second
mate do not stand watches. The watch
es are two ON whaling vessel just as
they are on a merchant ship. But of
course the lookout is what counts on
a whaler. When we get into the whaling
grounds the lookout 10 intense and un-
RENTING, for it is upon that that the
success of the cruise largely depends.
"When a whale is sighted it de-
ponds somewhat ON his actions how
many boats are lowered If he seems
to be moving slowly and keeping pref
ty well to the surface perhaps only two
boats are lowered. But if the whale
seems to be moving about, appearing
first in this direction and reappearing
in another and again in third, all
the boats will be lowered, as the
chances of some boat getting him will
thereby be increased.
"The old fashioned way of throwing
the harpoon into the whale is still
considered the best by most whalers.
in. order to successfully hatpoon az
whale the boat must come right up on
the animal. The sea is usually rough
and the boat is therefore bobbing up
and down and it is no easy matter to
hit the animal with the harpoon gun.
1t is much easier to throw the har-
poon into the animal. We use har-
poon gun sometimes which is thrown
into the whale just as an ordinary
harpoon is. 1t consists of gun barrel
and on the side of the barrel is the
regular harpoon, the point extending
about fourteen inches beyond the muz-
zle of the gun barrel. There is also
a steel rod alongside of the barrel the
end of it extending not so for beyond
the muzzle as the harpoon does. The
gun is loaded with bomb filled with
high explosives, Ignite and that sort
of thing. When this is thrown proper
ly the harpoon penetrates the body of
the whale as far as the force given it
will carry it. When the steel rod |
mentioned strikes the body of the ami
NAL it is pressed back and strikes a
percussion cap which fires the gun. The
bomb is shot into the body of the whale
and after certain fraction of min
ute, explodes, killing the whale. When
all this goes off according to program
it is very well. But that doesn't al
ways happen, and so the good old hand
harpoon still continues its usefulness.
with each harpoon goes about 300
fathoms of line. This is about two or
two and a quarterback line. Usually
there is 200 fathoms of line in one tub,
and 100 fathoms in another. Assum-
ing that the harpoon has been well
thrown, the first impulse of the whale
as soon as he feels the weapon in his
body is to throw himself about, and it
Is at such times that boats are smash
ed and men thrown into the water.
Then usually the whale goes down
and the rope has TO be paid out. The
whale does not go straight down, but
1T an angle, going forward as we'll as
downward. The rope Is paid out by a
urn around the post and in paying it
,ut the boat has to be watched that
[ is not towed too fast through the
water nor otherwise endangered But
t is paid out pretty fast, and water |
has to be thrown on it constantly at
he turn to keep it from burning. AS
he first two hundred fathoms is paid /
tut, the third hundred is bent on to I
he second, and as that is paid out |
'ther boats are signaled, and as one
If them comes up its line is bent on /
nd it takes up the chase, the first /
ne dropping. out. 1 have seen three
,oats in succession come up, the lines
# each of them being bent on in
urn
Some whales go to greater depths
han others, and some remain below