Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-18
TALES OF OLD NANTUCKET
CITY BY THE SEA RICH IN THE
MEMORIES OF YORE.
Whaling Industry of Other Years.
Learned Cooperage and Fishing
From Cape Cod Folk.


The whaling industries of Nantucket
Island were the only logical pursuits for
its first settlers These settlers knew
nothing concerning the science Of whal-
ing and lacked even the services of
COOPER to make casks for their oil and
bone. So their first attempts must nave
been cruder than the efforts OF the In
dams with lines of twisted grass and
spears and hooks Of sharpened stone
The knowledge of the savages was In
born.
But there were people on Cape Cod
capable of teaching them 1t is not sur
prising therefore. to find an arrangement
with John Savage in 1872 to ply his trade
Of cooper at Nantucket, or few years
later another with Ichabod Paddock, an
experienced whaleman. to instruct them
how to kill whales, assuredly pursuit
which the most enthusiastic disciple of
Isaac Walton could hardly style 1.-The
gentle art of fishing
The first operations were called of
shore fisheries" A small dory was
harpooner sat in the bow armed with
irons to hurl at pursued animal. and
sharp lances to kill it. In the stern was
stationed the boat steerer guiding the
little craft and issuing the orders. These
boats would rush to an attack when the
spouting revealed the presence of their
quarry, and. If successful in the killing,
tow the carcass to the south shore. where
tide. and the "f1ensing' begun
This licensing consisted in cutting off
long strips of fat or blubber and trying
small pieces into oil over fires on the
shore. Outlines the work was continued
until far into the night. and the weird
ness of such a scene in the glare OF lurid
flames can easily be imagined. Swelter-
ing half-naked men and boys, reeking
oil from head to foot, Slashed away at
the huge carcass with sharp knives. while
others just as greasy cast small scraps
of blubber into black iron pots and dipped
out with long ladies, from time to time,
casks to cool. Always near lowered an
innumerable flock of sea birds, pecking at
the carcass and making the night hideous
with harsh screenings. In a record year
of this sort of fishing eighty-six whales
were captured.
An ambitious people soon tired of such
a simple and limited method Of whaling.
The trade was too profitable. relent-
less hunting was fast diminishing the
number of cetaceans near the chores, and
those remaining became easily frightened
at the approach of man. and went farther
out in the deep sea.
Take to the Sea.
The Nantucket whalemen followed
them. Boats were rugged as sloops and
ketches. and supplied with provisions and
casks sufficient to hold the blubber from
one or two whales. These sailed away
and when the casks were filled returned
home. generally within five or six weeks.
On their arrival the try-works started
up; the blubber was reduced to oil and
the little vessels made ready TO start
again on another whale hunt. Schooners,
briggs. and finally ships, gradually took
the place of small boats. and the extent
of cruise was heightened. Early in the
eighteenth century the Nantucket whale
men visited Davis straits, Fox Islands.
and the Boring sea. in the northern lat-
nd
cute the trade in the southern Atlantic
on the coasts of Africa and Brazil.
The growth and development of the
whaling enterprises of Nantucket is too
long a story to be told here. An almost
uninterrupted series of wars in the eight
eenth century plunged the colonies into
many difficulties and materially injured
every maritime industry, and the whaling
trade of Nantucket suffered with the rest.
The danger from privateering was the
first menace. The war of the Spanish
succession. followed by the French and
Indian war I'm this country. filed the seas
with armed privateers. and an oil-laden
ship was a prize we'll worth the taking.
The marauders of the seas followed in
the wake Of the Nantucket whaler. ready
to capture. burn or sink her at the first
favorable opportunity. and despite every
precaution the year 1850 saw a loss of
twelve vessels burned in the town.
The war of the revolution came as
greater setback. The royal cruisers of
England swarmed the coasts. and once
more the dreaded privateers further har-
assed the whaling vessels. Great Brit
ain had long recognized the superior
skill of the Yankee sailor and was in
tensely jealous of his successes on the
seas Her chance had come. and she
added a new horror to the others. for a
capture by the royal cruisers meant in
| variably a choice betweeh an impress
ment on an English whaling ship for a
protracted voyage or compulsory employ
ment on a man-Of-war to help fight the
striving colonies.
There was nothing for Nantucket to do
but allow her whaling trade to remain
dormant. The swifter vessels were arm
ed and joined those of the colonies. where
they did valiant service in the cause of
liberty. Most of the ships were disman-
tied and drawn up on the sandy beaches.
and remained there until after the war
was over.
Hardships of the Revolution.
Grave indeed must have been the plight
when even necessary supplies on which
the whole island relied for the wants of
fast increasing population could only be
obtained with the greatest difficulty. Out
of $50 vessels owned by Nantucket at
the beginning of the revolution fifteen
were lost at sea and 1874 captured by the
English. a total loss of 12.467 tons One
authority states that l 900 men, belong
ious ways during this war.
The declaration of peace brought new
| hopes and fresh ambitions and the his
| tory of whaling after that is a record Of
steadily Increasing prosperity. which
| neither the prohibitive tax which Eng
land imposed on oil from American ves-
sells nor the further impressment of sail
ors and the loss of ships during the war
of 1912 could effectually retard. In 1912
when whalin reached it's zenith. eighty
| six ships. two briggs and numerous other
vessels belonged to the island.
The wanderer to Nantucket town dur
| ing this prosperous age must have been
deeply impressed by the energy Ind mas
| terful enterprise of its inhabitants. On
| the hillsides to the southwest of the har-
| Dor rose the gables and roofs of the
! dwellings. with long waving whips Of
| numerous windmills prominently in sight
against an azure sky. The spire of the
Congregational Church-the Old South
| acted from its commanding position as
| welcome beacon to the mariner entering
| the harbor or the traveller returning over
| the moors from remote parts of the is
land.
Each morning just before the clock in
| its square tower had sounded the last
| stroke of the hour that important facto-
| tum the hour crier. mounted the wooden
| stairs leading to the belfry. and as the
| last echo died away over the hills pro-
| claimed, by the ringing of the bell in the
| steeple. that o'clock had arrived and
work must begin for the day. 1t was a
| needless task. for others were up before
| him, and the streets and shops revealed
| q people already engaged in their various