The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1908-09-18
TALES OF
UNIQUE FISHING ACCIDENT.

The Japanese whaleman is one OF
the strangest and most fascinating
of the many weird characters to be
found among the people of this bi-
Zarre race, and the whaling indus
try, which is carried on very exten-
sively in Japanese waters, furnishes
many tale of heroic adventure, not
infrequently fraught with disaster.
Among the various fatalities that
yearly occur, through misfortune or
accident, in this dangerous occupa-
ton, there is perhaps no single case
that can be attributed to so extraor-
dinary a cause as that which recently
resulted in the death of several of
the men, and it is wonder that even
one survived to tell the tale.
On November 10 last a large
whale was sighted off the coast of
Uisan in Korea, and the crews in the
boats, anxiously waiting below, were
signaled to proceed to the attack.
With wild vociferations the little
Drown men manned their boats, got
ready their gear, and hurried in
great excitement toward the direc-
ton indicated. After some arduous
and intricate maneuvering the mon
ster was finally surrounded by the
nets, shells and harpoons being fired
into his huge body in the hope of
staying his frantic efforts to escape.
As the great fish ultimately began
20 weaken wide gashes were cut in
mis- tough skin, through which he was
fastened to the boats, lest after death
his body should sink and be lost
And thus he was towed triumphant
" to shore amid the yells of his cap
tors, who softened their tones only
now and then to cry, "Joraku! jor-
aku!" for the repose Of the whales
brave spirit, as is the Japanese Gus
som when a whale is dying.
AS the tide went down the body of
the leviathan of the deep lay prone,
sixty feet along the shore. Then the
real excitement began; for the huge
carcass had to be cut up and re-
moved before the return of the water
Like so many ants on the corpse Of
giant beetle, the dead whale was
covered by a mob of naked men,
clamoring, cutting and hacking, as
though mad. Some of them hewed
great holes into the body, like doors,
through which they made entrance
and exit at pleasure, to secure choice
morsels or parts, as fancy directed.
A brawny little fellow would dash
into the whales most expansive re-
gion, in the vicinity of Jonah's one
time lodging, and then dash out
again with coveted piece of the
interior furnishings, his bare body
all covered with blood, and looking
as horrible as red devil.
The process of dividing up the big
carcass had thus been going on sat
isfactorily for some time, when sud-
denly there was heard a sharp and
awful sound, like the bursting of a,
bomb. Instantly the shattered frag-
ments of those so active a moment
before lay mulitated and mixed in an
undistinguishable bloody mass with
the scattered remains of the whale
Others, wounded but still living, lay
moaning in agony all around. These
were quickly hurried into boats and
sent to the Fukuoka Hospital across
the strait with the utmost expedition
The cause of the disaster. though
easy to determine, is yet unique in
the annals of fishing accidents. One
of the shells fired into the body of
the whale during the capture had
failed to explode until struck acci-
dentally by the ak of workman,
resulting in the lamentable casualties
above ecorded.-Harper's Weekly.