The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-11-28
New Bedford Cor. Boston Herald.

NeW Bed1ord Cor. Boston Herald. N MILLION dollars worth of whale V bone, practically all the whale bone in the world, will in a few weeks be stored in the warehouse of William Lewis & Son on Rodman street.
 This fortune in whalebone is controlled by one man, Edgar R. Lewis, and if the whalebone manufacturers of the world want any of it they will have to come up to the captains office and settle, for on top of the fact that for year over 15O GOO pounds of the bone has been on hand in this city with hardly a transaction, comes the announcement to the whalebone manufacturers that practically all the whaling merchants have agreed not to send their steamers to the Arctic ocean next year.
 This will allow the present large stock of whalebone to be worked, and the whal- ing grounds will get a rest.
 These grounds in the Arctic ocean have been visited for more than 50 years, sea- son after season. The whales have been chased hard and often. Undoubtedly some of the whales are in the ocean today that were there when the first whaling craft dared to pass into the Arctic from Behr- ing Straits.
 The first vessels that entered the Arctic found the whales easy prey. With the advent of the steam whaler the bowheads grew gradually more timid. Each succeed ing year nowadays the bowhead has been found further and further to the east ward, nearer to the packs. where he is harder to get at
 The Crozetts grounds in the Indian ocean are again supplying good catches. The whales deserted there some years ago, and so the whalers gave up going there. Now the whales are coming back Dala- goa bay, on the south coast of Africa, a former famous whaling ground, will prob ably be found barren by the bark Alice Knowles, which is to visit there on her way to the Crozetts. The bay is the pathway now for big ocean-going steam CTS.
 While the catch of the Arctic whalers the past season is the smallest for several years there will be actually more whale
 
 in some time. Most of the catch of last year is on hand in the storehouses in this city.
 The stock of over 100000 pounds of bone could be easily disposed of at medium price, say $3.5O per pound, but, with the decision of the agents not to send their vessels to the Arctic next season, and with only the comparatively small quan- tity to be caught by the whalers in the southern oceans, the holders think the bone worth more money, possibly rising to s5 per pound and the market is stag nant.
 The whalebone business, both catching and holding for rising market is sort of gamble In some years when the stock has been low the merchants have held their bone so that the market would not be cleaned out, and have later been obliged to sell at a lower price than they could have had.
 But now the whalebone king, E. R. Lewis has control of all the bone, and he can dictate his own prices. The price question has, in fact, been responsible for making MT. Lewis price arbiter of the trade, for, having found competition un profitable. the whaling agents have settled down to shipping their catch to MT. Lewis and letting him dispose of it for them.
 A small army of scrapers is constantly kept on hand by MT. Lewis, for the bone has to be scraped frequently to prevent mould.
 A small trading schooner will probably be sent to the north to pick up the trade bone from the natives, should no whaler visit the Arctic ocean. The trade bone is got cheap by exchanging knives, pow der and rifles with the natives. Natives have been known to part with $10,0O0 whaIebone for s20O in trade Some years ago all the bone whaling