Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-08-24


leviathan's body. This operation can
be accomplished from the ships deck
itself, and by this means the greatest
number of whales is harvested in the
shortest possible time. The modern
catch" Is, therefore, much larger
than the one of a dozen years ago.
Some of the largest species, such
as the rorqual, were avoided in the
time of small boats on account of
their fferceness. But these can now
be safely tackled with the gun har-
pooh, and thus wider field of profit
is opened up. Blacklist, firhval,
bloohal or Nord kaper are also hunt
cd now.
In former days, also, the whale was
merely stripped Of it's blubber and
whalebone, or spermaceti, as the case
might be, the carcass being aban-
doned to the sharks. AS only the
Greenland right" whale and the
sperm whale or cachalot have suffi.
cient whalebone, spermaceti and blub-
Der to be worth killing for these
items alone, there was an additional
reason why the old time whaler ig.
nored all the other species. But the
modern factory converts every por.
ton of the whale into some CONNER
cial article; consequently, instead of
merely being killed for it's oil and
whalebone, it is now utilized to make
fertilizer, phosphates and many other
valuable commodities. BY using all
parts of the fish in this way, any
kind of whale will pay for the catch.
ing, and pay well.
! What the actual profits Of a modern
whaling station really amount to is
hard to ascertain, but one frequently
hears of such profits as 80 per cent
and more. This will naturally depend
to large extent on the number of
whales in the district, and especially
On their species, as, while some of
! the smaller kinds, such as the black
fish, are only worth SO or SIS apiece,
the more valuable kinds may easily
be worth $4,000 or more, says the IN
dianapolis News. Large as this sum
/ is, it does not seem excessive when
! ii is considered that the price Of
Iwhalebone (Which is now very cheap
ranges from $500 ton for the short
thinner" bone, or 10 to Is times that
lprice for the real balena of IL feet
J or so in length. Not long ago the
Halter was worth $11.250 a ton, but
the more, extensive operations of the
fsteam whalefs are naturally bringing
!down the price. Ordinary quality
whale oil is worth about $50 ton,
and the finest kinds may run to
double that figure, so it is easy to
IIealize how valuable a large whale is
when, in addition to oil and sperma-
ceti, or whalebone, as the case may
be, every bit of flesh and bone is
also turned into a readily marketable
Earticle.
Wind TANNER Waits for Crew.
Awaiting the signing on of crew,
captain Olsen took his command, the
1 American schooner J. M. Griffiths,
/ outside the harbor this morning, and
the vessel now rides at quarantine
anchorage.
1t is expected that the vessel will
he supplied with a quota of men
within the next few hours. The
schooner has just completed the dis
charge of a shipment of lumber from
i. the coast.
n
Shinyo Gardens the Pride Of Smith.
! Captain Stanley Smith, the jolly
commander of the Togo Kisen Kaisha
liner Shinyo Maru, has other attain
ments than those of a navigator, of
which he is proud to boast. For one
thing, he is an authority on the litera-
ture of Japan, speaks the Japanese
Nd ho CT
and Kingdom like a book, says the
San Francisco Bulletin. In addition.
he is something of an amateur botaR
list and his study of rare plants and
ferns have earned for him the title
of 1.-The Botanical Mariner"
High up on the after end of the
Shinyo Maru's boat deck is a palm
garden, already as famous in the Pr
cific as many of the palm courts on
land. 1t is filled with ferns and plants
of almost every description and is
source of never-ending JOY to the hor-
ticulturist The steamship company
has made arrangements with the best
kept gardens in Japan to keep his
palm room in perfect condition and
to provide an ever-changing success
sion of plants that are not only beau.
I tiful, but of scientific interest. From
| the century-old dwarfed fir to the
rare orchids from Manila, the list Of
plans is a complete one.
Whenever he can steal an hour
from his cares as navigator and al
ninistrator, Captain Smith fees to
the palm garden, where he can find
rest and comfort in its quiet atmo-
; sphere He likes to inspect the big
1 stag horn fern, a native of the An
iipodes and a member of the orchid
, family. which forms the central dec,
Grafton in the room. This fern never
stops growing. AS the old growths
Gle. they decay and help to fertilize
tie succeeding shoots. The fern is
still a young plant, but in time to
come it will assume large proper
tons. Sometimes they assume enor-
nous size, and the really big ones