The St. Mary banner., 1913-02-15

I scarcely of the class that once mace
the place famous Most of the vesseis
from New Bedford now are schooners'
with an occasional brig, and once IN
while bark, but those deep bottom-
ed, long legged" ships of earlier days.
built especially for this work, are 10
be seen only as stranded hulks OF
gaunt ribbed skeletons. The TACT Oh
it is that the steam whaler has sup
planted the sailing craft, that the
ships have to travel faster and 1ur-
ther to make the business pay at ALL
In the days of the sailing Wnalers
they put to sea outfitting for 1our
years, and as likely as not they cir
cled the globe and hunted in all the
seas before they returned to port
deep with their loads and smelling as
only a whaler can smell with neariy
the whole of her body saturated WIN
rancid OIL Now even whaler unoer
canvas seldom voyages for longer
than tv years, and the sail and steam
whalers go proyisioned for single
season, while the specially equipped
steam whalers of Scandinavia and
Japan run in and out of their home
ports at frequent intervals.
Apropos of the Japanese, there Is IN
this industry another example OF the
wonderful adaptability Of these ORR
entails; they have learned the up-to-
date methods of the modern Morse
men and have probably done more
than any other people toward clearing
the big cetacea from the North "a
cific. They have not only hunted the
whale relentlessly and with every IA
cility calculated to make their quest
more fruitful, but they have shown
the rest of the world how to utilize
substantially every part Of these
great creatures of the sea.
Formerly the oil, specmaceti and
whalebone, were the prime objects OF
the quest, and occasionally there was
the added and unexpected windfall Of
a lump or so of highly priced amber
girls. but the tons upon tons OF flesh
and bone were abandoned to the scav-
eneers of the sea- Not SO today upon
the North Pacific, and especially
among the Japanese The skin and
cartilage yield glue, the bones are
ground up for fertilizer and the flesh
is canned for food and considered
luxury among the Orientals.
Europeans who have eaten this meat
commend it highly, and this is really
nothing but a verification of the taste
Of the native West African. For gen.
erations the negroes of the west coast.
despite the tropical climate and what
science considers the proper food for
such regions, have rejoiced whenever
a whaler near their shores has left
them the blubber stripped body of
whale to feast upon.
Whale oil today has not the market
It once enjoyed when sperm oil cast
it's glow in nearly every home. Its
uses are largely limited to tempering
steel and for the dressing of leath-
or. This of course lowers its selling
price. Even the spermaceti has its
rival from out of the earth, and this
material is now fashioned into can
dies mainly for religious services.
OF course ambergris is as precious
as ever. If not more SO. but this is
more an accident than a deliberate
consequence of whaling. Just what
produces ambergris is still matter
of speculation, but it is generally be-
lieved to be the product or conse-
ouence of an intestinal disorder OF
a sperm whale. Ambergris sells for
$40 an ounce and upward. depending
upon the market supply. 1t does not
require a large lump to net the finder