The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-12-14
Seek Sportive Denizens Of the
Deep Along the Atlantic
Coast from New Jersey to
Florida Harpoons Have
Given Way to Seines.

Now Is the season when the playful
porpoise puts on its winter underwear.
In the form of thick protective layer
OF tat, and from the present month until
early spring these gamboling creatures
OF the sea viii be sought by a special
class Of Atlantic fishermen. Needless Of
time as the porpoise seemingly Is, yet
upon 1t depends the busy mans apportion-
Ing OF his daily tasks. Because OF this fact
a curious industry has developed In this
country of which the public generally
knows nothing, and industry that init
mately affects the running Of watches
and clocks.
From the lower jaw OF the porpoise
Is extracted an oil which Is peculiarly
fitted TO serve as a lubricant for watches.
clocks. and chronometers. and strange
TO say, from no other source can an oil
OF the requisite qualities be obtained.
Therefore the porpoise Is hunted as
systematically as the whole used to be.
A few years ago nearly a quarter Of
a million clocks just out Of their makers
hands went wrong. II was not merely
that they lost time but they actually
came to full stop and would not work
at all. There was no question about their
skillful fabrication and assembling. The
whole trouble was due TO an imperfect
lubricant, and a goodiy sum OF money
and much time were spent before those
clocks were in running order and fit for
distribution From this may be appre-
ciated the value OF the contribution which
the porpoise makes to the daily life of
mankind.
For years the porpoise was taken prin-
cipally as a side issue mother fishing.
The increase in the demand for the oil
60 t., II ~.
for its sale end the capture Of PROPOSES
in large numbers and under circum-
stances that could be controlled to meet
commercial demands.
Harpooning had previously been the
method Of taking them, but this had many
drawbacks. An oil refiner in New Bed
ford learned that the Turks on the Black
Sea used dragnets to land the native por-
poise when swimming near shore in quest
of certain small fish upon which they
feed. This was a practice unknown here
and conditions were not identical. but
that clever Yankee believed that the IA
cilities could be adapted to suit the re-
quirements. From New Jersey to Florida
are now scattered fishing stations krgan-
lied by that refiner of the old whsling
city. and from November to April they
are busy seining porpoises as they pass
up and down the Atlantic shore line.
Porpoises can be caught at other seasons,
but in winter they are latest and furnish
the best and most profitable yield.
Fat from Jaw Most Valuable.
To the INITIATED the fat of the body
and the fat Of the lower jaw appear much
Of a kind. but the oils produced from
them are radically different in their char
acteristics. The oil from the body fat is
worth in the raw state about 40 cents a
gallon. while like quantity Of the yield
Of the jaw pans and the marrow of the
jawbone brings $40. The. blubber. or body
fat. Of large porpOise furnishes from
FIVE to six gallons of OIL and the lower
Jaws of a fish of the same size give
probably about two quarts on an average,
and this quantity is greatly reduced be-
fore the various stages of refining have
made the oil fit for the market When
ready for sale TO watch and clock makers
he oil Is worth nearly double its value in
he raw or unrefned condition.
The equipment at each fishing station
consists principally of the boats and the
special nets designed for the work. A
working unit is composed of four boats
md a mile of seine. The seines are
heavy and exceptionally stout. and it is
of a task to handle them !
properly. The boats are a cross between |
/ skin and the fishing dory Of New |
oundland and our own down east coast. |
1t is not possible to put out after the |
,orpoises from sheltered points; the |
,oats have to be launched right into the |
turf and carried safely beyond the dan
:er line of the tumbling breakers. Load !
d with its quarter Of a mile Of net. II |
$ a hard task to shove one Of these |
,oats through the broken water near the |
,each. The most fruitful porpoise hunt
ng station is close to Cape Hatteras. and /
/ is well known what hazards Turk in /