Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1914-09-17

= 800 AeNSe ~ WaoAS
makes of, releasing the long harpoon
line behind him. By and by he must
come up to breathe and by that time
the other dories are at hand and ready
to dispatch him. In some cases an
explosive is fred into the head OF the
whale. but the whalers do not eem
to take kindly to this modern limo
walton and It 10 not generally prac-
tised.
Working up the whale presents tho
interesting modern aspect Of the
story and to see this m needs to
visit Hawk Harbor. or some other
whale factory" on the Labrador
coast. A. single filthy steamer car
ries passengers up these bleak shores
beyond Battle Harbor. which II the
first port of call after n has crossed
the Straits Of Belle Isle and left New
~foundland behind.
Killed IN the sea the monster
whales are towed to the factory and
there. II time for cutting up be In
opportune. the whale is pumped full
of air and allowed to float out In the
bay until the men can find opportun-
ity to get at him. Then, by aid OF
windlass and cable, he Is slowly but
steadily drawn up the wide platform
to the station which runs with gentle
slope to the sea.
M~any-sided Subject
The background to the scene pre-
scented at the whaling stations Of New
foundland and Labrador is practically
the same for all. One has the harbor.
with the great islands Of pinkish
rocks and on the land behind. the
white-painted main building or whale
factory. Smaller buildings nestle be-
side this ON the rocks. At q end
Of the dock are the warehouses; be-
hind these a series Of vats flank each
eide the dock.
In these watts. II n visits at the
lucky moment, he finds boiling the
greenish mass which is what remains
OF the black hunks Of the whale meat
after a continued boiling. Over tho
watts there extends a bridge out over
the rocks to little coves, In whose wa
ter one sees the huge Jaw bones OF
whales slowly washed clean BY the
tides.
Then IN another bowl. or pocket.
formed by the rocks there lies. jum-
bled together. a mass Of gills Of tho
whale, q consecutive series of slight
ly-curved black plates. each and an
edged with grayish-white bristles and
running out from . heavy. bloody
bone-form. These are the gills that
permit the whale draining on water
when It engulfs q BIT Of sea thus leav-
ing only fish in the NAV!
Scattered over the granite rocks.
too. are the messy remains Of the
whale. Cleaning q whale. however. IN
a manysided subject Once the great
mammal has been brought on the
beach, the fat Ii removed and carried
on In buckets. mounted on an endless
chain. Its destination ID the cuttsE
and in this the fat il cut into square
chunks. which. In turn, make their
way down to tanks, to be boiled for
perhaps q day. Al a result one haa
the oil as clear a. water and ready
to be put into casks and exported AZ
the whale oil Of commerce. /,
What Is left after the oil 10 taken
out, the "~pitchings." socalled. is sent
away to be worked up into fertilizer.
This Is done very largely at Savannah.
Ga The bone. too. Ia boiled until per-
fectly clean. when II, In Its turn. ID
exported to Boston. The upper Jaw
bone of q fair-sized whale will aver
age nve feet In length. The thick
black gills. too. must be cleaned and
cut up for sending away.
It takes perhaps a day in all to. cut
up a whale. 20 men being employed.
One station. that at Hawks Harbor.
cut mp go whales In one summer ana
what this means may be surmissd
when It Is recalled that an average
whale will yield from as to so barrsA.
A single sperm whale Ia on record
there a. yielding 80 barrels.