The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1914-02-04
fX.COV. OSBORN
KILLS A WHALE
Former State Executive Tells
About a Thrilling Experience

=.
If Michigan bids fair To rival Theo-
,oro Roosevelt as hunter of big
came" Since his retirement from the
oovernorship ne has been trying his
hand with Inc rifle IN the large ami
mails of Africa. among which Col
Roosevelt found much spectacular
hunting.
Goy. Osborn's latest achievement in
this line surpasses anything that col.
pooserclt has done. lie was privileged
during Il whaling trip on the Indian
ocean 10 shoot the bomb lance into u
.,nonstcr of the deep" This is the
,,,. in which he tells OF his achieve
mont i'm u recent issue of the Sault
SIC Marie Evening News:
Tells Of Shooting.
"rhe whalcr twisted, plunged Dip
mad and the sea ran kissing, roaring.
o,reling over and by. ordinarily the
snecd might have been eight or nins
niIes an hour; now we were going
about nee i'm order To keep on top. If
the whale decided To run away he
cotld 90 az thirty-mile an hour clip
Rut ne didn't run. As we neared him
ba sounded and thu ships engines
stopped for ten minutes.
No sooner was Roadway rhecked
than we preached Ia in the cradle of
the deep and the way the little craft
rocked was a caution.
The gunner took his place on the
little bow gun deck and held on as
wave after wave swept over HIM. When
n particularly large one came he would
duck behind the bulwarks. watch
ed him closely and worked my way
10 as near him as | could find a place
IA hold onto. had scarcely cotton
into position when the whale bobbed
nm within thirty feet and the gunner
LET av. There was n boom and n
great thrashing followed. ! saw the
harboon speed through the air and n;
the mark. The whale looked as big |
almost as the boat and was nearly as
long.
II was exciting. Not all the line |
was taken. He went down about L.
500 feet. While this was going on the
gunner reloaded and let me take his |
place. The gunner gets two pounds |
for every whale he kills. told him |
! would give him three pounds for |
every whale | missed. Even at that |
he refused To let me shoot at first un
til he had a harpoon safely fastened.
Thinks of v. S. Gunners.
Il remembered that the 9unners of
our navy made their record shooting |
in the war of 1872 bv firing on the |
DOWN roll of the ship. The whale was !
full fifty feet away, but looked as big |
as the ocean. swung the gun on him,
aimed high and as the boat started to
pitch downward | cut loose. The har-
poon lung through the air and struck
the whale just at the water line. The
gunner cheered me and | felt pretty
good myself
When he came up we got almost
Hl'uNNl'l'H ny NllS llliit nv was lllIiSil-
ing the water furiously, and could see
blood stains. The gunner said the
word ana | gave the whale his quetus.
We let him noat for the time be-
ing and started afte- another. This
time when he got near enough the
gunner let me have the first shot. The
whale was about forty feet away. The
halpoon struck him too near the tail
To do much damage. but ii held fast.
The next shot ! hit him about -four
feet back of the jaws not far from
the lungs. This did the business and
! had killed whale.
Then while he was dashed alongside
ana the other whale was picked up and
also dashed, | grew sad. Perhaps it
was the seasickness which returned in
rcdouolcd form. Perhaps il was the
taking &C such n splendid life: the de-
structon of such n magnificent crea-
ture. But this is the way of men"