The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-13
WHALES SUGGESTED
AID TO FOOD SUPPL
Each One May Yield 5000
Pounds of Meat
is ABOUT 81 FEET LON(
twenty Barrels of Spermaceti Dippd
Out of Its Head With Bucket.
Early Extinction Said to
be Threatened
is ABOUT 81 FEET LON,
BY c. e. STEWART.

Washington, February 12.-fSpecia1 y
one check to the rapidly diminishir
meat supply of the world. and the cons
quent rapid increase in the cost of livin
Roy Chapman Andrews of New Yor
communicates an interesting article
the National Geographic society at Wasl
1ngton upon canned meats. especiall
that of whales. He predicts that as
result of the world hunt for the monarc
OIL the seas, now going on in, full bias
the commercial extinction of large whale|
within few these decades is inevita bl !
Except in Japan, he says, great portion
of the flesh of these animals. which is pa
atable and healthful. is now going
waste or is being used for fertilizing pur
poses.
If the American and European peopl
could be educated to the point of eatin
the canned flesh of animals which indiI
vidually Weld as much as 10000 pounds o|
meat what wonderful food supply woul
be within reach of the poor of our sreaI
cities he says.
rev people realize that the blue. oil
sulphur bottom, whale found in all on II
oceans is not only the largest animal thai
lives today, but is also, so far as i'll
known, the largest animal that has eve
existed on earth or in its waters write
Mr. Andrews. Specimens have beef
measured which reached the length oI
81 feet and in all probability weighed a.
much as 10 tons. Although the mouth il
enormous, large enough, in fact, to perl
nit 10 or 12 men to stand upright in ii. thl
throat measures only nine inches in diam
eter. These animals, like most of thu,
whalebone whales, usually feed on mini
ute crustaceans. shrimp about three
quarters of an inch long. They probabll
never eat fish of any kind if other food
Is to be had, and of the many stomacheI i
l have examined, never once could any
thing but the little red crustaceans I'D
found. From the stomach of one blud
whale al Vancouver Island five barrels
of shrimp were taken, and it was by nd
means full.
Wonderful Strength
Probably no eetacean has such won4
derful strength as have the blue whalesl
When l saw a blue whale with a harpooH
between the shoulders drag a ship, with
engines at full speed astern, through the
water almost as though 1t had been al
rowboat, | began to listen to the stories 4
of their incredible strength with more
respect. The finback, closely related to-
the blue whale, has been called the grey
hound of the sea- for its long, slender
body is built on the lines of the racing
yacht, and the animal can equal the
speed of the fastest ships.
All the large whales show great affec-
tion for their young. and the cows and
calves will seldom leave each other when
pursued by ship. | remember a one
time in Alaska we sighted a female fin
back with a young one about 30 feet long
beside her AS the old whale rose to
spout, the gunner fired, killing her almost
Instantly The calf although badly
frightened, continued to swim in a circle
mother had been hoisted to the surface.
the little fellow came alongside so close
that L could have struck him with a
stone. During the time that the carcass
was being inflated and the gun reloaded
the calf was constantly within a few
fathoms of the ship. swimming round and
round sometimes rubbing itself against
the body of its dead mother. Finally q
harpoon was sent crashing into it's side
and it sank without a struggle.
Oil Tank in Head
In the upper portion of the head of
the sperm whale is an immense oil tank
in which the valuable spermaceti is
found in a liquid condition and from
which il may be dipped with bucket
when an incision is made. From a sperm
whale 60 feet in length which was sent
from Japan, 20 barrels of spermaceti were
taken out of the case and the surround
ing fat The sperm whale is the animal
which Yields ambergris, the valuable sub
stance used so extensively in the manu-
facture of our best perfumes.