Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-02-04

Aleutian Islands.
70 0HALE beef may some day
MAN. form one of the meat sup
WV plies of the United States. 1t
is said to be delicious to the
taste and exceedingly healthful.
single whale will furnish as much beef
as 100 of the largest short-horn cattle
and the meat could be easily saved.
There are vast supplies of it in the
waters of Alaska, and the whalers are
trying to induce the fish canneries to
make it one of their products. AS it
is now, these canneries are idle the
greater part of the year, during which
time they could be cheaply used for
the canning of whale products. Today
the whaling industry is dependent upon
the oil, bone and fertilizer that come
from the carcass: and the fertilizer
product is a bagatelle compared with
what, might be made by selling the
meat for human consumption. The
OIL which formerly had a market value
OF several dollars a gallon, is now
selling for So cents, and the great
cargoes of whalebone formerly OBJ
tanned are growing less and less in this
part of the sea.
Today the whaling business of south
fined to two shore stations. One of
these is at Port Armstrong, on the
southern end of Baranof Island, about
a thousand miles north of Seattle, and
the other is at Akutan, in the Aleutian
Islands, on the edge of Boring and
only few hours from where this
letter is dated. Both stations are run
by companies, and each has a plant
equipped with modern machinery for
stripping off the blubber. rendering
the oil and making the residue into
fertilizer.
The Port Armstrong plant has a main
building that covers a quarter of an
acre and large warehouses for the
storage of fertilizer. 1t has also quar-
tiers for employees and buildings for
other purposes. 1t is capable of
handling 500 whales in season, and
it has number of whaling vessels
that steam over the waters hunting for
whales. Three of these ships are
known as Star l, Star and Star 3.
They are commanded by Norwegians.
and their crews work on shares in
stead of on a wage basis. A single
sperm whale often brings in as much
as $4,000. and the business is profitable
The station at Akutan has similar
arrangements for handling the product
and its ships are much the same
The whale fishing of today is far diff
ferent from that Of the past. The boats
used century ago were little sailing
ships of 800 or 400 tons, which carried a
number of dories, or small boats When
a whale was sighted the men went out
in their whaleboats and threw the har-
poems by hand. Each harpoon had a
long line attached to it. and at the end
of this was a float. After the whale
died it was dragged to the vessel where
the oil and bone were saved, the car
cass being thrown away.
steamers. with their hulIs painted
green to prevent the whale from OBJ
serving the approach of the Ship The
whales can see red paint under water,
and for this reason the paint is as the
color of the sea.
The harpooning is now done from the
steamer. and that by means of gun
invented by a Norwegian sailor named
SVend Foyn. Foyn was whaler ply
ing the seas at about the time we made
the purchase of Alaska. He used his
gun first in 1867. and fifteen years later
he is said to have made as much as
$2.o0o,0oo out of his invention. His gun
formed the basis of the finback whale
fishery. which is now carried on all
over the world. Some improvements
have been made in the gun and boats
are constructed with view to it's use
These whaleboats have high bows to
give a place for the gun platform, and
there is steering box at the fore end
of the ship.
Inc gun Is a snort tube-CannOn on
swivel bearings, with a muzzle as big
around as the largest teacup. 1t is dis
charged with a Krupp-f1ring screw. The
explosive used is black gunpowder with
bunch Of waste as wad. On the top
of this is the harpoon, which is at
tached to a long line or cable con-
nected with a steam winch on the deck
The harpoon ends in sharp point
which consists of a hollow iron can
filed with blasting powder. To this
cap a time-fuse is attached, and the
bomb explodes inside the whale. The
harpoon has expanding arms which
spring out after it enters the whale
and holds it while it is fighting for its
life. TIE whale has to be played, and
it will drag the ship this way and that.
The cable consists of about two thou
sand feet of manila rope as thick as a
mans arm.
When the animal is dead this is reeled
up by the steam engine on board, thus
dragging the whale to the ship. The