The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1918-09-06
A VETERAN WHALER
Tells STORY OF SEA
Old Time Thrills of Game
Still Fills Hearts
Of Men.

Juneau, Alaska. Aug. 1.-THE ro-
nance of whale fishing still exists,
with all its ancient thrills, according
to Captain G.. Earling, an experience
ed whaler and owner Of a fleet Of
whalers near Port Armstrong, Alas
ka. Here the United States Whaling
Company is operating under the SUI
perintendency of Captain Earling.
This veteran hunter has high re-
gard for the sperm whale for several
reasons. Primarily 1t is one of the
most profitable of the big ocean NAM
mails to bag. The sperm whale unlike
many of the other species, has big
throat aperture. In the stomach Of
one captured recently was found the
following: One devilfish, with feelers
IL feet long, the creature being 25
feet across when spread out; two
sharks, one IL and the others feet
long, and an endless variety of small
er fish. According to the Captain,
these were all in a state of good pre-
servation, indicating that the whale
was feeding at the time it was taken.
The gender "he" is correct in
speaking of sperm whales of the
Pacific Coast waters. at is one of the
wonders of the Pacific" said Captain
Earring, chat no females have ever
been taken in this ocean.
1--WE have killed around $50 sperm
whales at this station since it was es-
tablished in 1912, and none of them
have been females. / have hunted
whales from Panama to the Attic and
have neither heard of nor seen a fe-
male, said the old whaler.
1.-The sperm whale is like camel,
too" said the Captain. ut seems that
they store oil in a tank for future
use, just as a camel stores water.
Sometimes these tanks are nearly
empty, and again they are full. The
size of the creature therefore is not
necessarily an indication of the a
mount of oil that may be found"
The average amount of oil found in
the tank is Is to 80 barrels. The
blubber also produces many barrels
of a good grade of sperm oil.
The sperm is the favor:te game
hunted by whalers. But many other
varieties are sought and captured.
Among those commonly taken at
Port Armstrong are: Sulphur bottoms
that measure up to 90 feet in length ;
finbacks that attain a length of 80 to
80 feet, as do also the sperm whales
and humpbacks, that run around 20
to 80 feet in length. They will all
average a ton OF more to the foot oil
length. A big sperm is valued by
those who capture him at from 49,
900 TO $1,000.
Most whales have a small throat
and are provided with gill bones
that serve as strainers to let the wa
ter ont and keep the small fish in as
they open their mouths and close
them again when feeding on schools
of small fish, such as herring. But
the sperme whale is not thus suppl
ed. On the other hand it has teeth
ivory ones, on its lower jaw, but the
upper part of its mouth has nothing
but gum sockets into which the teeth
on the lower jaw fit when the mouth
is closed. These teeth are ground uI
and form the raw product out OF
which compound ivory billiard balls
are manufactured.
The whales captured at this station
are all made into fertilizer after the
oil, whalebone and ivory have been
removed. There is one other whaling
station located at Akutan neal
Unimak Pass, Alaska, and it is un-
derstood that they are preparing to
freeze the choicer cuts of whale for
human consumption.