Nome tri-weekly nugget., 1919-04-02
ALASKAN WHALE FISHING IS
 STILL VALUABLE INDUSTRY
Associated Press Service.

Associated Press Service.
 JUNEAU, Alaska,-The romance of whale fishing is still existing with all it's ancient thrills, according to Cap tain G. Earling, an experienced whal- . CT and owner of q fleet of whalers neari Port Armstrong, Alaska. Here the United States Whaling company is op- erating under the superintcndency of! Captain Earling.
 This veteran hunter has d high re- gard for the sperm whale for several reasons. Primarily it is one of the most profitable big ocean mammals to bag. The sperm whale, unlike many of the other species, has Il big throat aperture. In the stomach of one cap- tured recently was found the follow ing; one devil fish with feelers twelve feet long, the creature being 25 feet across when head out; two sharks. one l2 and the other eight feet long; and an endless variety of small- CT 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 speak ing of sperm whales of the Pacific Coast waters. "It is one of the wonders of the Pacific. said Captain Earling, saxX
 in this ocean"
 We have killed around 250 sperm
 whales at this station since it was es- tablished in 1912, and none of them have been females. I have hunted whales from Panama to the Arctic, and have neither heard of nor seen fe- malc", said this old whaler.
 "The sperm whale is like q camel too, said the captain, "It seems that they store oil in q tank for future use, just as d camel stores water. Some times these tanks are nearly empty. the creature therefore is not neccssar. fly ain indication of the amount of oil that may be found"
 The average amount of oil found in the tank is 15 to 90 barrels. The blubber also produces many barrels of a good grade oil.
 The sperm is the favorte 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; Fin backs schul attain q length of 50 to 60l feet. as do also the sperm whales, and hum back that run around 9 to 90 feet in length. They will all average a ton or more to the foot of length. A i big sperm whale is valued by those who capture him at from s@.ooo toI s5.O0O
 Most whales have a small throat and and are provided with gill bcnes th;.t serve as stra lers tc let the water out 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 sperm whale is not thus supplied. On the other hand, ii has teeth, ivory oncs.. in it's lower jawsbut the upper part oi it's mouth has nothing but gum sockets into which the teeth of the lower jaw fit when the mouth is closed. These teeth are ground up 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, whale bone, and ivory had been re- moved. There is one other whaling station located at Akutan, near Uni mak Pass, Alaska, and it is understood that they are preparing to freeze the choicer cuts of whale for human con- sumption.