Charlevoix county herald., 1920-07-09

Dy the veteran WhdleDOne cutter, might
be considered startling.
II had nothing when I took over
this business" said Mr.. Messmann, cor
almost nothing. Mr.. Vetter wished
to retire, and he gave me everything.
I did not pay him for the business
what you call the good-will-or for
any of the equipment. All paid him
for was the actual stock Of raw whale
bone In the house. The tools. the safe,
the machinery, the furniture. the good
will-everything-he gave me-"
When asked what would become Of
the business. Mr.. Mesmann indicated
that his foreman, John Martel, had
been with the concern since 1871, and
the inference was that history might
repeat itself in limited way.
Sixty Years In One Building.
In speaking Of the interesting and
now vanishing business Of whalebone
cutting and dressing. Mr.. Messmann
said:
"Since 1850 this whalebone business
has been continuously In this building.
When wei mean the business-first
came here we sold a great deal of
bone for hoop skirts. We sold It for
umbrella ribs, too. That was before
the time Of the metal umbrella rib"
| Diving 1t into q drawer, Mr.. Mess
mann fished out a very old rib,
strip Of whale bone. with square-fn-
ished sides, about one-eighth of an
inch thick, terminating in we'll
shaped tip. the prototype of the mod
ern umbrellas bone or horn tipped
metal rib.
"We sold the ribs squared of, the
umbrella makers tapering the ends.
1t was &c before they used steel ribs
In umbrellas.
Automobiles have caused a large
decrease In whalebone sales. You
don't need a whip for an auto. For
merly carriages and turnouts were
numerous and whips were needed. We
sold a great deal Of whalebone for
whips"
Sixty years ago, when closely set
whalebones stiffened ladies' basQues
and bodices, and cOrsets, then known
as stays, were formidable affairs,
close-set with boning. the whalebone
business fiourished. Sales have been
getting scarcer lately. More recently
| whalebOne has been sold to felt hat
manufacturers, who place thin, slen-
der strip inside the swaziland to keep
the hat In shape.
| The whalebOne comes I'm what are
technically known as "slabs"-thlck,
flexible strips, running to about ten
| feet In length, broad at the base and
tapering to blunt point. These big
slabs of whalebone are sometimes
variegated, so-called "white" bone be-
ing found here and there In streaks.
| "When we encounter a light streak
we cut that out and lay 1t aside" said
Mr.. Messman. I'm this way we as
semble a quantity Of whalebone Of
light tone. 1t runs about the shade
of manila paper"
Mr.. Mesmann showed box of this
bone, such as he had sold to dry goods
stores and dressmakers' supply houses.
The bone, cut In lengths Of thirty-six
inches, very flexible and almost as
thin as heavy note paper, was part Of
a lot which he used to sell to a de-
partment store. where II was used in
ball dresses, according to Mr.. Mess
mann.
WhaIebone Bullet Probes.
| During the war whalebone probes
were used to search for bullets, the
strip Of whalebone about IA inches
long being rounded like child's old
fashioned slate pencil and then cut
away to an exceedingly fine and nex-
ible thinness. terminating in slightly
rounded end. The whalebone is all
cut by hand, with knives, and later
shaped and smoothed by machinery.
Whalebone Is obtained from the
right whale or cachelot. the bowhead
and the humpbacked whale. These
must not be confused with the sperm
whale, from which sperm oil is taken.
The whalebone Of the humpbacked
whale is not considered desirable. The
whalebone or baleen, as II is called,
Is so placed within the jaws of the
whale that he uses IL for straining the
small living organisms on which ne
| feeds.
Mr.. Messmann treasures slab,
found tossed In with a large lot Of
bone, on which some member OF
whaler's crew had evidently put In
a lot Of time. Craven on its polished
surface is a panorama, showing heav-
ing pillows, a full-rigged ship, whales
and more whales, some of them
"soundinA" with just their tails stick
ing up; one with his bulky head jut-
ting up like a cliff, with a whalebOat
neatly bitten In two by his gigantic
jaws. The decorations include,
Shore with lighthouse, cottage and
trees, and decorative emblems-eagles,
flags and patriotic inscriptions such
as "E Pluribus Unum," Liberty" and
Columbia"
The last whale known to have been
caught OF New York, according TO
Mr.. Messmann, was taken by Captain
Joshua Edwards. of Amagansett, L.
l., fifteen years ago.
81 got there as fast as I could, but
another man beat me to IT," said Mr..