Seward daily gateway., 1925-08-03
By KATHERINE G. KANE.

fAoih q ISSCCI Iji Aoi HIM nation regarding the life and habits of the whale, we find no authentic knowledge on this subject Science does not give us the origin or age of this leviathan of the deep; neither do we know to certainty the where abouts of it's habitation
 If we turn to primitive history of the whales we find a similarity to many marine mammals such as the sea-otter and some species of seals, but no corresponding lines exist to show any relationship to these.
 In the whaling area of the North Pacific ocean there are five distinct specie of the whale family, of which the Blue Whale or Sulphur bottom is the largest. This gigantic animal at tains a length of 100 feet, and about 30 feet high and weighs approximate ly 100 tons, or one ton to the foot nation has provided him with a great caudal fin, and a pair of flukes or
 
 length, these with the dorsal fin and a powerful tail to act as a steering guide, enables him to swim at ter rife speed.
 The Sperm, next in size with it's immense head and mouth that could comfortably house a small family, is valuable for the sperm oil, and one full size sperm whale will produce POO drums of 110 gallon each, of oil of which there are three grades. The purest oil is found in tanks or huge cells formed in the head. The sec ond grade is taken from the pure white layer of fat that lies just under the skin and the third grade is taken from the vats where the flesh and bones are reduced to bone and meat meal. The flesh of the sperm is not edible as is the blue whale as his diet is composed of schools of the octopus. that requires the need of teeth to hold his prey, more than for mastica- tion. The number of teeth vary, but often as many as two hundred and forty teeth are found on the lower part, each tooth weighing from one, to two and one-half pounds. This whale decomposes rapidly and must be taken to the station as soon as possible after being harpooned.
 The Right whale comes next in size and importance from which whale bone is obtained.
 The whalebone is not bone, but a gelataneous substance or gristle found in the mouth of every whale but es- pecially large in the blue and right whale. It hangs from the top of the mouth in huge sheets often fifteen feet long, with brush or broom-like ends, and these act as screen to strain the food, as most whales live on fish, great quantities of these are taken at one time into their mouths together with barrels of water. The fish are entangled in the meshes of this whalebone. The water is forced out of it's mouth without allowing the fish to escape and then they are swal- lowed at leisure. An idea of the size of whales mouth, it's tongue alone would fill room 20x15x10 and yields from fifteen to twenty barrels of oil besides many hundreds of pounds of fertilizer. The long prongs of this whalebone or gill bones are sold as curlos and brings about S1.5O per pound, one prong of 15 feet will weigh about 20 pounds. The Fin Back and the Hump Back are about 50 to 60 feet long and easily found as they seem to sleep on the surface of the water. They contribute to the fertili- ger and bone meal
 The dissecting of whale is an art and not one stroke of the knives are ever mlscalculated. A flincing crew of eight natives with their sharp flin- c1ng knives with slightly curved blades from fourteen to eight inches long and handle about four feet re- semDllng a grass scythe can prepare a>whale for the retorts in about four hours. The fat or blubber lies just under the skin and is from two to three feet thick beautifully white and solid. Deep incisions are made thru the fat from the head to the tail in strips of four feet and on these are fastened the block and tackle and the machinery pulls the blubber off and hoists it into it's own particular vat.
 From this point the meatcutters take charge. This is a crew of fifteen men who inspect the meat, and cut it into small portions for the different manufacturing uses such as soap, per- fume, pomades and medicinal oils.
 It seems there is no limit to the