Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-13
WHALING FLEETS
END GOOD SEASON
British Columbia Craft Are
Back in Port With 800
Giants of Pacific Ocean.
sp.cial pispateh % The Sac.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
VANCOUVER, october 12.-Another
whaling season is over, and British
Columbia's feet of little steel steamers
that each year go seeking the biggest
game in, the world are back again at
their herths after months Of hunting
cff the West Coast.
It was a good season, the whaling
..,tsins say. More than 300 whales
re taken, and that is considerably
more ian last year, but the hunters
c aim tina. clear weather and calm seas
are chiefly responsible 1or tnaU'
Whales More Wary.
Each successive year finds the whales
more wary and difficult of attack. A
uecade or so ago the hunters were not
REQUIRED OF go far afield for tner
quarry. Great schools OF whales were
familiar sight as they ploweo a. shs
waters close TO shore, but now even
srIitsrv whale is seldom seen in the
regions where his kind was once numer-
ous The hunting fleets now stalk their
victims many miles from the coast, out
in the open. Pacific.
put theren always be plenty OF
whales" the old-tirne shippers claim
some day they'll be so hard 10 mo
that it won't pay to go hunting 1of OF
business, and right then the whales VIII
start to multiply and come visiting
sgain, Therell always be plenty OF
That may be so, but the technical
men will tell you that the whales are
going fast. Just as all other Dig game.
SThe whales will vanish from the seas
as the buffalo have gone IIom eli, s,t
mains" is the way they put IL: But
there are enough of them left TO Keep
an Industry going for good many
years to come"
Romantic Age Passing.
The old, romantic age OF whaling mas
passed. The black hulled schooner
scudding before the wlnd. ner Ot W.
chased the leviathan in the NORTH
Eacific and In other seas belongs TO
neriod that has gone the way OF the
I,hina clipper. And gone, too, is the
race of rugged men who walked the
decks of those history making craft; YET
those schooners of old have leIb tnen
modern counterpart IN tne Io aITo "a t tt
aeet, steel greynounds that toLoW Lne
whales now with a speed and effective
ness that would have been mcreolple
in the DAYS of the wind ship. The hard
Ii ~ v,te so,3s If the seas who def1ed death
every time they left port for the hunt-
ing grounds have left men OF tnen
breed to follow along In the rousn
channel they pioneered ana cnaIveu'
But the men who hunt whales toQay,
while of much the same human LaDtN
as their predecessors, have mucn oe sS,s
Iier WEAPONS at their disposal. Inc
element Of chance has been reduced 70
the vanishing point. once Wnaie -
sighted it Is almost as good as caugne'
INT the whaling industry as not
progressed merely in the direction OF
hunting the whale. There was q time
when the whale was killed almost eA-
clusively for its oil, but by tna tlnne
with A whale 1t has extracted from tne
carcass as wide q variety OF prooucts
es the packers get from the more
J,,,rnhle r1orker. In fashionable Lonoon
and paris CAV hats with egret ana
ornrev plunes might, If they could, tell
~ their close affinity with the nneiy
Shredded fibers Of the Whale. On tle
dinner tables of Far Eastern merchants, |
when company is TO be more especIa nS |
I,o,Sored salted whale tails are served
as a delicacy. The changing shape OF
|,oi,adv of fashion might be said TO owe
aile0isnce to the useful and pnapie
Qualities of whalebone. Many OF Ene
most nlxuriant soaps and other toiet
nrsnarations are based largely on the
more delicate oils Of the whale.
Matter-of-Fact Business.
Nowadays the business of hunting |
vbaIes is. apart from its thrill, mat
ter-of-fact undertaking. It Is lar cry
IN the DAYS when the sleeping monster
ras stalked by Indians in fran dugouts
armed with hand harpoons. THESE cruoe
harpoons were attached to lines at tne
end Of which were MINATED moe pays
which foated on the waters surLacs.
THE whales first instinct Vhen snot Is
N sound" to the depth Of the sea:
with several harpoons stuck IN him and
a series of air bags retarding MS
nrogress. he soon weakened and sur
Wondered. But under those conditions
the hunters task was precarlouS lnoeeo
with the odds favoring the whale. IL
is all very different today. with tne
whale wallowing on the DOW, tne
harpoon gun Is aimed ana nreo ana Cne
shaft plunges deep In the monSVers
hack. The harpoon carries time
bomb and attached to it is o 50-foot
roll of light MANILA rope, fastened TO
q heavier line some 800 yards in length.
The heavier line is wound over drums
TO the bow winches OF the vessel, so
that mans part Of the battle is Largely
a mechanical affair. When the whale
plunges deep the line must be played
out rapidly. The steamer follows in
the direction taken by the whale, the
7yinches hauling in the line as the
whale comes up for air. A killing lance,
which explodes when accurately aimed
close to the monsters heart or lungs,
ends the struggle. Sometimes the first
shot takes effect, but more often the
whale wages a desperate fight taxing
the resourcefulness of the hunter TO
the limit But sometimes the bomb
fails to explode, and on such occasions
the whaler finds himself in tow OF q
nI,IngIng giant with the strength of a
steam engine. Whaling, however, Is not
so simple as it may sound. 1t isn't
every fisherman who can capture a
prize weighing 20 tons!
(Copyright, 1921