Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-06
PAGOS PARTY
TO HUNT RH|NODON
Archipelago From Which
Darwin Drew His Theory
to Be Explored.
BY LOUIS M. LYONS.
Written exclusively for The Star and the
North American NEWSPAPER Alliance.

North American Newspaper Alliance.
BOSTON. Mass, January 5.-Ad-
venture and science join hands in an
expedition to the Galapagos Archipelago
which Huntington r. Hardwick is out
fitting with the cooperation of the
Harvard Museum.
Down under the Equator, In the South
Pacific, Harvard's old foot ball star goes
to hunt the monster rhinodon or whale
shark. For the thrill of harpooning
this greatest and rarest of sharks, Hard o.
wick has spent almost year fitting out
a modern whaling expedition with such
gear as has perhaps not been shipped
from an American port in half
century.
With him goes Winthrop S. Brooks of
the Harvard Museum staff, to explore
a group Of the most mysterious and
fascinating islands in the world.
Naturalists at Harvard will await
Hardwick's return with some degree of
the thrilled anticipation that foot ball
fans of Is years ago felt when they
went to see Tack Hardwick play. The
capture of rhinodon will be scien-
tific as we'll as sporting achievement.
for science has had slight chance to
study the occasional specimens cast up
on remote tropical beaches.
But whether or not Hardwick har-
poems his whale-shark, Harvard hopes
that its experienced tropical explorer,
Brooks, will bring back specimens that
may help answer some of the questions
that have puzzled science ever since
Charles Darwin in the Beagle first Wis
tied the Galapagos Archipelago. From
his observations of the unique forms of
life in these volcanic islands Darwin
evolved his theory that upset the calm
of theology and revolutionized the world
of scholarship
Hardwick will sail about March Is in
his steam yacht, Arcadia, for a two
months cruise. Mrs. Hardwick and
their 12-year-old daughter, Peggy, are
going. Hardwick'S two Harvard ROOM
mates. Malcolm j. Logan and DR..
Thomas K. Richards, physician to
Harvard athletes, and Mrs. Richards
complete the party. They will take
Brooks on at Panama.
Harvard's chance to engage in this
exploration grows directly out of q fish
story brought home to TACK" Hard
wick last Winter.
Fishing has been one of Hardwick's
favorite sports since he stopped play
away from his bond business to go
after the fighting fish In West Indian
waters.
Big Fish Captures Gear.
His trips are made in the big Arcadia,
built for his late father-in-law, Galen
L. Stone After Hardwick had finished
fishing last Winter he lent the boat
to his brother-in-law, Richard Hoyt,
who took his friend. Lester Watson, and
sailed off to the Galapagos after tuna.
While fishing in small boat they came
alongside one of the whale-SharkS so
seldom seen and almost never caught.
Equipped with Swordfish darts, they let
drive. The first harpoon bent on the
great flSh'S tough hide as though it
had struck steel vault. The next
found a softer spot and went in.
The big fish paid no attention to
the barb for five minutes. Then it
slowly rolled over and went down. It
went down and down until it had their
whole 1000 feet of line. They tied on
life preserverS as a drag, to mark the
sharks position If it came up again.
In half an hour their life preservers re-
appeared, fiattened out by the pressure
of many fathoms. They bent on 1000
feet more line and tugged. Six put
their backs to the line. but they might
as well have pulled on the ocean bot
tom.
Their tugs reused the whale-shark,
and he went down 1000 feet farther,
taking the rest Of their line.
So they lost him, and, though they
waited about the rest Of the day and
returned the next day to the spot that
marked the loss of so much good gear,
the shark nerer came up again.
Ever since hearing about this. Hard
wick has been getting organized to hunt
rhinodon.
He found in New Bedford Capt.
George Fred Tilton, an authority on
whaling. Capt. Triton knew about the
whale-shark. 1t does not spout like
whale. Its form is readily distinguish
able-a shark form. BY its great size,
even so feet or more, it Is readily dis
tinguished from the smaller tiger and
leopard sharks around the Galapagos.
"Boby Dick Boat Fashioned.
Capt. Tilton told Hardwick what he
needed for whaling outfit and put
him in the way to get his gear. Charles
Beetle made Hardwick his whaleboat.
He made 1t of oak timbers and cedar
Plsnking. an exact duplicate of the
tight boats that followed Moby Dick in
the heyday Of whaling.
Hardwick and his skipper got every
thing that whalemen use, the stoutest.
longest harpoons, the darting lance that
discharges bomb to explode seven sec
onds after 1t strikes the whale, the long
lance to deliver the coup de grace when
the whale can be reached from the
small boat. the bomb gun of solid bronze
that has to be tied into the boat with
a lanyard. it kicks so thunderously when
it discharges the feather bomb at IS
yards point blank into the body of the
whale
And, to prevent his whale-shark get
ting away by deep-sea diving, Hard
wick has whaleman's drag Of heavy
planking to make fast to the line and
tire any whale-shark that tries to haul
it down.
Tack" feels sure Of Spotting whale.
whether he sees a whale shark or not.
So he set about building a whaling
crew. His men are in training now
off Florida with the whaleboat. Hard
wick means to handle the harpoon him