The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1930-06-27

The boys thought the tongue
might prove equally palatable,
but | valued it only on account of
the large quantity of oil it con
tanned.
With a heavy freight we put to
sea. and made what haste we
could to reach home. and cleanse
our persons from the unpleasant
traces of the disgusting work in
which we had spent the day.
Next morning we started at
dawn.
MY wife and Franz we're left
behind, for our proposed work was
even more horrible than that of
the preceding day; they could not
assist, and had no inclination to
witness it.
1t was my intention to open
the arca completely, and. pen
etrating the interior, to obtain
various portions Of the intestines,
thinking that it would be possible
to convert the larger ones into
vessels fit for holding oil. This
time we laid aside our clothes
and wore only strong canvas
trousers when we commenced op-
erations. which were vigorously
carried in during the whole of
the day; then, satisfied that we
could do so with a clear con-
science, we abandoned the re-
mains to the birds of prey, and,
with a full cargo, set sail for
land.
On the way, it appeared to
strike the boys (who had made
not the slightest objection to
the singularly unpleasant task /
had set them). as very strange
that l should wish to possess what
they had been working so hard
to procure for me.
What can have made you
wish to bring away that brute's
e~ntrails, father? Are they Of any
use?"
There are countries" l replied,
where no wood grows of which
to make barrels, and no hemp for
thread, string, and cordage. Ne
| cessity, the mother of all the
more valuable inventions, has
taught the inhabitants of those
countries. GreenlandeTs, Esqui-
maux, and others, to think of sub
s~titutes, and they use the intes-
tines of the whale for n pur-
pose, the sinews and nerves for
the other"
We were right glad to land, and
get rid, for the present, of our
unpleasant materials, the further
preparation of which was work in
store for the following day.
A refreshing bath, clean clothes,
and supper, cheered us all up,
and we slept in peace.
CHAPTER XI
Now for the finishing up of
this dirty job" cried /. merrily,
as we all woke up next morning
at daybreak. And after the reg
ular work was done, we COM
menced operations by raising a
| stand or rough scaffold on which
the tubs full of blubber were
placed and heavily pressed. so
that the purest and finest oil
overflowed into vessels under
meath.
The blubber vas afterward boil
ed in a cauldron over a fire
kindled at some distance from our
abode. and by Swimming and
straining through a coarse cloth,
we succeeded in obtaining a large
supply of excellent train-oil, which
in casks and bags mad. of the
intestines, was safely slowed
away in the cellar, as the chill
dren called our toughest store
room. This days work was far
from agreeable, and the dreadful
smell oppressed us all, more es-
pecially my poor wife, who, new.
ertheless. endured it with her ac-
customed good temper, Although
she very urgently recommended
that the new island should be
the headquarters for another col
ony, where, said she, ''any ami.
mails we leave would be safe
from apes and other plumbers, and
where you would find it so very
convenient to boil whale-blubber
strain train-oil. and the like"
This proposal met with hearty
approval, especially from the boys
who were always charmed with
any new plan; and they were
eager to act upon it at once, but
when l reminded them of the
purifying carcass which lay there
, they confessed it would be bet
: ter to allow wind and storms
birds and insects to do theil
work in purging the atmosphere
: and reducing the whale to a skel
/ eton before we visited the island
I The idea of a rowing-machini
kept returning to my brain. I de
termined to attempt to make one
I took an iron bar, which whel
? laid across the middle of the boa
projected about a foot each way
l provided this bar in the middl
. with ribbed machinery, and a
each end with a sort of nave. Il
which, as in a cart wheel, fou