The Mexia Weekly Herald (Mexia, Tex.), Vol. 13, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 4, 1912 Page: 8 of 10
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CRUISING FOR THE WHALE
' /
Enormous Commercial Value of the Big Fish
IKS:
j , HE largest thing that ever lived on
J the earth, in the air above or the
waters beneath is the blue or sulphur
bottom whale. Specimens of him
have reached eighty-seven feet in length, with
a weight of something like seventy-five tons.
His enormous mouth is large enough to per-
mit ten or twelve men to stand upright in it,
while his throat has a diameter of only about
nine inches, though this is plenty large enough
fnr nrartiral purposes, as he feeds mostly on
small shrimp. Roy Chapman Andrews, who
made a collection of whales for the American
Museum of Natural History, in New York,
says that on Vancouver island five barrels of
shrimp was taken from one whale's stomach,
and it was by no nfeans full.
Closely allied to the sulphur-bottom is the
finback, which is the greyhound of the whale
family. Built on the lines of a racing yacht,
it can cut the waves with the speed of a steam-
ship. Naturally, it has npt the tremendous
strength of its cousin, which, when harpooned
between the shoulders, so that its exertions are
not impeded, can tow a whaling steamer, with
engines going full speed astern, as if it were a
mere rowboat.
These are two varieties that are much hunt-
ed by "shore whalers" along the northern Pa-
cific coast and in Japanese waters. They af-
ford great quantities of whalebone, which used
to be thrown away as useless, but has been
bringing $7 or more a pound in London for
the last five or six years. Those caught along
the Pacific coast are used merely to make oil
and fertilizer, but the ones captured in Japan
furnish a staple article of food for the poor.
These shore fisheries, which have extended
gradually from their Norwegian home to Brit-
ish Columbia, Alaska. Bermuda, South Amer-
ica, Russia. Africa and even New Zealand, are
rapidly killing off the whales. So fast are some
species disappearing that Mr. Andrews made a
hurried trip to the Far East to get a few be-
fore their kind should vanish altogether.
Besides these tremendous hulks of flesh,
blood and blubber the diplodocus and other
monsters of antiquity were almost pigmies.
Nothing in this class has been dreamed of
since the world was crcated. Yet they are be-
ing exterminated the world over—literally
massacred, in fact—so that we know as little
of them as if we had merely dug their bones
out of a glacial deposit.
As a matter of fact, an animal that can tow
a steamer and stay under water for well on to
half an hour is not the easiest thing in creation
to study. From what little is known of him,
however, he is rather a lovable creature. He
is companionable, usually swimming about in
schools or perhaps with only one other of his
kind for company. His women folks are ideal
mothers. The cows will defend their young
with their lives, and the thirty-foot babies,
that are just beginning to find their sea legs,
are as affectionate children as can be found on
dry land.
Contrasted with the sulphur-bottom and the
slim finbacks are the sperms. They are as
bulky and chunky as their relatives are finely
drawn. They are the Holsteins of the whale
family. While they never quite measure up to
their relatives, pound for pound, they are quite
hefty citizens. A bull sixty feet long is noth-
ing extraordinary, and the tank in his head will
contain twenty barrels of spermaceti. It would
be interesting to know just exactly what good
this does him. but so far no one has been kind
enough to explain, satisfactorily.
Nor has any one been able to say why, with
all other forms of animal life larger in the past
than they are now, the whale is greater in this
age than he has ever been before. There is no
indication, for instance, that the whales of re-
mote ages wer^ anything like the size they now
attain, and how much bigger they might get if
they were left alone is something interesting t9
contemplate.
Nor is there another instance of an animal
so perfectly adapting itself to an alien ele-
ment as the whale has done. Even yet he re-
tains his forearms, though they are of no prac-
tical use, and the suggestions of nether limbs
are to be found under his hide and blubber.
Ambergris, that is worth more than its
weight in gold, is one of the prizes that is still
rich enough to attract the sea rovers. Con-
trary to the generally accepted idea, it is not
used itself as a perfume, but because it is a
better base for the manufacture of high-grade
scents than any other known substance. It
seems to weld and hold together the fragrance
of the perfumes proper, so that there is always
a high-priced market for «t.
And as ambergris is yielded only by the
sperm whale, the best opportunities are af-
forded by the southern waters, in which it is
now mostly found, though it sometimes wan-
ders up along our Atlantic coast. In fact, the
sperm whale was always the prized member of
his family, because his tremendous head con-
tains a reservoir of oil that formerly had a
much wider use than it now finds, because of
the improvements in the manufacture of pe-
troleum and its products. At present the oil
is used principally in the manufacture of lu-
bricants.
However, the sperm whale yields no bone,
being supplied with teeth, so that the southern
cruises do not profit from this startling change
in the market. The sperm feeds largely on
squids and giant cuttlefish, so that the teeth
are of much service to him in holding his food
in his mouth until he gets the water out of it..
However, the prospects of sensational finds
of ambergris yield a greater zest to the pursuit
of the sperm whale than to any others of his
kind. When the Viola, with her owner and
commander, Captain John A. Cook, and his
wife, known as the "Angel of Pauline Cove"
for iier work for sailors, left New Bedford
011 June 30, 1910, it was to proceed to the
haunts of the ocean bulldogs.
From the catch, as reported from Fayal, in
the Azores, recently, was obtained ambergris
to the value of $17,000. Oil to the amount oi
1,570 barrels was obtained, and this was valued
at $24,727, so that the cruise has yielded $41,-
727, or $18,000 more than the entire cost of the
vessel.
The find of ambergris was shared with the
bark Bertha, also of New Bedford. Imagine
the joy of the crews when a big sperm whale
was cut into and found to contain 160 pounds
of the fabiilously valuable substance. All un-
avoidable expenses excluded, the lump sold for
more than $30,000 when the Bertha brought it
to land.
Now all the Viola has to do to make her
expenses until she returns, and she will have
paid for herself and yielded a handsome profit
besides. It sqems strange, when one considers
that, seventy years ago, the whaling industry
employed 70,000 men and represented $70,000,-
000 capital, to realize that this very profitable
boat is but a mere survivor of a once great in-
dustry, and that the most wonderful animals
of our time, in many respects, will. soon be ex-
terminated. The hulks of old whales have
rotted to pieces at New Bedford, ana where
once there were several hundred vessels plying
their t< ide from that port, a few dozen now
remain.
All is hustle about a whaling station. The
captain of the whaling vessel with ten picked
men usually starts out at daybreak after his
game. Everything is prepared for the fray,
the platform on the ship's bow holds a ponder-
ous harpoon ready to be shot from the cannon
and the men are prepared for a hard chase, for
often they must go over a long stretch of seal
in bad weather. One man is stationed aloft as
a lookout, and as whales feed on animal life
and come to the surface to blow he is liable
at any time to call out "Whale ahead" or
"Whale on starboard" or "Whale to larboard,"
as the case may be.
When such a call comes all is excitement.
,Quick as a flash the stanch craft go^s full speed
and noiselessly bears down upon the prey with
the captain up in the bow with his hand onB
the cannon. He waits until the boat is about I
whale goes through several processes of
slaughtering and rendering. Even with the
modern methods, whale catching is exciting
work, and many arc the stories told by whale
captains and their men. On one occasion the
whaler was coming into port with four whales
tied by their tails to the boat when a big sul-
phur whale swung around and hit the pro-
pellor, breaking it in two so the vessel bad to
be beached. One of the hardest catches was
that of an immense sulphur whale which towed
the boat twenty miles before it gave out. The
engines were set at half fjtecu *bLciu lo lire tlic
whale out, but he kept up the tow and for
three hours hauled the boat while sailors pour-
ed water on the line to keep it from catching
fire. Finally another harpoon finished him.
Once, a whale, after being harpooned, slid unv
der the boat and the bomb exploded while he
was there, giving everyone a shake-up, but for-
tunately no one was injured.
Northern Pacific whales travel in herds, and
it is a common sight to see several hundred,
though there may be many varieties in the
same herd.
It is really the by-products of the whale that
bring the money. Whale guano is made from
the contents of the stomach and pieces of flesh,
and this is sold to sugar plantations in Hawaii.
Other parts are used for bone fertilizers. Tal-
low is furnished for soap and candle making,
while glue finds a ready sale in furniture fac-
tories. The blubber is on the outside of the
whale and underneath it is a large skin which
is used for upholstery. The intestines make
kid gloves. In fact every part of the whale is
a ship was very lucky and found the quarry
plentiful. Many a vessel cruised for several
years and got virtually nothing, liefoie the
war—in 1858, to be exact—it was calculated
that forty-four out of sixty-eight boats due to
arrive at New Bedford had made losing trips,
the aggregate loss being $1,000,000.
"TRUSTS" AND TRUST COMPANIES.
With the passage'of the Sherman Anti-
Trust act by congress in 1890, the so-called
"Trusts" became an object of ever-increasing
intcicat to the jguMw public Tn that fa-
mous document "Trusts" are branded as com-
binations or conspiracies in restraint of trade.
Such an indictment has held this form of cor-
poration before us as a monster, grasping and
oppressing on all sides, to be fought at every
opportunity. And so firmly* has this feeling
become imbued with our thoughts that the
word "Trust" in whatever connection it may be
used, brings before our minds this 'picture.
In this connection the trust companies often
suffer; for no two institutions could possibly
differ more widely than the trust, with its
many evils, and the trust company with all
its virtues. In order to disabuse the public
mind of the idea that there is some connection
between a trust and a trust company, herein is
an explanation of just what the latter is.
A trust company is a banking institution,
chartered under and regulated by the state
banking laws. It has a paid in capital, a stir-
plus fund, and carries a heavy bond, all for the x
protection of every customer of the company,
It is, at frequent intervals, examined by stale
4
$
=&• T Sfo.
' •k- - - .
"Flash Goes the Harpoon."
150 yards from the whale when flash goes the
harpoon, which is fired from a harpoon gun and
does deadly work. This is a large instrument
six feet long, with claws that open afid fasten
themselves firmly into the flesh. To make as-
surance doubly sure the harpoon has 011 it a
shell that explodes after the instrument enters
the whale. Then begins a chase after the whale
if he is not killed outright. He may come up
to the surface two or three times to blow,
though he is still attached to the boat, for
when the harpoon strikes the whale many
fathoms of line go with it.
The captain is on the alert every moment
for he must guide his boat toward the spot
where the whale will next be seen. Npr does
a whale submit without rebellion, ft may jump
into the air, returning to the water with a
thud that sends out water spouts over the ship,
or it may go directly toward the ship, lashing
it with its tail and injuring it badly. Some-
times the whale will be four or five hours cir-
cling round the ship and battling for its life.
Finally, if it does not die, the sailors kill it
with harpoons. Then an air pipe is forced into
its stomach and it is inflated. This keeps the
caccass afloat, and it is marked with a flag
and towed behind the vessel into the factory.
Sometimes several whales are caught and fas-
tened to bow and stern and the machinery of
the boat is constructed so it will balance itself
from the strain.
There is always much excitement when a
whaling boat eomes home, and great crowds
collect around the factory. This building is
fitted with up-to-date machinery, and in it the
of use.
Never ,«t any time, however, could the Pa-
cific ports comparc with the Atlantic in the
importance of the whaling iijdustr}'. Long be-
fore the revolutionary war the giants of the
deep were hunted along the Atlantic coast,
from Nantucket island, Boston. New Bedford
and a host of smaller ports. From the revo-
lution until after the war of 1812 the business
languished, because of the inroads made upon
the fleets by foreign privateers. After there
came a permanent peace, however, the golden
age of whaling began, and until the civil war
it gained constantly. Sperm oil was never
worth less than $1 je'gallon, and sometimes,
for instance, after the war, went as high as
$2.25. Now it fluctuates around 50 cents. Or-
dinary whale oij, after the early '40s varied
from 50 to 80 cents a gallon, going as high as
$1.47. Now it sells around 30 cents, and it is
doubtful if~whales would be hunted for it alone,
as their carcasses yield far more in bone and
other products than in oil.
In the old days there were some mighty val-
uable cargoes. In April, 1866, the Corinthian
and George Howland arrived at New Bedford
within five days of each other, cach with pro-
ducts valued at $250,000 in the rough, on which
net profits of $125,000 were realized. As late
as 188O the bark Europa, which had been
cruising in Japanese and other eastern waters,
came home with a cargo valued at $248,000.
They were the records, and represent a few
prosperous voyages out of a great many lean
ones. For never, at any time, was there a
great margin of profit in the business, unless
officials, its books are always open to their
inspection ; and it is operated under the super-
vision of the state.
The scope of business of a trust company it
so large and its field of usefulness to the pub-
lic so great that it is impossible to set them
forth in a few words. Briefly, some of its ac-
tivities are as follows: In the first place, it
acts as a depository, a place where idle funds
of individuals may be deposited for certain
lengths of time, while on these deposits the
company pays interest at the rate of 5 per cent.
In the second place, it loans its own funds on
real estate, thereby giving the farmer or prop-
erty owner opportunity of obtaining long time
loans for development purposes. It acts as es-
crow agent—stake holder as it were—in busi-
ness transactions where certain conditions to
a contract must be met before the money is
transferred. As administrator and as trustee,
the trust company takes charge of the will and
estate of an individual, acting under the su-
pervision of the court; and manages the prop-
erty and funds to the best interest of the own-
ers. Finally, as a counsellor, the trust com-
Ijany advises its clients with regard to the in-
Vesting of their funds; tjnd offers to the pub-
lic for their purchase the very highest class
of bonds and mortgages. In selling these in-
l vestments, the company usually guarantees the
purchaser against loss of either principal or in-
terest. The real estate mortgages are arranged
in bond form in $500.00 and $1,000.00 denom-
inations, having interest coupons attached
Thus it is seen that the modern trust com-
pany is a great factor 111 the development of
any community. It provides a means whereby
the people may borrow money for increasing
the efficiency of their properties; it protects the
property of widows and frphans in acting as
trustee of estates; it provides a market for
bonds and notes; it pays 5 per cent on deposits
in all sizes; and it offers the highest grade of
investments havmg good rates of interest and
bearing the company's guarantee.
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Houx, N. P. The Mexia Weekly Herald (Mexia, Tex.), Vol. 13, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 4, 1912, newspaper, January 4, 1912; Mexia, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth302366/m1/8/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Gibbs Memorial Library.