The San Francisco call. [volume], October 29, 1899, Page 25, Image 25

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
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THE old steam
whaler Mary
D. Hume, the
first vessel of
her class t o
winter in the
Arctic, has made her
last voyage to the i
frozen north. Since j
the day she was I
turned from a smart I
steam schooner into
a full-fledged blub- '
ber hunter," the
Hume has been al
most continuously j
off the mouth of the :
Mackenzie River and i
there is no vessel i
afloat to-day that j
has remained as long
In the land of the I
midnight sun with
out a change of base
as she.
During nine years
sf continuous serv
ice the Hume- only
once returned to civ
once r civ
ilization. That was
ln IS&2. Early in 1593 1
she returned to Her
schel Island and in
the Arctic circle she
remained until a few
days ago. when she
returned to San
Francisco, her days
as a whaler being
numbered.
The Hume will
The Hnme
now be turned into
a "cannery tender."
and as such will tow
and as such wl
the sailing vessels of
the Pacific Steam
Whaling Company's
Whaling •'• mpany's
fleet in and out the
harbors of Prince
Williams Sound.
The Mary D.
Hume was built
nearly eighteen
years ago by George
W. Hume, the sal
\V. Hume, the sal
mon packer, and
named for his wife.
She was as smart a
little steam schoon
er as there was on
the coast in those
'
days, and many a
successful trip "she
made between here
mad* !;. re
and Eel River, car
rying butter and
.-cc*- and produce.
In the year lg 8 the
schooner Nicol ene
was caught in the
Ice and could not get
south of Point Bar
row. The captain
made the best of his
hard luck and spent
a pretty fair winter,
all things consider
ed. in the spring of
ISS!) he saw plenty of
whales In the open
sea. but for lack of
steam he could not
he could not
get his vessel any
where near the levi
athans. On his re
turn to San Fran
cisco In the fall of
that year he told of
his experience and
the late Captain J.
H. Knowle b wa s
quick to s*e the pos
sibilities of a steam *
The /Host f?emaH<abTe Battle to
the Death Between a whate
and a SV-fOPdFTsh OFF the
Island oF Santa CataTlna. .
THE passengers on the little steam-
er that makes dally trips be-
tween San Pedro Harbor, near
Los Angeles, and Santa Cata-
llna Island, some thirty miles out
in the Pacific Ocean, were ex-
cited the oth»r day by a terrific battle
between two sea monsters. The spec-
tacle from the deck of the steamer,
about a mile away from the scene of
the combat, was a small mountain of
mist tossing in the air, at the base of
which a huge tyack tail churned the
water like the blades of a screw pro
• peller. The monsier-a very large sized
whale— turned thte way and that, all
the time lashing iti black tall with fury
and beating the water so that the
sound came like claps of thunder to
every one on board the Catallna Isl
and boat. The wha'^ suddenly turned,
and, spouting a po\*erful stream of
water and blood cone twenty feet In
the air, lashed tb« "Wetter with several
Inthe
north. He
the
the
H v
deck on
her
little
a
April
Vs;in* the
• whali-r D.
■ Hume on her
command
Captain James A.
Every prepara
tion had been made for
off . the mouth
oi the Mackenzie River,
Varni in consequence the men
did not suffer a great deal
their absence from civ-
ilization. There was an abund
ance of fresh meat, as dee;*
were plentiful and eider ducks
were brought to the frozen-in
steamer by the Esquimaux In
thousands. The men had to be
X kept employed, however, in order
W to ward off scurvy: In consequence
' gangs were sent out every day on
tutting expeditions, others went
hunting the polar bear, while some
had to hunt members of the crew
who were foolish enough to attempt
to escape up the river to Canada and
civilization. All kinds of games were
played, but the favorite was football.
powerful flaps of Its tall, and sank be
neath the surface of the ocean.
The little steamer made for the scene
of the battle with all speed, and every
one of the passengers was terribly ex
cited at the scene, but when the boat
reached the spot where the great whale
was last seen, nothing but foaming
water, reddened with blood, marked the
locality. There were several old-time
sailors on board the steamer and they
all agreed that a battle unto death be
tween a Bivordfish and a female whale
had been fought before their eyes. The
swordfish had the advantage of the
great sea mammal and was thrusting
its only weapon of attack and defense
—the long, sharp and pointed sword—
Into the vulnerable sides of the un
wieldy whale. The great mammal
could but thrash its tail about in im
potent rage until at last a vital spot
was reached by the attacking sword
fish, and the whale was vanquished.
A dozen or more old men who sit
about the docks and the Custom-houses
at Sau FecU-Q aud fan Plego, alter a
a con-
played the
In a blanket"
a game the men learned
the' Esquimaux, and- some
of them neany broke their necks
ln attempting to rival the aboriginal.
The blanket was made j out of wajrils
hide pieced togelher and hung in aslant
ing position. The performer began cm the
upper end, and after being- thrown into
the air had to make his way to the. lower
end In gradually decreasing bounds until
he dropped to the Ice in safety. If. his
eye failed him the result would be an im-
pact with the ice that Would raise a howl
of delight among the eajer onlookers,
but would not be appreciated In the. same
ratio , by the unfortunate performer.'
The accompanying pictures are perhaps
the only ones ln San Francisco of games
in the frozen north taken by the rays of
the aurora boreaus.. Many a whaler has
wintered there since the Mary D. Hume
found the way, but the captains have
been too busy to take pictures, and in
consequence many a trait, of Indian life
and the pastimes of the icebound .whalers
have missed the camera. ':■>
The winter of 1890-91 was. the first one
the Hume spent in the, Arctic, -in the
spring of ISP2 she was the first the field
and secured the phenomenal ..catch," of
thirty-six whales. At thUt-.tlmc the price
of whalebone was, very high and; a whale
was valued* at from $10,000 tojla.ooo,- ac-
cording to his size. The Hume's catch
realized nearly half a million- -dollars.
Captain Tilton's "lay" made him a rich
man, and he Is now living in New, Bed-
ford on the Interest of the money earned
ln that memorable venture. •-~ .; ■:■
- April 13, 1883. the Hume, after a
thorough overhauling, started , for the
Arctic once more, She wns- to again win-
ter off the mouth of the ' Mackenzie, but
this time she was not to be alone; .; Al-
most the entire steam whaling; company's
fleet was to keep her company, - .while
Roth, Blum & Co., Lewis, Anderson &
Co. and James Mcltenna had representa
tives among the Icebound. fleet. C
Captain George B. Leavitt -was in com-
mand of the Hume, and before going into
long career ln the whaling fields of the
Pacific Ocean, say that , the • battle be
tween the whale and the swordfish last
week was not. uncommon. -Several of
the old tars say they .have, witnessed
just as good fights between: similar
combatants, and. besides; that in near
ly every, case the swordfish' is. the at
tacking party. Many, men who have
been on whaling voyages have, found
wounds in the carcasses of whales that
were undoubtedly left there by an an
gry swordfish. -If is' seldom, ho tv ever,
that a swordfish is . able to "stab . the
whale to death. ,'. :„ ■ ■>„
The swordfish la utterly without -fear
and will, like a buffalo I or. rhinoceros.
charge anything that offends Mt," often
doing an amount of execution: hardly to
be believed did not the evidence exist.
Combats between- swbrdfishv are most
Interesting, and may be compared to a
duel between two expert -swordsmen.
Such a contest was observed i off i the
long pier- that, extends -out into the
ocean at Santa Monica; hear, Los An
geles,- last year. Some fishermen' no
ticed two big fish leaping out of the
water . and.daehius .alc-DSttJae-autCace.
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winter quarters he secured fourteen
whales. During the season when the sun
, Is hidden the men of the Hume taught
I the crews of the rest of the fleet how to
i enjoy themselves. ■ That season there
were.football matches for the port watches
, and baseball matches for the starboard
• watches. *.':.. ■
The aurora borealla made It possible for
I the men to play at all hours, so they lost
' track of time and played or worked, with
i their regular watch off for sleep, continu
-1 ously. Skipping. contests were always go
j ing em, and some of the boatsteerers out-
I did the natives at tossing In the blanket,
i while the baseball nines and football
I teams developed some crack players,
--| The fall of -INM found the-? Hume again
:' V. ■ '. f
Soon it was seen that they were sword-
fish. The season was when the flsh are
unusually ferocious. They had made
several rushes, and when observed
were at close quarters, striking each
other powerful side blows like cavalry-
men. This was unsatisfactory, and
Anally they separated and darted at '
each other other like arrows, the water
hissing as their sharp dorsal flns cut
through it. They evidently struck:
head-on, one missing, while the! eword
of the other struck Just' below the eye
and plowed a deep furrow in the . fiah, ;
partly disabling it so that it turned'
and attempted to escape. .But its ad- .
versary also .turned, and with a rush
drove its sword completely through the -
body of Its foe and held it fast, only
wrenching its weapon loose when its
enemy stopped swimming. -
This one lunge finished the battle,
' and the victor left the field. '•* The van-"
qulshed, noating on the surface, waa
picked up by , the fishermen. The
wounds In the dead flsh were examined
several hundred people in Los An-
geles and Santa Monica. They gave *■■
aj-njia evidence .of the extraordinary
in win-
ter quarters,
time six^'^B
whales. In the spring^M
ofMß9s,she went to the
westward of Herschel Isi-
and returned to winter quar-^M
ters with seven whales. . She
went out in • 1895 and caught Hve^^^B
whales, but did not get hack to her^^B
winter quarters. - She was caught ourjM
in the open and had to make her bed off"
S. a' Horse Island. Once more her crew had
to winter alone, but by this time they were
■u/ed to it and Old not suffer much from
loneliness in consequence. - -■
In September, 1897, Captain Leavitt. went
from the Hume to the Newport and Cap
tain William Hegarty, a New England
man, kook charge of the little brigantine.
For the first time in her life as a whaler
not a- whale was taken during the season.
In disgust Captain Hegarty started- for
San '.Francisco, but the Arctic froze very
early, that year, and in company with half
a dozen other vessels the Hume was
caught" out In the open. The news reach
ed San ' Francisco on the steam whaler
Alexander and was told exclusively ln
The Call. Through the efforts of this pa
per a. relicf i expedition was sent north on
'the' revenue cutter Bear and the men of
the fleet were saved from ; starvation.
. When the Ice broke up in the 'spring of
l'-M the Jessie. H. Freeman was carried
ashore' and ground to pieces.- -but the
Hume escaped. That . season she took
thirteen whales to make up for the fall
ure of 18§7. This year she took six whales,
so .that In nine years her different crews
have* taken eighty-seven whales, valued
at over a million dollars net, and yet the
Hume Ms: only 100 tons net burden and
.looks like a box under steam. „ On her way
hoipe-shq was very nearly lost." During a
severe -'storm.-' her forefoot was carried
away and she. began to leak. A couple of
tho''. boats were "smashed into kindling
wood, ci nd it looked for a time. as though
the Hume had made her last voyage, She
weathered the gale, however, and reach
ed San Francisco In due time. She is
still In the ring, and as a cannery tender
has many year* of .usefulness yet ah*"-*, of
ferocity of a thrust by a swordfish.
The force with which a swordfish
strikes has been variously estimated,
but that it Is equal to that which
drives a 24-pound shot from a howitzer
will be believed easily after viewing
the results. .".:,.,
In the waters of California three
kinds of swordfish can be seen
Xlphius gladius. Tetrapturus albidus,
and Hlstophorus, The flsh engaged in
the battle described were of the kind
first named. It is the ordinary sword
fish found on both i sides of • the Atlan
tic, In appearance trim and shipshape
a. table privateer. It is a piratical
cousin of the mackerel. The striking
feature is - the sword; which is a con
tlnuatlon of the upper jaw ■ Into a
sharp, bony, sword. The Jaws are
toothless, the lower one being hard
or bony. The eyes are large and prom
ine'nt, the tall sickle-shaped and pow
erf ul, and the whole appearance of thu
flßh .denotes speed and activity.
It attains a length of from five to
nine feet, and when working at full
speed can pierce a wooden hull sheath
ed. with copper. One of the most re-
her.
The
late
n
s.
the founder
the Pad-
fie Steam
Com-BJ
the^B
Hum«
Inseparably^^
ln the his^B
of Arctic whal-^B
ing. Captain Knowlesßl
the plan
that has proved so rich^B
in results, and the Mary^B
| D. Hume was the llttle^B
that turned his the-^B
ories into golden success.
One of the most curious
finds over made from the sea
was that which came to the^B
Azores in 1868. The Island of
I'e-i'vie was then In possession °f^H
two beach-combers, runa w a >'^H
English Bailors,' , There tame BJ
drifting Into a little harbor one
morning a craft which had cvi- BJ
I dently been frozen In the ice for a
I lifetime, and had, lately been releas- B
I ed,'« lt had come down from Davis w
I strait, and .was an ancient- and bat- ™
tered hulk without masts, bulwarks
or name. The craft hart been a brig,
and she was a Russian. Her hatches
I were on and Jr--- cabin doors fast, and
markable cases on record Is that of the
ship Dreadnought. One day at sea
the crew felt a sudden shock, and soon
after that the ship sprung a . leak and
was obliged to put into port. It was
found when she was drydocked that a
large swordfish had struck her. The
sword had penetrated the copper, then
the thick oak hull, passing through the
thick pine sheathing, and finally enter
ing the head of a barrel. The sword
was broken off short, partly plugging
the wound.
. One of the finest specimens of the
Tetrapturus albidus ever seen in Cali
fornia waters was found recently on
the shore off San Diego. It was a mag
nificent specimen, about . six feet in
length, [ the body ' massive and f power
ful . and remarkable for its shape. It
did not taper to the tail, as many of,
its. tribe do, but continued large all the'
way to the tail, which was powerful.
It had a long dorsal An almost the en
tire length of the back, and its sword
was short. Evidently .the sword had
been partly broken off in a fierce com
bat with another of Its kind. The head;
was . large, -. as - were . the eyes. r An ex-
the hulk war Buoy
ant. She had come
out of the belly of
an iceberg. She had
little cargo, and that
consisted of skins
and furs in prime
condition. No papers
were found In her
cabin, but it was
figured that she was
a sealer or trader,
carrying a crew of
ten or twelve, and
that she. had been
provisioned for a
year. The flour
aboard tasted like
chalk, but the beef
was perhaps better
than the day It was
put on board. She
had been abandoned
when frozen In, and
the dark color of the
woodwork and the
growth of i moss
proved that she had
drifted for years.
Then she got fast
In the ice, and be
came part of a berg.
The date of a let
ter found in her
forecastle sho wed
that she had been
abandoned marly
half a century be
for c. The hulk
drifted on to a sandy
beach and the comb
ers went to work on
her. They got out
the furs, which
brought them $4000,
hoisted out a couple
of barrels of beef,
and then set fire to
the wreck, and little
remained of her
when the story leak
ed out. That the
hulk had come down
from the far north
was proved only a
few weeks later by
the log of an Eng
lish merchantman.
She reported passing
a great iceberg to
northwest of ths
Azores, and of see
ing a' curious object
embedded in it fifty
feet above ■ the sur
face of the water.
Tnis object was be
lieved to be a whale,
but lt was probably
the hull of the brig.
Getting down into
the warm seas, the
berg fell to pieces,
and that queer old
relic found herself
afloat again. ;;-,;.'■; ■'*
It is not generally
known that the
Prince of Monaco—
who- rules* over one
of the smallest
principalities in the
world, one of the
I most beautiful, and,
go far as Monte Car
j lo is concerned, one
of the wickedest— Is
I a man devoted to
j science, and to this
| study of that "og-
Iraphy" which re-
lates to the life of
the ocean. A muse-
um of oceanography
is now in process of
building at . Monte
Carlo, destined to
hold the famous col-
lections made by the
Prince during the
1 last fifteen years or
more. To his partic-
ular line of research
he has brought all
his enthusiasm and
j all the resources at
his command. He
has explored ocean
depths as great as
9600 feet. If any-
thing can atone (or
the existence of his
gaming tables, per-
haps his disinterest
i ed devotion to
J science may.—
' per's Bazar. -'.-'-;--.'
animation of the carcass showed lt had
doubtless succumbed to a fierce thrust
from an enemy, possibly a Xiphlus, or
long swordfish, as it had a single cut
two and a half inches wide that pene
trated the entire* body like a knife
thrust. The defeated swordfish had ap
parently been carrying on an unequal
fight. Armed with a short sword or
dagger it had been struck by a caval
ryman of the sea, whose keen rapier
had killed It. The body amazed the
fishermen.
A singular thing in connection with
the swordfish is that little or nothing
is known regarding its breeding habits,
and a young swordfish, so far as
known, has never been seen on the Cal
ifornia coast. The young are curious
creatures, with enormous eyes, and the
/Jaws, upper and lower, of ejqual length.
The | swordfish of California are rare-
ly brought in, being found principally
at sea or on the windward coast of the
** Los Angeles County islands, where they
follow the school of mackerel and
other fish, upon which they feed. They
are. not seen in sufficient number to
justify fishermen following then*.
25