BACK FROM ANTARCTIC

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 86, 10 April 1924, Page 5

BACK FROM ANTARCTIC

WHALING IN THE SOUTH

END OF FIRST CRUISE

OVER 17,800 BARRELS OF OIL1,

SOME EXCITING EXPERIENCES.

(BY mHQRAPH.—SPECIAL 10 Tag' POST.) DUNEDIN, This Day. Tlie story of the trip of the Sir James Ross Clark, as related by Mr. T. Young, a Tasmanian, to a, "Star" reporter,' furnishes interesting reading. The ship polled out of Hobarfc on 30th' November.- The weather was fine at the start, but the second day oat the ship struck one of the storms the "roaring forties" are noted a for. Big seas, crashed on board, and large steel ventilators wert smashed on the foredeck. One of the men Was knocked unconscious, 'a big wave sweeping him. into the , scupper, where his Irish mate picked him up', saving his life.byia bit of smart work. The storm continued all that day and throughout the night, leaving the bigship; hove to-. The two Star whalers, IV. and V., .which -svere in towj, broke'their wire hawsers, and /were oast adrift. They, then followed,under their own steam. The following day (Tuesday) the weather moderated, and on Wednesday,: the fleet anchored' at Macquarrie . Island, where the other thr.ee Star whalers wore picked up. The, Sir Jame3 Boss Clark was the mother chip, and 'after she had coaled, and provisioned the whole fleet they,all,set out for the frozen South. .. SMASHING THROUGH THE ICE.; The- first iceberg "was sighted fourteen days , after leaving Hobart. It was about ISO feet high, and was passed a few hundred; yards distant. Next day the whole fleet, entered the pack ice. The mother ship -took/the five whalers--in tow. and .the',.big steamer smashed a passage through the ice, 'making A canal for the smaller .boats'. About the fourth day^the ship rah into very thick pack ice and was jammed again and figain. The engines, /were full speed ahead and astern,'but to no avail—the ship\ did not move.. The boatswain then took a gang of. twenty men and with huge saws cut a. passage'through, the-ice.,'' While .they were doing that a good game of Rugby was-played by the."Tassies" .and the old members—Norwegians, Swedes,- _Danes, Dutchmen, and Ger-mans—-on the ice. It "was a good game: After six hours in the pack ice the.-fleet got through} though very slowly. • After the 'day open water was'met^ and several whales -were , sigh ted. No; whaling was attempted there.' ":'' . '■: ■ .'-. CHRISTMAS DAY FESTIVITIES. On Christmas' Dayy the fleet, excepting Star 11., which had been missing.for several days, entered Whale 'Bay. ."'Provisions were landed on-tho ice for.'Ssar'. IL The. Norwegian flag was hoisted on a tall pole for Star ll.,'and a bottle containing instructions. She, however, turned np. sis days afterwards.- . .-.- . Christmas Day .festivities on board ship included a Christmas tree ( decorataed with the flag of every nationality aboard —seven.. In the mess room every man received a present from Captain Larsen 'and Captain ; Kaldager.. Plenty of refreshments Aveire sent forward, to ..'the men,, including- wine,'nuts,: and cigars.. .It was a jolly gathering. ' '•■ :THB'FIRST WHALE. "'._ On 27th! December Star 11. vreappearedj arid nest day secured the first whaled Star '11. had been-jammed in the.pack ice, and had miraculously escaped. The first fish was a blue whale about-85 feet' long, the blubber alone producing 104 barrels of oil, valued at about J36 per barrel. Discovery. Inlet1 was entered on 29th December, and the anchors lowered "in 300 fathoms of water right, under "the Great Ice Barrier. On New Year's Day the anchor was weighed ,as a blizzard was driving the ship on to the ice cliffs, which rose to a.l height of 100 feet above the water. She steamed out .into open water clea.; of the Barrier, but Wad to return owing to the heavy , sea outsido, .which ma&e work impossible. .: s ' FISHING- IN EARNEST. Fishing was. now started in earnest., but whales were rather scarce at first. By ;the Ist. of..'February .only seventy-* five whales had been caught—6ooo barrels of oiL Prospects,-however, brightened, and the whalers brought in nine whales. Star 1., which was the tug boat for, the'; whalers, began to bring in eight, nine, and ten whales at,a time, Imt^ it slackened off again towards the end' of February, when the weather became extremely cold, the temperature a^ times dropping to 40-degrees .below freezing point. By the end of February all the whales had disappeared, and none was caught after the first .of March. The most whales alongside tho-mother ship. at. one-time was thirty-two, worth about £15,000. ■'," ■ -....' STAR 111. HAS A. NARROW, ESCAPE. One day iij February a blizzard came np, and' the ship started to dsag her anchor, and was soon right under tho Barrier.- This was'dangerous.. The engines were run full speed- ahead, and by smart seamanship the Sir James Clark Boss was navigated into comparative safety. She had jo steam round the inlet. The dragging anchor was supplemented by the engines going full speed ahead. „ • , During the blizzard Star IH. crashed into the ice barrier, snapping the foretopmast and the mizzenm^st, and narrowly escaping, destruction, i This blizzard lasted.for two days, and it was feared the thirty-two whales alongside would be lost, but fortunately only one went, adrift, and after a remarkable display of seamanship Star I. brought the; carcass back to the mother ship. ' ' BRILLIANT NAVIGATION. On the sth March winter set in, the temperature dropping to 49 degrees beiow freezing: A. blizzard was raging and three feet of ice formed - all 'round the ship, completely icing her in. It formed in one day. _On 6th March the anchor was weighed, the big ship smashing' her way through the newly-formed we to clear Discovery tnlet._ Coming out of the Ross Sea no pack ice Was sighted, that being due fo Captain, Larsen s brilliant navigation and his knowledge of Antarctic conditions He was previously in the Weddell Sea' where he. lost his ship and lived for nine, months on the rocks and ice, he and his crew east-ing on penguins, eked out with biscuits. He had made a study of the ocean currents in- Southern latitudes avid the knowledge stood him in good stead on this occasion. WORST JOURNEY EVER MADE BY 'WHALERS. A rough triD was experienced all the way to Campbell Island, and might well1 be termed the worst journey in the world'ever-made by vessels of'tho whaler Star. type. ■. From 'Discovery Inlet to Campbell Island took fourteen"1 days instead of eight days under ordinary ■ conditions. Four shepherds and about 70 bales of wool were picked' up at Campbell Island where .4000 sheep were grazing. The

fleet stayed theTe a.-^li-.i-nd'ther. pro-. ceeded to'Stewart Island., i . . THE TAKES OF THE I-TEST TRIP.' The Sir Barnes Clark Res? coals'' sfc Port Chalmers (about. 2400 tow), takes in water, and then leaves' duxct for feandejford in Norway. The vessel-as-pects to ba back in 'Hobart- next' November fox the second cruise of the threo cruises licensed by the. New Zealand Government. ■ " ' Hie take on the first' trip.is 17,299. barrels. A number of blue while teeth and about 60 tons of wHalebone are also on board. This is used in the manufacture,of ladies' cotsetsThe crew numbers 130. The ' - swain, Harry 'Hudson, was in h" „ for a month with, pneumonia ship's surgeon, Dr. Kohl, is a scientist; and Dr. Vallens, a ' scientist, also accompanied the One day, in hoisting np the one of the flenchfirs was Knoc ' board. He yas ; quickly, resc. ' was frozen stiff when he was h deck. He was'rubbed with win soon recovered. Whaling is still a romance iJ i with much drudgery .attached curing of the precious oil.