WHALER'S £45,000 HAUL.

Hastings Standard, Volume XIII, Issue 4204, 10 July 1909, Page 4 (Supplement)

WHALER'S £45,000 HAUL.

THRILLING FOUR HOURS' FIGHT. Three Norwegian whalers, the Edda, Samson and Hercules, have returned t."> Sandefjord from South Georgia, where they have been on a whaling expedition, in the ourse of which over 800 whales were captured. The season lasted four months, and i is the r. .t sncae-sful on re:-ord, 14,(XX* i barrels T oil wor'h 8lX),000 kroner ; (nenrfy V5-000> having been etcmerl. ) wjere each of t(j j t '1 -f-0 men were ensaged on tori> *' i.-s • • ->s, wIK-ro the blabber v«a.s has had 16 years' experience of whaling, described the method of whale hunting pursued by the vessels to a "Daily Chronicle" representative. In the bows of the craft is a small cannon from which a harpoon, the head of which contains an explosive, is fired. The harpoon embeds itself in the fle-h, and the explosion follows killing the whale almost instantly. Sometimes it happens that the charge does not explode, and an exciting time follows. Captain Sorlee had an experience of this kind with a huge blue whale. The whale was struck in the ekfe with a harpoon, and then away it dashfd. The now paid out hundreds of fathoms of 4in. rope, which was attached to the harpoon, but so fast did the whale swim, towing the Samson in its wake, that a tremendous bow wave was created. and almost swamped the vessel. Tlit> captain resorted to the device of wrking his engines three-quarter .speed astern, the power being then ob-mt ten knots ; but all the same the whale towed the Samson ahead. For four hours this battfe continued until the weather became wild and stormy, the line parted, and the whale was not seen again.

JAPANESE AIRSHIP. t V aeroplane has, according I to tti" Japan Times," a journal of I high sti ruling in its country, been con- | stricted in Japan by Mr. Isaburo YaI nuil;.. who built an airship at the i <>j' Port Arthur. Mr. Yamanda, accord in ec to tho same authority, was placed in charge of military aeronautical experiments as far back as the Chino-Japanese ww it? 1894. The "Japan Times" mnkes the remarkable claim that "in the battles of i Port Arthur Mr. Yamada's aeroplane rendered invaluable services in reconnoitring work," but the words aeroplane and airship are u?ed synonyiTiously. , A further invention of Mr. Yamada.s is sn'd to be so f-w'rft in motion that ft wruld fulfil in the air the dirges of a ewift destroyer at sea. Ladv (to tramp who has accosted her in the" street): "So you really tell me yon have given up drink?" Tramp: "Yes, ma'am. Only a week aco I passed twelve public-houses and didn't enter one of them." Lady: "Really! The temptation must have been very great." Tramp: "Yes, ma'am; but I was locked up in the 'Black Maria.'"