A WHALER'S MEMORIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19918, 11 April 1928, Page 11

A WHALER'S MEMORIES.

* .. "NO OIL, KG MONEY" DATS. THE STORMY 80LAN9KR, CRUISING IN THE OTHELLO. WHEN CREWS GOT OUT OF HAND. • t '• ■; •" BY LONEHANDER. The recent stranding of the big Nor* wegian ; whaler and the consequent loss of so much oil is to be regretted and an old whaler's sympathy goes out to all concerned, especially to the actual whalehunters, who, outside of what financial interest they may have in the catch, will feel that the full fruits of their skill and courage will not be enjoyed. It will hurt—unless the modern method of whalecatching has killed the spirit of the chase, which I doubt. However, it is to be hoped that the men are not on the same "lay" as the old-timers used to ship under. Their pay was an agreed-upon share of the ship's gross earnings during the period o! service. That wi« the rule with American and colonial ships. On English ehiptt (so I have been told) the men were allowed a small monthly wage, besides a sbare of the ship's earnings. But my own experience has always been, "no oil, no money." So if we worked hard to catch oil, we worked no less hard to take care of it until it was delivered to the ownera of the ship. Then it became money and not before. Stewart Island. The disaster to the J. C. Larsen brought to mind old whaling days spent at Stewart Island. One of my old ships is still associated with the whalers, although in a very humble position. This is the Othello, a cr:ick ship in her whaling days, but when whale-hunting ceased to be profitable the Othello was withdrawn from the business and placed in the colonial merchant service, finally becoming unfit for that trade. The old whaler served for a long time as a coal hulk at the Bluff. At last even that menial purpose was beyond the olcl ship's ability. Then, according to a newspaper report, she was secured by the Norwegians and filled with stone and sunk to make a landing stage at iheir base in Paterson'a Inlet, where perhaps in years to come someone will say, "This vas one of the last old-time whalers." Forty-five years ago the Othello left Port Chalmers on/ a whaling onuse ia the Pacific. She was the& a tight little craft, well manned and specially fitted to cruise on the Solander grpund. This ( well-known haunt of the sperm whale lies to the westward of Stewart Island. The whales found there tire large and at that time were fairly numerous, yet the ground was not' fancied—the weather vas too coarse for the average whale-ship. But the lure of the big whale was great, and it was decided that the Othello should do a season there, and it was while so employed that I realised what a good little ship she was. Cruising the Solander Ground. Cruising at the Solandeif was not like oruiaing on the open sea, away clear of the land, where, if a gale came up, the ship could be hove to and allowed to , drift.. With us this could not be done. We had to reach a port to shelter in, or ; be blown so far away that it was useless trying to get back again, sail had to be carried, no matter how hard the wind ccme, until our object was attained. It was a hard life, and there were few compensations. Our skipper had special knowledge of many places where shelter was to be hid, and it was good to feel the old packet under lower topsails and courses, gradually win her way to windward against a howling westerly and when far enough to clear the . point to leeward suddenly swing oft and shortly round up-in some safe anchorage. Of the many good harbours handy, to the whaling ground, Half Moon Bay on the east coast of Stewart Island was preferred because the post office waß there and more people were settled there than anywhere else. The settlers were kind,-hos-pitable people and their cheery company did much to relieve the tedium of the long, idle spells in port, during which the men, irked at being confined on the ship so long, would get troublesome and hard to control and mischief was never far away. The Dangers of Idleness. One day while at anchor in Half Moos Bay smoke was seen coming out of the scuttle over the after-hatch. The 'tween decks immediately below was where the boatsteerers had their quarters, so no notice was taken at first, but when the smoke came thick and smelling of was plain that something was amiss. The skipper was away at the Bluff and the mate, being in charge, at once ordered all the deck openings to Ibe closed, and then he started- below to investigate. He found that a deliberate attempt had been made to destroy the ship by starting a fire in the sail-pen. Considerable ingenuity was shown in contriving things so that the fire would spread quickly, A lighted oil lamp stood on the floor of the pen, and down the tiers of sails long wicks of cotton well soaked in oil led to the lamp-flame. Oil was plentifully sprinkled about and it was a certainty that in a little while thers would have been trouble. The fire was extinguished without much difficulty. However, it was just an incident, and it passed on, as many more did during the craise. It was always this way with whaleships' crews. If the men were idi6 tlioy brooded, and something had to happen. Generally it was a bit of a "Donnybrook" that cleared the air, and things would become normal, again. In all these clashes there was never any personal feeling displayed. It was just a case of authority versus insubordination. A Minor Mutiny. The last affair of that kind took place in Preservation tnlet, near the southwest cape of the South Island. A more out-of-the-way place it would be hard to find, and a bad place for men to refuse duty and demand the skipper of a whaleship to take them before a magistrate, but they did, and then retired to the forecastle and defied authority to take thorn out. In a little while the bulkhead that divided the forecastle from the forehoM was knocked down and the trouble was soon over. Sixteen men was all that the space aft could accommodate. The rest ■were harmless, so they were left their liberty. The men soon realised that they had made a bad move and returned to their duty again. Among the crew that voyage were a number of young Colonials who have since become shipmasters and sometimes we meet and chat over old times, an^ 1 ' is noticeable that these men, since they changed ends, see things quite differently from what they appeared from the forecastle.