HARPOONS CARRY BOMBS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2244, 4 March 1897, Page 45

HARPOONS CARRY BOMBS.

Although the general belief is to the contrary, whaling is still carried on extensively in all parts of the ocean, but the methods have changed greatly since the early days of the stirring warfare. The hand harpoon was first fcucceeded by the shoulder quo, which fiivsd a bomb, and that in turn was superseded by a darting bomb lance. This darting gun, which is used almost exclusively by the Arctic fleets, is a device used close by the side of the whale, and can be hurled successfully for only 9ft or 10ft. It carries a lacce harpoon, having a double pin, which spreads at right angles with the shaft a distance of 6in, and wbicb, once firmly imbedded through the blubber, cannot be pulled out. A bomb lance is also set in a brass barrel attached to the same shaft as the harpoon. The iron strikes first, and after penetrating a distance of about 17in through the blubber, a p-ojecting wire, cut to the proper length, explodes a Winchester cartridge, which shoots a bomb loaded with tonite (a deadly form of dynamite) into the vitals of tbo whale. These bombs tra very deadly, sometimes killing outright. Fragments of the shells have been taken from all parts of the whale, from the point jusb behind the head, where it is usually fired, to the tail.

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