Fairhaven High School - Huttlestonian Yearbook (Fairhaven, MA)

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THE HUTTLESTONIAN 13 planning mutiny. As the boat of the First Mate drew nigh the bark, Shanks whispered to his fellow conspirators, Tight if the old man tries to put anything over on you.’ “The next three days were spent in cutting up the whale, trying the blubber, and barreling the oil. Late one night as the captain was watching some of the crew try blubber, chancing to look up, he saw the Third Mate regarding him with an evil glare. The next mo¬ ment the eyes of the Third Mate appeared to be gazing on the ocean. “Early on the morning of the fourth day after the harpooning of the whale, Captain Harris ordered several of the mutineers to swab the decks which were covered with grease and fat. The men said nothing, but made no motion to obey. The captain repeated the command. This was a signal for the mutineers. Immediately the deck was a mass of struggling figures. Everything from belaying pins to the sharp tools used in cutting up a whale were used as weap¬ ons. The Second Mate had seized a belaying pin and was using it with astounding effects on the heads of the mutineers. As the deck was slippery, many of the men slipped, striking their heads on the deck and rendering them unconscious for the time being. Out of the mel£e a voice suddenly yelled, ‘Thar she blows and sparm at that’. “Almost miraculously the mutiny was forgotten in the prospect of returning richly laden with oil. Boats were again over the side and in a trice everybody was thinking of whale and oil. This time the captain stayed on board with those who had been wounded in the fight. The Third Mate’s boat was the first to get within harpooning distance of the whale. It proved to be a gigantic sperm whale. As the Third Mate was the best harpooner on the vessel he prepared to harpoon the whale. This he did with effect, striking the whale in the back. After being pulled miles by the whale, the boat was finally picked up by the ‘Viking’ and the whale was pulled alongside. “After the process of simmering the blubber and getting the oil out, it was found that they had an unusual number of barrels of oil which would bring them a goodly sum of money. They then sailed for New Bedford. As the days went by Captain Harris expected mutiny to break out any minute. At last one cloudy morning it did break out. The crew had just sat down to eat their morning chow and while they were busily stuffing victuals into their stomachs the Third Mate seized a knife and hurled it at the Captain. Luckily for him the weapon did not go true to its mark but missed him by a scant (Concluded on Page 24)

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12 THE HUTTLESTONIAN Luck of the Viking T HE boys had strolled down to the wharf to watch the photogra¬ phers take the pictures of the scenes in the coming whaling film, “Down to the Sea in Ships”. Their grandfather, an old sea captain, had accompanied them. As they were watching the photographers busily at work, Bob suddenly looked up and asked his grandfather if he wouldn’t tell them a story of whaling. His grandfather consented to do so. Sitting down on a pile of boxes the old man commenced his story: “It was back in 1879 when the bark ‘Viking’ sailed out of New Bedford Harbor on a whaling expedition in the North Atlantic. Her crew consisted of Yankee sailors of New Bedford and mulattoes from Cape Verde. Her captain, Ben Harris, was one of the finest men that ever walked a deck. He was a typical Yankee whaler. The first mate was a man named Stevens. John Morgan, the second mate, was of medium height, broad chested, with muscles of almost herculean strength. A story about him says that once in a fit of rage he had thrown a heavy barrel of whale oil at his opponent. The third mate, Lem Shanks, was a long, thin man, rather loosely built, with eyes which never seemed to be still. “As the vessel sailed out of New Bedford harbor, the captain on turning around from a conversation with the first mate chanced to see Lem Shanks regarding him with a sinister air that could not be¬ token anything but evil. Then and there deep under the skin, some¬ thing told the captain that trouble was brewing in the form of the third mate. “As the morning of the sixth day out dawned, the cheerful cry of ‘Thar she blows’ greeted the sailors. For a moment, the captain for¬ got the third mate and hurried to the starboard rail where the eyes of most of the crew were centered on a black object about one-half a mile from the ship. Immediately he ordered the boats to be lowered. In command of the first he placed Second Mate Morgan, the second he took command of himself, and in the third he placed First Mate Stevens. The Third Mate, Lem Shanks, he left in com¬ mand of the ‘Viking’. The whale, a young bull, was soon harpooned and towed back to the boat. “While the three boats had been absorbed in getting the whale, the Third Mate and the other men left on board the ‘Viking’ had been

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14 THE HUTTLESTONIAN The Rainbow “What is a rainbow, my child? And what does it mean to you?” “ ’Tis a bright-colored arch set high in the sky, Of red, and yellow, and blue.” “What is a rainbow, man? And what does it mean to you?” “ ’Tis the promise of God, which all through the years, Will forever and ever hold true.” ELIZABETH S. SHERMAN, ’24. The Dream The Dream Lady dwells in the silver moon, With the sky for a deep blue sea, She does up the bundles of pleasant dreams, And drops them to you and to ' me. Slumber dream-fancies last not forever, They fade at the dawn of the day, And all fairy queens and all princely charms On airy wings vanish away. But as soon as the night draws her curtain, And the silver moon sails the sea, The Dream Lady does up her pleasant dreams, And drops them to you and to me. ELIZABETH S. SHERMAN, ’24.