Show WHALEBONE ft B LN IN PILES nu i S I 1 A MILLION DOLLARS WORTH STORED IN ONE BUILDING I 1 how the staff la Is guarded great care Is necessary in the handling ng of the product whalebone Is very valuable yow N aday adaya in a little brick and stone structure on the potrero shore of the bay there is f v million dollars worth of whalebone stored and it is guarded as jealously as i if it were so many twenty dollar gold pieces 0 or r its weight in precious stones it is the property of the pacific steam whaling company and camo came off the whaling barks beluga mary D ilum fiume agenor Age norand and america in from the arctic the building is a perfect vault with it h brick and stone sides iron roof and iron doors all around the t top 0 P runs a pr perforated pipe by means of which the whole interior could he be flooded if a fire should by any possibility break out rats are thick on the water front and can do a great deal of damage to a cargo of whalebone so small sm it iron doors have been put in to answer as barric barricades adm when the tha big ones are opened to air tho the place placa oilskins Oil skins such as tho the fire patrol use are ara spread over the cargo as the final additional dit ional precaution that hn human man ingenuity can suggest the uninitiated on first stepping into tho the cold cheerless place with its damp cement floor are apt to wonder why it has nil all been done the long black dont look no like much piled against the walls and to for hear their immense value set forth is enough to take tho breath away but the place does not always contain a stock the season was a most profitable one and in consequence the warehouse is nearly full the lady purchasing a few sticks of whalebone on her shopping tour scarcely realizes the immense risk and the great amount of labor necessary to place it on the counter said W R wand one of the representatives of the whaling company there is a big risk even here we can take no chances in the rough after a simple polishing the bone is ia worth five dollars a pound and we have at least pounds on hand now when tho the vessel docks at tho the wharf yonder we pitch in and work day clay and night until the cargo is ia housed here and then we try to get it off on the railroad as aa soon as aa possible while it is here this little structure is guarded day and night A million dollars is something of a responsibility I 1 can assure you where does most of the bone gor go was asked A great deal of it goes to new york replied mr wand but most of the cutting is done in paris and at bremen A little is done in london we polish it off here get the color assort it out and put it up in bundles then it is forced through to its destination as rapidly as aa possible yon see the bone with a light or pearl shade is worth more than the black and we have to separate it several of the bun bundles adles bore the mark MD IL in a diamond that said mr wand is the name of the vessel fromlich from which tho bone was taken in this instance the mary D atu hume e a vessel which brought the most valuable cargo ever received from the arctic seas reas ono ong or two of these bundles are marked cut you observe that is to guide the buyer when the bono bone is offered for sale irsig it signifies that via the bone is ia nicked on some portion of it the value is greatly reduced 7 and we must therefore handle the cargo like eggs if roughly handled a cargo of whalebone can be well nigh ruined rained the slightest cut in a stalk brings it down in value about one hall half the bone you know is tile the teet teeth of tho the whale and a fair sized front molar is worth about fifty dollars in every whales jaw there are teeth and one good sized head is worth a good deal al of money on the last trip the men on tho the jessie jerrie D freeman brought one big fellow alongside the head of which pro deuced pounds of bone the mouth of the whale is simply a huge suction pump dump the monster travels along with his his mouth month wide open on the surface tho the only food he be will tile take is a little red bit of an animal in 1 al life that floats on the por northern thern seas ho he sucks in enough to make a good mouthful and then ejects the water the food is sifted down through the soft teeth and is filtered liboa like a lot of sawdust would be in a sieve this black hair that fringes tho the bone has a separate value it is cut from the teeth and is used for making fine furniture it has become so BO valuable however that it cannot be used to any great extent when do you expect to ship this cargo off As soon as ever providence will let us it is something extraordinary for us to have such an enormously valuable load herband here and we wont hold it a da day Y long longer er than necessary I 1 can assure youl you ever troubled by thieves no was the laughing response the bone is ia a trifle too heavy to run away with and the place is too well guarded fire is the greatest danger and gi id you can see how that I 1 has been botn guarded against out in tho the bay six of tho the most unsightly ships that ever huddled together in port were to tossing asing I 1 put up at auction the lot scarcely bring its value in old lumber but those hulks brought in in as valuable a freight as many a trea treasure sura ship has been laden with san francisco chronicle |