Image provided by: Yamhill County Historical Society; McMinnville, OR
About The Yamhill County reporter. (McMinnville, Or.) 1886-1904 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 26, 1897)
is sealed up in rough weather, How HUNTING THE WHALE* Wntefi over a score of men can live and keep DECAY OF A ONCE PROFITABLE INDUSTRY. Th» Ohl Ships, Crcws, and Implements Employed in the Industry that Formerly Enriched the New England Count Towns Perils of \\ huling;. An Almost Forgotten Fish. The city of New Bedford, Mass., re cvntly celebrated its fiftieth miniver ft ry as a municipality. It is a typical New England city, who*»» people, with Yankee adaptiveness, have replace«! th«» whaling industry—one«» its principal reliance—w ith many more modem business enterprises. The whaler, like the Indian, th«» cow boy and the logger, is a vanishing type of America. A centuiy finds him relegated from among the foremost features of the New England seaboard to be an almost forgotten figure. '1'h«» famous fortunes •‘down East” wer«» binlt on a foumlat.ou of cetaceous blubber, and the wheels of prosperity were lubricate«! with sp«»rma- »»eti, but when the ro«»k farms of Penn sylvania began. g«»yserlike, to spout pe troleum, the hollow roar sounded the »loath knell of th«- whaling industry. 'I’he k«»»»n Yankee, however, was «»«juai to the em»»rgency, ami the» millions that had ac cumulated through sperm oil were invest ed in manufacturing. 'I’he rusting har poons w«»re transfoi med to shining spin- «!h»s, th«» tempest-tossed timbers of aban doned ships fed the glowing grates of new «»•nterpris«», romanc«» of th«» sea fled away ns the electric shadowed the astral lamp, but thrifty profit cheerily nestle«! in the «»mbrasur«» of the old New England man tle trees, smiling »it th«» ghostly memories and heroics of long ago. A whaling captain recently told the writer that it took no less than seven mod ern lance bombs to finish a big whal«» on his last voyage. The modern German whalers (steam ships) attack the whales directly, without the aid of small boats, th«» harpoon and bomb lances being tir«»d from a big swivel gun in the bow. This was the way Emperor William captured a whal«» two years ago. in the North Sea. It may appear uncanny that man should fe«»<! u|M»n th«» creatur«» that feeds his lamp; but others than thr not over-fastidi- healthy i:nd happy in thi«. «¡ark ami fear- some hole for months or years is a mys- tery. A whaler’s crew usually enlists twenty-four to thirty im»-n, each nil his "lay,” for they all shait» in a pei age of the prefit—the first mate, 1 i lb«» second mate, 1 in 30; the others -har ing down, according to rank, the figures varying with the market and ami the h size of th«» ship. hip. There ate four mates, a stew- a rd, a «•« •ook, a cooper, ordinary seamen ami gre i'll hands -4h«» last getting the drudg- cry and the light “lay.” The latter an» out for “experiem»e,” and they generally get it in large, unvarnish«»«] quantity. It is estimated that it re«juires $30,000 to fit for a long voyage, as every emer- g«»ncy must be anticipat«»d ami provided for—say a period of three years. Iuto the hol«l are packed 150 barrels of salt b«»«»f, «eventy-five barrels of salt pork, thirty barrels of ship biscuit, thirty or forty barrels of flour, 300 gallons of mo lasses, 200 pounds of <-ofl’«»e, 200 pounds of tea, 500 pounds of sugar, equal <|uan- tities of rice, meal, beans, dried apples, hams, butter, raisins, cheese, cann«»«I goo«|s, vinegar, ami fotxl staples. The new oil casks are filled with fresh water, ami there are quantities of oak ami pin«» staves, bindings and iron hoops, w'ith a thousand and one things, from paint ami tar to pills and gunpowder, in the spare ous Eskimo have so feasted, without the odoriferous vintage of train-oil. It is re supplies. corded that three <enturies ago the tongue The Whaleboat. of the right whale was esteemed a rare The conspicuous equipment of the whal <l<dica< j’ in France», and in the time of er is the shall», d«»uble-prow«»<! boats that Henry VIII. a certain court chef won hang from awkward looking wooden da royal recognition for concocting a sauce vits, «»n«» on the larboard and two or thr«»«» to be served with barbecued porpoise, a on the starboard sole. The Yankee's that species of whale. 'I’he monks of Dun- from th»' upper part of the crown bone, form flexible Venetian blinds. The edges of these are fringed with hairy fibers, through which he strain* the water, and in whose intricacies he retains the small fish, when open-mouthed he goes through seas of brit la minute yellow substance upon which the right whale largely feeds) in feeding time off the famous Brazil banks, 'i’he colonades of bone so method ically arranged resemble a pipe organ. For a carpet to this organ is a tongue that the bold voracious sharks occasionally snatch out—sometimes when the tormented whale is alive—before the whaler can con vert it into five barrels of oil (whalebone commands from $3 to $6 per pound). Tilt» right whale has two external spout holes on top of his head, the sperm whale only one. 'I'he great battering ram of the sperm whale’s head yields his most pre- eious oily vintage, the highly prized Rare O.d New Bedford. What of th«» fleet of 400 whaling ships once registere«! from New B«»dford, Nan tucket, Gloucester ami Provincetown? One would find only a few remnants of this glory t<»-day. New Bedford, indeed^ is one of th«? largest manufacturing cen ters of the East but Nantucket is merely an exhibition stand for tourists aft«»r a “dip” or in search of colonial curios, while Provincetown is a sleepy point at land’s en«l. Down nt the moss-grown wharve* of New Bedfor«! there is an aggregation of queer old ships, th ating monuments of th«» ancient fleet. There they li«», in their »piiet r«»s«»rvations, hoary in ng«». linked in pairs, as though to keep up the old form of ‘‘gam’’ (whaler’s gossip) ami look in mild rebuke at th«» wheezy, impudent lit tle tugs that bust!«» about the harbor ag- gr«»ssively attacheil to large ami lazy ships that are << niing from or going to foreign shores. Tlies«» old heroes, that were once th«» prill«» ami glory of American seamen when our flag floated in «»very port on th«» glob«», ar«» freight«'«! rar«» romance freighted with rare and curious in contrast with the craft of to-« lay. The' largest of them did not mi'iisure over 125 feet, or <»xceed 500 gross tonnag«». Take the old (’ommodore Morris as a type. She was built in 1X41; tonnage, f ’3X.2I; length, H’7; beam. 27; depth, 17. The quaint old figurehead is batt(»red ahnost beyond recognition, but. may take pride in tli«» fact that it <»!<»ar«»<l i}»2(K),0<)0 f«>r owners in a brief coininis- sion. The W inileship St met li laity, Their Lows, broad, round, are heavily timbered, ornat«» with <•11 rions carving, and their sterns ar«» straight and square, giving an ungainly look; yet these old ships hnv«» boldly batter«»«! arcth» ic«» and s«»or< h«Ml under th«» "line.” They have sail- •»<1 in every s«»a, roving in unomling «om- mission, until their water «»asks were filled with oil. Notwithstanding tlie Stamlar«! Oil Co., venturesome whalers still sail into New B«»<lford, ami unload their car goes on th«» ancient wharves, where bar rels ami barrels ar«» waiting a favorable market, prot«»<»t<»<l from th«» weather by masses of dri«»d s«»aw«»«»«I packed about them. Sperm oil is now 38 cents per gal lon; it us«»«! to command from $1 to $1.50. Two old whaleships «aim» sailing into New Bedfold r«'<-«»nt!y th«» Rising Sun, odoriferous with oil, after a thr«»«» months «»ruise, and th«» Dolphin, pack«»«! with whalebone, alter a cruis»» of thirty thr«»«» months around Cap«» Horn. Th«» Rising Hun will aerv«» as a type. The distiiictiv«» architect urn I f«»atuie of her deck forward was th«» big bri« k furnace» inclosing th«» oil try pots. A tiro insp«»ctor might call it a “target/* but whalers, soaked as th«»y are w ith oil. ami. w ! i « mi trying out blubb«»r, th«» roll of the ship ®«»<»ming to send flames up to th«» masthead, seldom burn a fact «lue only 1«» thr most extraonlinar.v can tion. thr wmsien water backing about th«» furnace* being k«»pt constantly tilled. Th«» rook’* galley was no larger than a dog house, ami did not admit of that function ary standing up whil«» at his labor*. PERILS OF The master. Captain Taylor, extended an invitation to go into the cabin. The steps inclined at 90 d«»grevs and w ere very slippery; so we descended on th«» air line, so to speak. 'I’he littl«» room was about «even by eight feet, with three open berth® on a si<le and a small folding table in the renter. Things were neat enough, and locker* all alw»ut th»» sides ami under the la'rths showed wher»» things not in use were prewrv«»*!. A trap door in the floor opened into tin* laxarette, where th«» table didicaries were Stored. In the Captain's Cabin. The captain’s wife, a delicate and re tim'd little woman, had made a number of voyages with him, ami found this cabin quite comfortable. The apartment was roomy ami distinctly “swell*’ compared to the forecastle, up in the bow. where the sailor* amoke»l an«l slept and spun their yarn*. They were packed in like sardine*. Only a limited supply of light and air *an ge’ through the little hatch, 1 with their entire crew* Into the air a» • ' juggk»r tosses up a ball). When a whale has succumbed to lanc ing »«nd <ly«»d the sea with spouting bl«»o«l ' the huge bo«ly is tow«»«l to the ship ami large chains are put about the head and fluke* to hold the body fast. Enormous ■ tackles are sw’a.vefl up to the main top, and firmly lashed to the lower mast head, th«» strongest point above the ship’s «leek, to th«»« nd of a hawser-like r< pc. W inding through the intricacies is the blubber hook, weighing a humlr«»«! pounds. 'I'he blubber t nvelopes a whale like a rind does an orange, and as the ship careens to the strain of the tackle fixed to the heaving windlass, the hook takes bold ami follow ing the line scarf made by th«» keen cut ting spades, the great body rolls over as strip a/ter strip of the bloml-dripping blub ber is pulled aloft and lowere»! through the mainhatch to the blubber room. Thert» it is cut up by ilouble-hand«»«! knives, ami (Missed up to the «leek to be tried out in the smoking brick furnaces, with woodeil water backs about their base. Results of a Learned Professor Losing Himself in Realms of Thought. Fiqu^c D own NEW BEDFORD devised this craft built for sp«»<sl, stability ami buoyancy. These twenty-four-foot boats, stepp'd for a mast, and arranged for six oarsmen, with platforms at each end for lancer ami steersman, have brought more wealth from the nether world of th«» deep than can be comput«»«!. Aside from their »•omplele «»quipincnt their distinctly«» furnishing is a tub, where spir ally coiled 'ii concentric layi'ts, or sheaves, is the whale line. This line is a manila rope, two thirds of an inch in thickness, and measures something over 200 fath oms. 'This line is attached to the harpoon, ami the other «»ml is unattached, first, as a mill ter of safety; second, for fastening to a second line should the whal»» "sound” so <leep as to take up the entire length of line. (Ncoresby records an instance wher»» th»' quantity of line withdrawn from the diffrnmt boats engaged in th«» capture of one whal»» amount«»«! to 10.400 yards, or nearly six English miles.) 'I’ll»' upp»»r «»ml THE < H \SK. ef the line is taken aft from the tub. ami. after passing around a loggerhead, is «ar rivd forward the length of the boat. rest- Ing upou the ha mile of every man’s oar. so that it jogs against hi® wrist in row ing; passing betwwii the men as t hey alternately ait at the opposite gunwales, to the grooves in the extreme prow, where a little wooden pin prevents its slipping out. The whale line thus enfolds the boat in its complication, and all its crew in its contortions; when it whirls out fast to a frightened ami frenzied whale it fairly smokes, ami keeping the line free is essential to the safety of all <'oncern»sl. 'I'he harpooning is done by the man who handles the steering oar; this merely gets the boat fast to the tish; the officer in the bow doe« the lancing, which is to give the whale the quietus. In modern whal ing bomb lances are tired at the harpoon ed whale from a short gun that kicks like a mule. Keen with th ewe powerful aid*, a nhale is not always easy game. KEI.ICS OF A CHEAT AND HEROIC •fermline had a great porpoise grant from the crown, serving and seasoning the meat like veal balls. Zogoranda, an old-time doctor, recommended strips of blubber for infants as very juicy and nutritious. In the case of a small sperm whale th«» brains ar«» account«»«! a fine dish by epi cures. 'I’li«» scraps of blubber are called "fritters” and taste’like pork cracklings; on the whalers, however, they are us<sl for f«»«‘<ling th«» flames that try out the oil. Whalers w -reeked in Greenland have been known to subsist upon noddy scraps of blubber that had b«»«»n left ashore, which is a tribute to their nourishing quality, in a pinch. In th«» order of leviathans, the sperm whal«» ami the right whale are the most important, as the only ones regularly hunt«»<l for by man. The external differ ence between them is mainly marked in their heads, the sperm species having a symmetry that is lacking in the right, whose chief treasur«» is whalebone. Cant over the sperm whale’s head that it may He bottom up. and have a peep down th«» mouth. What a really beautiful mouth! From floor to «»eiling, paired with a glis tening. whit»» membrane, glossy as bridal satins. Pry up th»» lower jaw ami expose its rows of great ivory teeth, it seems a terrific portcullis, am! such, alas! it proves to many a |»oor wight in the fishery, upon whom its spikes fall with impaling force. But far more terrible is it to behold, when fathoms down in th«» sea you see some sulky, harpooned whale, floating there suspen«le«l with his prodigious jaw, some ti>f«M*n f«H»t long, hanging straight down I at right angles with his body, for all the world like a ship’s jibboom. INDUSTRY. Aaabington Tree Wtiose Foliage Close* 1-1* at 7 O’clock. Near the western border of Dnpont stands a .•ircle. in Washington, 1». tree that goes to sleep promptly everjj night "t 7 o’clock. The tree is known as the albizzia Juli- brlssan. having been christened so by an Italian bot anist in honor of the Albizzl family in Florence. It is. however, an orig inal of Japan, and PAT TIME. ix r THE known there as the silk tree, prole (s L_ ably on account of the silky appear ance of its blossoms. Soon after 7 o’clock in the evening a general mo tion is noticed in the foliage, a quiver or trembling of the Edged Tools of the Whaler, bipinnate leaves. The whaling spade, like all the lancing Each leaflet begins ami cutting equipment, is of the best steel, to stand up on edge is kept as sharp as possible am! is honed like a razor. This spad«» is about as large and pairs with the as a man’s spread hand, and has a socket on«1 opposite, They in which is a pok» handle twenty feet long. clasp each other Th«»se edge to«>ls are kept in canvas pock tightly and then ets, lined with wool. close up, so One of th«» most profitable and curious each becomes products derived Jrom the sperm whale is coverlet over halt ambergris (gray amber), a morbid secre of t li e preceding tion of the liver or intestines. It is a one. The entire solid opaque inflammable substance, lighter »han water, having th«» consist transfor nmtion ency of wax, and having when heated a takes place in about fragrant odor. It is highly soluble in t w e n t y minutes, nl«»ohol. and is us««l particularly as tin» a n d u s u a 11 y a t holding base of perfume, ami was one«» about 7:30 the les- consider«»«! as having great medicinal piratory organism prop«»rti(»s as an aphrodisiac, ami for spic of tills tree bangs ing wines. It is som«»tiim»s obtained from limp and drooping on the branches. post-mortems « n dis«»ased whales, or f«»un«l floating on th«» water in the neighborhooii Small branches kept in a dark room of th«» Bahamas in masses of from sixty promptly close at 7 p. m. to 225 pounds. Ambergris of th«» b«»st JOHN BRISBEN WALKER. grade is now quote«! at $27 per oum e. (’has. E. Nixon, in th«» Chicago Inter Journalist Who Proposes Found! ig Ocean. a University for Working People. AN ABSENT-MINDED MAN. Hove GOtS IO SLEEP AT NIGHT. “When I was younger than I will ever be again,” said th«» professor with n three-story head ami eyeglasses «»f telescopic power. “I was the victim of stu b Intense mental abstraction that 1 removed mys«»lf entirely f.om the w«>rl«i of practical affairs. I was in th«» b«>iin«ll<'ss realms of thought ami paid but ll«»eting attention t«> th«» active iiel«l of human action. It was necessary to notify me when I should attend my «•lass, eat my meals, and «»ven when 1 should retire. "I was at one time requested to lev fur«» in a Western village, ami agree«I to do so. Th«» theme was out» that ha I received my best thoughts, and the mere prospect of delivering it was a physical pleasure. When I arrivetl at the depot my thoughts were «»oncen- trated upon th«» proposed address. I realize«l that my train was an hour hit«» ami that 1 must hurry, but lx»yoiid th«» mer«» fact of hurrying 1 did not grasp a «letall. “‘Drive fast,’ I shouted to th«» driver of a dlngy-looklng vehicle as I sprang in ami handed him a $5 bill. ‘Spar«» neither horse nor whip.’ "Away we went with a piling«». Tin* carriage rolled Ilk«» a ship in th«» trough of the sea. Street lights s«»eme<l a torchlight procession moving rapidly the other way. Constables shout«»d. «logs, barked, small boys chased ns. and business c«»as«»d that p«»opl«» might stand on the sidewalk and gaze. Vp on«» street ami «town another we dashed matlly. We took corn«»rs on t wo wheels, grazed telvgriyih poh»s ami knock«»«! over such movables as ash barrels an«l dry* goods I mixvs . "After half an hour of this bewilder ing experience I stuck my hea«l from th«» window ami shouted; ‘Are we nearly* there?’ “‘Where «lid yez want to go. sor?’ «•am«» the edifying answer.” spermaceti in its pure limpid and odorifer ous state; nor is this precious substance found unalloyed in any other part of the creature. A large whale’s “case” yield« 500 gallons of sperm. In a whale eighty feet long the head is about twenty-six feet long. One may nsaiime that the blub ber is the epidermis; it has something of the consistence of close-grained beef, but tougher, more elastic, ami compact, ami ranges from eight to ten, or even fifteen inches in thickness. In the case of a large sperm whale there will In» a blubber yield of 100 barrels of oil. When one con siders that this only represents three- The Oldest Plow Maker. fourths of the entire coat, and that ten Chicago has the oldest plow-maker in barrels to the ton is a fair allotment, one the United States. His name(is David may guess that a whale weighs as much Bradley, and he is at the head of a big as a small locomotive. manufacturing company on the W«»st *• perm Whale’s Characteristics. The sperm whale, like other leviathans Ski«». Mr. Bradley first worked at th«’ but unlike other fish, bretsls indifferently btisln«»ss In Syracuse, N. Y., in 1X32. In at all seasons. Again it is warm-blooded 1X35 In» came to Chicago, which then ami requires air to till the lungs. The in numb«»rt»«l about 2.500 inhabitants and haling is done through the spiracle or hole a camp of several thousand Indians, to in the top of his head; not through his help erect the first Iron-foil miry estab mouth, which is eight feet below’ the sur- lished here. Mr. Bradley was th«» first man to bring pig-iron into Cld«»ago. In connection with the foundry which lie helped build was a machine-shop, and th«» establishment soon b«»gan along with its other business the manufa«*- ture of plows. Mr. Bradley, by th«» growth of his business, was Anally forc«Hl to btiikl a little town of his own. which Is known as Bradley, Ill. Mr. Bradley has passed Ills 85th birthday, but Is still hale ami hearty, ami thor oughly enjoys the prosperity which hard work has lirought him. The ac The Powerful Lower Juw. tive business has been surremlereil to The lower jaw can I h » unringed by a his sons.—Chicago Tribune. practical artist an«l hoisted «>n deck for the purpose of extracting the ivory teeth that Where Duels Arc Fought. th«» sailors decorate with India ink de Mor«» duels are fought in Germany signs. an«l thr hard, w hite whalebone that they fashion int«» canes an«! whip handles than in any other country. Most <.f during their long days of inactivity. There them, however, are student duels, are forty-two teeth, those in ol«i whales which culminate in nothing more se much worn down, but never decayed. rious than slashed «»hecks or torn One of th«» darkest tragedies of the scalps. Of all German university towns, otH'an restilteil from a whal«» sinking th«» littl«» Jena and Gottingen are most de- whaleship Essex. Nov. It’». 1N19. The in FAST TO A FISH. vot«»«l to the code. In Gottingen the furiated monster first struck the ship just forwanl the forechains, with a tremen face when the big fish comes up to “blow ” number of duels average on«» a «lay. dous shock that started her butts. The | and inhale; something like an hourly pro year in and year out. On on«* day. s<*v fat«M ship was settling when th«» whal«» cess. ernl years ag«>. twelve duels wer«' return«»«! am! »truck her uinter the cat- j Aside from the wide expanding and buiglit in Gottingen in twenty-four head, and comple«ely stov«» in her bows. | massive jaw of the sperm whale his tail is hours. In Jena the record for one day N<»me of the survivors of thr cr«»w drifted his powerful arm of defense. To begin in ree«»nt times is twenty-one. Fully in open boats for thr«»«» months, their lives w ith, at that point where it tapers to the student duels ar«» fought every girth of a man. it comprise* on its upper being sustained by cannibalism. As for thr hen«! of the right whale look ■ surface an area of fifty square feet; the y«»:ir in the German Empire. Ill ad«li- nt that hanging lip: w hat a mammoth sulk i coiniwK t body of its root expanding into tion to these there are the more serious am! p«»ut! By measuring it is twenty feet ! two brofld Hukes, shoaling away .o less duels lietween <»tti«»ers nmi civiliaits. long ami five ff'et d«n»p, ami will yield you than an inch in thickness. The entire Among Germans of niatur«» years thv some o<)0 gallons ,»f oil or more. The member is a webbed bed of wedde<l sin annual number of duels Is a Inuit lot). roof of th«» month is about twelve fret i ews, with subtle elasticity and »maxing high. an«l runs up to a sharp angle, like i strength, that sends the owner through Streets in Big Cities. a ridge pole; while these ribbed, arehe«!. the sea like a flash, flourishes gloriously IxmdcMk has 1.381» miles of streets; hairy side* present n* with those wonder graceful in the sunshine as he dives, or ful vertical scimiter shaped slat» of w-hale- deals out death in a stroke when vicious Paria, UUÜ miles, and New Ta k 577 bonc toy 300 on a side, which, depending ly aiming at a whaleboat (hurling b »ata miles. .John lirislien Walker, who purposes to found a university for working peo ple. is one* of the most versatile men iu New York. lie will begin the organi zation of tlie new ii stltution in Sep- tember. when Prof. Andrews leaves the presidency of Brown, from wbith lie 1ms resigned. Mr. Walker lias had a varied career. II ' passed some years in tlie military academy nt West Point and left that school to accept a position in tlie army of tlie Chinese empire. When lie returned to America lie lie- caine a manufacturer, got into politics and was nominated for Congress. That was in 1870. In tlie panic of 1873 his fortune was swept away. Then lie went into newspaper work, wrote for JOHN nitlSBKN WAI.KEB. tlie < im innatI Commercial-Gazette, and became tlie managing editor of several journals. Abandoning that work Mr. Walker went to Colorado and turned alfalfa farmer. He was a pioneer in tlie growing of tills plant and his farm was tlie most noted in tlie country. At tlie same time lie was engaged in a series of engineering operations which saved from tlie Platte River an area equal to 500 lots in tlie. lieart of the city of Hen ver. He sold out all his property in the West and witli a very large cap ital realized from it went East and purchased the decadent Cosmopolitan Magazine. Under his management the Cosmopolitan lias proved a great finan cial success. Mr. Walker is reputed to be a millionaire and able to carry his educational scheme into practice. Womin’s Truest Accomplishment. “Several of the great educational in stitutions for girls announced this fall, for the first time in their history, class es for sewing as one of their chief at tractions." writes Edward W. Bok in the Ladies’ Home Journal. “The girls of the fashionable world are joining ‘sewing afternoons,’ as they are called. Common sense lias come to tlie rescue in pointing out to girls that sewing is an art, and one of the finest of accom plishments. In olden times the needle was the pride of the clever maid: none was prouder than she who, with her own hands, could fashion her own dainty lingerie. "Tlie modern girl. In taking up her sewing, only comes back to first prin ciples. But they are sturdy principles to which she is returning, and she will find them so. It is a small thing which sometimes causes a revolution, and the needle, small as it is, by a gen eral adoption can do much to elevate American girlhood to a pinnacle of usefulness which will win for her ad miration tlie world over. So essen tially feminine an art should never be allowed to die out. and when its possi- lHlitiis«. artistic anil useful, are better underxtood by our girls, their own pride will keep It in Its proper place; among woman’s highest’ arts and truest accomplishments.” I IliK Show for Parisians in 1IHHI. It is estimated that the French gov ernment will expend altogether 107.- (100.000 francs on the exposition of 1800. of which I»nris will contribute 20,000,000. Bee’s Wings Work Rapidly. A captive bee striving to escape has been made to record as many as 15.540 wing etrokes per minute in a recent lest.