THE WHALEMAN ASHORE 103 



were more honored in the breach than in the observance/^ 

 During the daytime the infitters, in common with all others 

 interested in whaling, made use of the semaphore telegraph 

 system which announced the incoming vessels. By means of 

 observation stations, telescopes, and a set of signal flags it was 

 possible to broadcast the name of a returning whaler several 

 hours before her arrival in the harbor. The New Bedford 

 Harbor Signal Book, for instance, described an elaborate 

 scheme of signal flags which was in use at that place. In ad- 

 dition to the regular house flags of the various whaling firms, 

 there were flags for each number from one to six, inclusive, and 

 for the differing rigs which were in use. Each merchant firm, 

 as well as every vessel which it operated, was given a number 

 made up of four digits, e. g., 5234, 1642, etc. Armed with 

 this Signal Book, then, an outer observation station would dis- 

 play the appropriate set of flags, giving rig and number, as 

 soon as an incoming whaler was sighted in the offing. This 

 signal was read, with the aid of a telescope, by an inner obser- 

 vation station, and was similarly relayed into the town itself, 

 where the news was heralded by means of flag poles. -^^ 



This advance information afforded ample time for the in- 

 fitters to arrange receptions which made small pretence of con- 

 cealing boisterously competitive business under the guise of 

 effusive cordiality. Long before a returning whaler dropped 

 anchor her crew had been greeted by competing runners who 

 were fairly bursting with expansive comradeship (although 

 some captains refused to allow them to come aboard until the 

 vessel was actually in her berth). Each runner assiduously as- 

 sisted the men in packing their chests, retailed the port gossip, 

 drew upon an extensive repertoire of unprintable stories, and 



1^ See tlie Old Dartmouth Historical Sketches, No. 44, pp. 23-26, for an in- 

 teresting account of the manner in which the competition between seventeen 

 New Bedford firms was regulated between 1859 and 1873. 



1** A copy of the New Bedford Harbor Signal Book for 1848, part of the 

 Daniel B. Fearing Collection, is now in the Treasure Room of Widener Li- 

 brary, Harvard University. In the foreword the proprietor of this "Tele- 

 graph Establishment" complained that he was forced to conduct the business 

 at a loss because of inadequate income. Individual users of the system sub- 

 scribed only one dollar per year, while agents paid fifty cents per year per 

 vessel. Similar booklets for other years are in the stacks of the New Bedford 

 Library. 



