338 The Story of the New England Whalers 



the weather-topsail yard-arm. They looked the 

 gale in the eye. Too many of the modern ship- 

 owners learned the business sitting astride of a 

 tall stool, whence they looked a slow-moving clock 

 in the eye. To such men the spinning business 

 and speculating in stocks seem naturally more 

 attractive than any kind of over-sea trade. 



In the old days we had, and we had to have, 

 sailors before we had ships. The glory of the 

 Golden Era of the Yankee clipper, as of the Yankee 

 whaler, was due to the superiority of the Yankee 

 sailor, the young men who waded barefooted 

 through the snow in order to secure opportunity 

 for a career that began in the forecastle and 

 ended in the counting room. And the American 

 flag will never regain its old-time place upon the 

 Seven Seas until the ambitious, adventurous young 

 American can find a more attractive career afloat 

 than ashore. 



Brief space will serve to tell about the modern 

 uses of whale products. Sperm oil, as brought 

 from the sea, is purified and then separated into 

 two products, oil and spermaceti. The sper- 

 maceti is used in making candles, in giving a gloss 



