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Arranmore Whaling Company:

Established on the 16th of January 1908 by Norwegians Erling Lund, Lars M. Christiansen and Scottish national Arthur Mclaren, with the purpose of establishing a commercial whaling operation off the coast of Ireland. Consisting of a fleet of 2 ships (Erling, Carsten Bruun) they concentrated on an area within 70 miles of Rusheen Islands where their operation was run from. Whaling proceeded for 6 years with the venture ceasing on the 4th January 1915.

Ownership: There were 1200 shares issued privately valued at £1 each issues as followes: 5926 were allotted up to April 1908 with several other allotments being released up to the 30th June 1910 when 11889 in total were released to a total of 58 parties. By 1910 LM Christensen held 2197, Erling Lund held 2221 and Captain Arff Peterson (The station superintendent) held 1000. Tonsberg Private bank held 2721. The remainder of the shares were primarily held by Scottish and Norwegian nationals but no more than a few hundred each at most.

Ships: Erling (1908 - 1912): Purchased from Sandefjord and register in 1908 at Leith. It was 127 tonnes and 92 feet in length and was mortgaged to the Tonsberg Private bank to the value of £2747. Carsten Bruun (1908 - 1911): 117 tonnes at 92 feet in length. Registered in Leith. Owned and operated by Lorentz Bruun. While a shareholder in the company he was not involved in its operation,he was a harpooner he just caught whales and sold them to the company. In 1909 he left Arranmore Whaling Co. to set up his own business the Blacksod Whaling Company. If he had some hand in the running of Arranmore Whaling Co it might have ended up a been a happier one. It was being afflicted by state of affairs, badly behaved and extortionate workforce and suffered from indifferent management. The price being fixed before hand by contract. Svend foyn (1909 - 1909): Registered in Lerwick Scotland. Rusheen (1911 - 1913): Purchased in Oslo. 112 Tonnes 92 feet registered in Leith. Vilma (1912 - 1913): Charter built in Oslo, registered in Leith. 102 tonnes 87 feet.

Equipment and Buildings The construction of the station buildings was made nearly entirely of wood went ahead straight away in March 1908. The stage and slipway were constructed on baulks of timber with planking nailed on top to strengthen with boulders until finished. The pier also made of timber, there were large sheds one beside the plane with boilers and another housing two dryers, there was a mill, storage tanks, quarters for men, a firehouse for the boilers and administrative building for the owner. On the end of the plane were two steam winches to pull up the carasses, this could hold up to 4 whales any excess were left with buoys.

A Harpoon is a long spear used in Whaling was a rope or chain attached to the end to pull in the whale. On the bow of the ship was a compact cannon, fixed on a iron column that it could be quickly swivelled, elevated or depressed by hand and aimed at the whale. The gun fired a special, heavy, wrought-iron harpoon up to 6 feet in length. Near the front were three or four tough looking spring loaded barbs, which were lashed down securely before shooting. At the tip was a cast iron shell charged with gunpowder. A heavy rope/chain was attached to a ring secured in a slot running along the harpoon, the rope was kept outside the canon. When the missile entered the whale and when the strain came on the rope/chain the barbs srang open preventing it dislodging from the whale. Their bases crushed a phial of sulphuric acid igniting a fuse which exploded the gunpowder in the shell. the explosion that occurred in the whale was usually enough to stop or slow the whale down. When dead the rorqual naturally sank using strong wrenches hauled the body to the surface. Once at the surface the whale was pumped with compressed air from the steam engines by a pipe tipped with a lance was thrust into the whale's belly and inflated until buoyant.

When the whale was brought in it was moored at a buoy until they were ready for the whale at the factory to deal with it. I T WAS THEN TOWED TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SLIPWAY BY ROWBOAT. A steel-wire rope attached to the tail of the whale pulled up by a steam winch onto the plane. The whale was hosted down with water as it came up to the plane, this reduced the friction on the plane. The first job was to strip the blubber of the whale two Norwegian men did this job but as the locals got more practice and use to it they started doing it themselves. A blubber knife was used for flensing this was 4 1/2 feet long with a blade curved at the bottom just like a hockey stick. Half dozen of cuts were made through the blubber starting at the head and running the length of the body down the mid-line of behind the back, the underside and two down each flank, thus dividing the blubber in six pieces. A chain fastened to a steel hawser was attached to the head-end of each in turn and the strip peeled off, a flenser using his knife to ensure as little as meat as possible. The blubber was then cut into manageable blocks and fed through a circular knife into an elevator. The latter was a large open box which was drawn up near-vertical tracks on the side of the boiler-shed by chains. At the top the box inverted, tipping the contents into the boiler and slid back for next load. The elevators were steam-powered. The lower jaw was cut away, the baleen removed the head severed for cutting up separately. The carcass was next gutted and passed to the butchers who took off the meat on both sides. The backbone was divided up neatly into individual vertebrae and the whole meat and bones transferred to the boilers by the elevators.They used a hand-saw to cut up the larger bones. The contents were then boiled by steam-pipe in the base and the contents allowed to settle. The oil rose to the top above the refuse and at the bottom collected a exceedingly diluted solution of glue known as glue-water. There three successive boilings of eight hours and at the end of each the oil was run off to storage tanks in the next building through funnel and pipe flexible joints lying inside the boiler. During the first two treatments the boiler was open, for the third the a lid was fitted to the mill and then packed ten to a ton in sacks.

The meat and blubber from sperm whales were boiled on their own to produce sperm oil. The head was opened up to run off the spermaceti down a movable gutter to a open boiler, the process being a backbreaking job of dissection. Flow of spermaceti was continuous for the first day or 2, they needed more cuttings to maintain it. The whole process took two days. The oil tapped from the holding tanks to be sent off.

The dried meat powder was nutritious cattle feed and when mixed with half its weight of bone meal made manure or guano.

Productivity: Once whaling commenced the first catch was of Nordcapers on the 8th June 1908. In total by the end of the first season a total of 77 whales were caught.

Production: All products from the station were shipped to Bowling in Scotland. All sales were handled by an Oil agent called John G McClellan of Glasgow. Throughout operation there were between 26 and 40 depending on the volume of work required each season. All hands were from South Iniskea Island. Each hand was initially paid 15 shillings per week (Increasing to 20 shillings per week)

In 1911 the procduction of cattle-food was abandoned and only guano manufactured.

Controversy Shetland Islands In 1903, Peder Bogen of Sandefjord and Christian Nielsen of Larvik, brought their whaling companies to the Shetland Islands. At first, the whalers were welcomed by local herring fishermen whose nets were often damaged by whales. After the first season of whaling, and poor herring catches, the fishermen turned against the whalers. The fishermen believed the offal and blood from whale carcasses attracted sharks and frightened the herring. In 1904, an official committee was unable to determine any link between whaling and herring stocks. Although catches had suffered for years, fishermen insisted on blaming the whalers and protests led to many new restrictions. After the WWI stoppage, in 1920, renewed objections to whaling persuaded the Norwegian companies to leave.

Donegal Their two attempts in Donegal failed, the first time was in 1905 a Norwegian named Henrik Bertsen arrived in Donegal. He was an acting agent for some of the Scottish whaling companies. He made discreet enquires for a site, the location he was keen was in Gola island. The local landlord Lord Leitrim went for advice from the fisheries inspector and advised him not to have any dealings with the whaling company. He knew about the rumblings in Shetland. In 1907 the three Norwegians named above landed in Burtonport Donegal shortly after his arrival he had purchased a site. The company was named after the island Arran off Donegal in the northwest coast of Ireland. The local fishermen had apparently taken their cue from their Shetland colleagues as the mere rumor was enough to provoke the most violent protest "Down with whaling!".Public figures like the Bishop of Raphoe felt he had to unnecessary, dim ill-informed future events of the recklessness of a whaling station. Some people did not like seeing foreigners making money under their noses. The main ones that give the most trouble were the fisheries, even though they were unsure of the aftermath of the whaling station, so on the safe side the sensible thing to do was to oppose it.Dr Horatio Todd solicitor for the local fishermen his single mission was to keep whaling away from Ireland. He advised that the government of fisheries branch should hold an inquiry it was unavoidable. It took place in Burtonport in Febuary 17th and 18th and in Derry 19th and 20th, so anyone that wanted to be there could be present. Fishermen, fish-curers and buyers had been alarmed, Irish firms and even others in England and Scotland that did business in Donegal had their own representation. The first day of the enquiry they learnt that the Arranmore Whaling Company had the cheek to take on a local harbour as they thought they would win. They even had their streamer Alecto loaded with timber and other equipment had arrived at the island. The Chief Inspector of the Fisheries who opened the enquiry showed sketch of the recent events in Norway and in the Shetlands made it clear that the whaling affected fishing. The main points was that the boats and cannons would scare the herring or any fish away, cause pollution at the station itself. Mclaren argued the case saying they bleed very little after the heart has stopped so pollution onshore would likely be very little and due to economic factors had made it very important to use the whole whale. Any waste matter discharged at sea be very much less than a small town would produce. That the boats and cannons would not scare away the herring or any fish.

Todd also pointed out the hundred signatures were all the same handwriting and only 4 people could write their own names. The memorial described the islanders as " Crofters" this was a scot word and not one of the islanders would understand the word. Main witness for Mclaren was Henrik Bensen, Lorentz Bruun and Adolf Bant were also in whaling. Lund and Christensen did not appear probably due to they didn't want to be recognised if it failed so they could go some different. So strong the pressure exerted on the authorities that the company was refused permission to establish its station there.

Local Trouble's: The location of the station on Rusheen was not ideal as there were only 2 hours either side of high tide that the carcasus could be brought up the slip for processing. This meant that there were only 8 out of each 24 hours where the whales could be moved. The main concern was around seepage and spoiling of oil if the carcuses were left for too long. Flensing of the wales needs to be done as soon as possible after death. As a solution to this issue a number of whales were brought in together, the blubber was stripped and then the bdy being returned to the mooring buoy until it could be further dealt with. Large volumes of fresh water were required to allow for the processing of the whale carcases. Initially this was provided by a storage tank that was located on a local mans land. It was however not sufficient to meet the needs of the station. Attempts were made to agree on the building of a second reservoir failed as the local farmer wanted an exorbitant amount of money. A request was made to drill a well locally but this too was turned down. The exact solution to the issue is not known but it is believed that 2 small concrete Dams across 2 streams may have been placed there to collect the water.

Pollution was a constant issue for the area as whale blood, blubber and decaying matter were not collected evvectively during the rendering process that went against the local laws at the time. (The Whale fisheries Ireland Act 1908). It was not until 1910 that additional works were carried out on the site to assist in collecting this off flow but even with this being completed the problem was never fully corrected resulting in a putrid smell and oily scum being present around the island for the majority of the time work continued there.

The local workers were a constant source of trouble for the company. As the station was in a remote location there were no other sources of workers that could be brought in. The locals at one stage, knowing this, went on strike and received an increase from .75p to £1 per week. Also during the final liquidation of the company a significant amount of equipment was looted including the iron roofing

Financial trouble: Between the 14th July 1909 and 30th of June 1910 the remaining shares in the company had been issued bringing in £1855. However this meant that their last means of raising capital was exhausted and none of the existing shareholders were willing to invest more in a company that had not return a profit in the first 2 years of operation. On the 31st of December 1910 a special meeting was held in Edinburgh which dissolved the company and transferred all assets and liabilities to another company of the same name. The original companies affairs were eventually wound up on the 27th June 1911. Arthur McLaren stepped down as secretary and was replaced by the liquidators Mr Kenneth Henderson and John B.Peden accountants of Edinburgh. All shareholders in the first company were allocated and equivalent number of shares in the second being paid 12s 6d (62.5p) in the pound. It was therefore necessary for all investors to commit a further 7s 6d (37.5p) on each share or forefit their holdings. The majority committed the additional cash with the balance being paid on 10449 shares and a sale of a further 7 resulted in a much needed cash boost of £3925. Following a poor fishing season where only 26 whales were caught a meeting was called on the 27th November 2012. The company entered liquidation again. (It was completely dissolved on the 17th November 2013). A new company was created taking on the the assets and liabilities of the old company. There were only 2000 shares remaining divided between 3 main shareholders. LM Christiansen (1490) J.B.Peden (10) and William Kirkwood (500). In the following year while 49 whales had been caught, a dramatic increase on the year before, it was not enough to keep the whaling station operating. A final shareholder meeting was held on the 23rd of December with the decision taken to have the company wound up with the majority of the equipment being sold off to Compania Ballenera Espanola Spain. This was another of Lorentz Bruun's whaling Enterprises. On the 4th of January 1915 the Arranmore Whaling Co. officially ceased to exist.

References

Irish whales and whaling by James Fairley Lorem ipsum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.