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The whale is anchored on the property
of Theodore Empie, a friend of Brimley’s,
who owns a two-mile stretch of desolate
beach on Topsail Island. Over the next
few weeks, Davis and a crew of local fishermen process
the whale, hacking away its flesh with broad axes and
spades and burying the bones in the sand.
Although one would think that with the whalebones
buried, the trouble would finally subside, but it doesn’t.
Topsail residents spend the next six months scheming ways
to make money off of the whale. Some claim they can
produce the missing lower jaw for a reward. Others
complain about a host of health and fishing problems
allegedly caused by
the whale’s flesh in the
surrounding waters.
The residents cause
such a fuss that Capt.
Smith, hired to tow
the flesh out to sea,
returns the money
he had been paid.
In a letter addressed
to Harry Davis, he
writes that “If the
whale flesh is near King’s Landing or has been at any time, it certainly came back,” but he returns the money, “Because I haven’t got the
name of being a thief.”
During this time, an exasperated Brimley writes that the procuring of the whale “has been a heartbreaking job from the start. It
would seem that every possible obstacle — many natural and some man-made — has been placed in the way of our carrying out the
work to a successful conclusion.”
Brimley responds to the Topsail residents, saying he has been unable to find any evidence of the whale flesh remaining in Topsail,
and that if anything, its presence would improve fishing. No money is ever given to the distraught residents.
Top: Trouble’s bones are lined up on the shores of Topsail to be ferried across the sound. From there, they will be loaded on the back of
two flatbed trucks and taken to Raleigh. Letters from Wrightsville Beach Mayor George Kidder, above right, and W.W. Marine, above
left, indicate they believe Trouble’s missing lower jaw is still buried in the sand on Wrightsville Beach.
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
PHOTOGRAPHY AND ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS COURTESY OF NORTH CAROLINA MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCES. FRAME GRAPHICS COURTESY OF TIGERS-STOCK.DEVIANTART.COM
Trouble in Topsail