MASSACHUSETTS: GLOUCESTER DISTRICT. 167 



setts, and from the British Provinces. It is estimated that iu the year 1880 there were consumed 

 by Gloucester packers 150,000 barrels aucl -100,000 boxes, of a total value of $175,000. Most of the 

 barrels are made iii Maiue and shipped to Gloucester in a condition ready for use. The boxes are 

 brought here in the form of shocks and are nailed together by the packers, or at two factories io 

 Gloucester, where some score of men are constantly employed in putting the pieces together and 

 printing brands on the box-ends by the use of printing presses. Most of the boxes are made of 

 spruce wood, which is stronger than pine and free from any unpleasant taste. 



IP the early history of the business fish were roughly handled, the dried fish beiug tied up in 

 bundles of 1 or 2 quintals each, for shipment to Boston, where most of the distributing was done. 

 Few fish are at present sent from Gloucester without being packed iu boxes, and these few are 

 preserved from damage by a wrapping of tea-matting. Dried fish intended for exportation to the 

 West Indies are closely packed in what are called drums. These are barrels made usually of soft- 

 spruce wood, and are of five sizes, containing from 2 to 8 quintals of fish. The staves and heads 

 are made in Maine, and put together iu Gloucester. 



FOREIGN TRADE. Gloucester, next to Boston, has the largest amount of foreign commerce 

 of any sea-port iu Massachusetts. Its salt trade and exports of fish bid fair to increase from year 

 to year. During the year 1S79, 70 American and 31 foreign vessels arrived from foreign port* 

 with cargoes of salt, fish, lumber, wood, potatoes, and other merchandise. Eighteen vessels were 

 cleared with cargoes of fish, namely, 8 for Guadalonpe, 5 for Martinique, 2 for Barbadoes, and 1 

 each for Porto Rico, Surinam, and Trinidad. Twenty-two hundred vessels, not including fishing- 

 vessels, were boarded and inspected during the year by the customs officers of the port. 



Prior to I860 there were in Gloucester several mercantile houses running fleets of barks, brigs,, 

 and schooners to the East Indies, South America, West Indies, and other countries. The commer- 

 cial interests of the place from 1790 to I860 were mainly directed to Surinam, in Dutch Guinea. 

 The imports were principally sugar, molasses, and cocoa, and aggregated in some years about 

 8400.000, while the exports amounted to about $200,000. This business has been transferred to 

 Boston, and now but a comparatively small quantity of the products destined for foreign markets 

 are shipped direct from this port. 



In 1878 an effort was made to re-establish the export trade of fish from Gloucester to the West 

 Indies, and from March, 1878, to the close of 1879, 24 vessels took out cargoes. Seven of these 

 sailed in 1878, and 19 iu 1879, 15 of them clearing at tire Gloucester custom-house and 11 at other 

 ports. The cargoes taken by these vessels in 1878 included 1,234 casks, 867 boxes, and 625 drums, 

 containing 2,821 quintals of cod, 1,702 quintals of haddock, 1,210 quintals of hake, 88 quintals of 

 cusk. and 207 quintals of pollock; 514 barrels of mackerel, and 918 barrels of herring; making a total 

 of 6,021 quintals of dried fish, and 1,432 barrels of pickled fish. Besides dry and pickled fish they 

 took 275 pounds of butter, 8,000 feet of lumber, 155 bags of guano, 44 kits of cod tongues and 

 sounds, 5 barrels of dried apples, 9,197 pounds of smoked halibut, and 2 cases of copper paint. 



In 1879 the cargoes of the 19 vessels were 3,853 casks, 1,551 boxes, and 709 drums, containing 

 15,847 quintals of cod, 2,203 quintals of haddock, 1,174 quintals of hake, and 25 quintals of pollock - T 

 1,130 barrels of mackerel, and 282 barrels of herring; making a total of 19,249 quintals of dried 

 fish, and 1,412 barrels of pickled fish ; also 5,080 boxes of smoked herring, 80 barrels of salmon, 

 100 barrels of bread, 180 barrels of potatoes, 1,750 pounds of butter, 84,724 feet of lumber, 15 

 casks, 48 bags of guano, 183 barrels of apples, 11 barrels of turnips, 40,000 shingles, 10 barrels of 

 onions, 7 cords of wood, 640 bricks, 1 hogshead of tinware, and 1 chamber set. 



The whole amount of dried and pickled fish shipped iu the above vessels from March 28, 1878, 



