PUBLIC DOCUMENT No. 25. 



77 



Total Fish Receipts for Gloucester Concluded. 



Barrels. 



Total receipts of fish at port of Gloucester for 1916, 132,852,572 pounds. 



THE POOR "Doc." 



It is little wonder that the name of this poor denizen of the 

 deep has had but little chance to grace the bill of fare of a 

 three-penny lunch, much more the menu card of one of our 

 select hostelries. Officials of the United States Bureau of 

 Fisheries would have it that the well-known popular antipathy 

 is only "name deep." According to statements made by them 

 the title of the "critter" is. its great handicap, but is that quite 

 consistent? Is it not a fact that perfectly good membrane- 

 covered horse meat, heated and wedged between two halves of 

 a roll, is by popular acclaim given the nom de plume "hot dog"? 

 Did not the article taste just as good to you on every occasion, 

 Mr. Reader, whether you asked for a frankfort sandwich or for 

 a plain, everyday "hot dog"? We have not noticed the dif- 

 ference. However, that is our only quarrel with the honorable 

 projectors of the dogfish-consuming campaign. None of the 

 other points they set forth are open to dispute. That the 

 dogfish, beg pardon, grayfish (the suggested inoffensive way of 

 saying dogfish in the future), is fully as tasty and nutritious as 

 the majority of our "finny foods," and better in many respects 

 than some, is an established fact. If the application of the 

 name "grayfish" will help to overcome the foolish prejudice 

 now so widespread, let it be grayfish. 



