366 HISTOEY AND METHODS OF THE FISHEEIES. 



THE CLAIMS OF RHODE ISLAND. Mr. K. E. Earll obtained from Mr. B. F. Brightman the 

 following account of the beginning of the menhaden industry in Ehode Island: 



" During the war of 1812 paint oils became very scarce and high, and people in the vicinity of 

 Southern NewEugland and Long Island conceived the idea of using fish-oil for this purpose. Among 

 the first to go into this business was a family of Gardiners living at Mount Hope Bay, Rhode Island. 



" The first method was to drag the pogies ashore with seines and put them into large casks or 

 hogsheads brought down to the water for the purpose. After filling the casks with fish, salt water 

 was added to cover them, and boards, weighted with stones, put on top of the fish to press them 

 down. The fish were then left to rot for a few days, after which they were thoroughly stirred with 

 a long stick daily to break up the fish and liberate the oil, so that it might come to the surface of 

 the putrid mass. This process was kept up for from two to three weeks, the oil being dipped off 

 daily, after which the barrels were emptied into the water. 



"About 1820 they commenced boiling the fish in large kettles, stirring them frequently, and 

 skimming the oil off by hand. Among the first to do this was John Tollman, at Black Point, East 

 Eiver. 



" Soon the business reached such dimensions that the kettles were too small, and they were 

 obliged to build large cooking tanks, and with these steam was introduced for cooking, the pipes 

 being laid at the bottom, as now, but wholly unprotected. The fish were thoroughly cooked and 

 stirred, and, after standing for a time, the oil was skimmed off, and a plug pulled from the bottom 

 of the tank and the whole mass allowed to run off on the ground near by. Quantities of scrap or 

 chum accumulated in this way and found a ready sale for manure to the farmers. The cooking by 

 steam was introduced about 1830, when John Tollman had works at Black Point, East River, John 

 Herreshoff at Prudence Island, and a number of parties on Long Island Sound. 



" About 1835-'40 the chum was coming to be of such value that a false bottom made of wood 

 was introduced above the steam pipes to keep it in better condition, and after skimming it was 

 pitched out on an inclined platform and allowed to press itself by its own weight. Thus an addi- 

 tional Amount of oil was obtained from the drainings, and the chum was in better condition for 

 market. At this time the water was drawn off into a separate tank in drying the chum for pitch- 

 ing on the platform. Probably Mr. Herreshoff was among the first to introduce the incline-plane 

 platform, though other parties at Greenport and Shelter Island used it about the same time. 



" This gave a great start to the pogy business, as it utilized a far larger per cent, of the oil 

 and also saved the chum in a marketable condition. 



" The next great improvement was the introduction of the press for taking the oil and water 

 from the chum. This came about in the following way: Between 1855 and 1860, Mr. Charles 

 Tuthill went from New York to Greenport for his health, and while there he visited the factory of 

 Mr. Wells and saw the scrap draining on the inclined platform, and it occurred to him to press the 

 chum. Accordingly he proposed the subject to Mr. Wells and built a small press or curb in the 

 following manner: 



