BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 181 



liable to be thrown on their beam ends, and, not being able to right be- 

 cause of their shallowness, fill and sink. In a single gale, that of De- 

 cember 9 and 10, 1876, no less than five Gloucester schooners were 

 knocked down and barely escaped sinking. Three of them were dis- 

 masted, two of which were abandoned, one went into Liverpool, Nova 

 Scotia, nnder a jury-rig, while the others were not so badly damaged. 

 The inference is that other vessels v.hich foundered in the same gale, 

 and those that have been lost at sea on other occasions, were knocked 

 down in a similar manner, and, failing to right again, soon sunk. Of 

 course, with a deeper body to the vessels, and the ballast placed lower, 

 there would be far less probabilit}' of such a mishap occurring, and even 

 should it happen the chances would be a hundred to one that the vessel 

 would right again. 



It is, therefore, altogether probable that the introduction of deeper 

 fishing vessels in New England would save for Gloucester alone some- 

 where about ^30,000 to $50,000 per year, besides a large number of 

 lives. 



As an instance showing how terrible the loss is sometimes, I will say 

 that from the 20th of August to the last of December, 1883, 16 vessels 

 from Gloucester foundered at sea, carrying down with them 205 men, 

 while the loss of property was little less than 1 100,000. 



Gloucester, Mass., February 21, 1884. 



94.-K.OSS OF 1.IFE AND PROPEBTIT IIV TBE FISREBIES. 



By R. B. FORBES. 



I have perused with great interest the statements on the subject of 

 the loss of life among the fishermen of Gloucester. The loss of 447 vessels 

 and 2,600 lives in fifty-four years ending in 1884 is fearful to contem- 

 plate. In 22 years ending this year the number of men lost was 2,140. 

 There must be some cause for this large increase. It may be presumed 

 that the increase of the number of vessels in the business accounts for 

 the increased loss of lives in a great degree. Another cause must be 

 the fact that the vessels are more crowded. Another prominent cause 

 must be the fact that trawl-fishing in dories necessarily exposes the 

 men to greater danger than hand-fishing. I have before me a 'long list 

 of men who have been separated trom their vessels; many of these have 

 been lost, while some have been rescued in a starving condition. No 

 regular rule has been established for furnishing dories with condensed 

 food and means for cooking. This should be done. Mr. D. W. Low, of 

 Gloucester, has contrived means not only to feed persons, but to enable 

 them to right their dories and to cling to them when capsized. If the 

 owners of fishing craft do not feel interest enough to encourage the use 

 of these means, there should be a law to compel them to do so; and if a 



