180 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



tity of water. These I returned to the bowl, and paid no further atten- 

 tion to them until six hours afterwards. I then noticed that the two 

 which had received the tonic showed a marked improvement, and were 

 swimming on their sides nearly at the top of the water. I then changed 

 the water and administered the same amount of brandy as before. Ou 

 the following morning, thirteen hours after the first administration of 

 brandy and seven hours after the second dose, the two fish in question 

 were apparently fully restored, and were swimming naturally and ac- 

 tively about the bowl. The restoration jjroved to be complete. 

 United States Fish Commission, 



Washington, D. 6'., January 4, 1884. 



93.— liOSS OF i^FE AND propf:ktv i!\ tme: qLiOuc'Estek fish. 



By Capt. J. \r. COLL.I]^S. 



I beg to submit the following statement of the losses, from Gloucester, 

 of life and property in the New England fisheries during the past ten 

 years, first saying that there is no available source from which to obtain 

 similar faets relative to the fishing fleets of other Iv^ew England coast 

 towns. The period covered by the statistics I give is from 1874 to 1883, 

 inclusive, during which time Gloucester has had a fleet of, approxi- 

 mately, 400 fishing vessels, carrying about 4,300 to 4,800 men. About 

 one-half to possibly three-fourths of this fleet has been engaged in 

 some branch of the winter fisheries, the rest of the vessels being hauled 

 up for about five months of the year. 



In the ten years mentioned the total loss of vessels has been 147, of 

 which number 82 have foundered at sea, 7 of the latter having been 

 abandoned in a sinking condition. The total value of these vessels was 

 $735,126. The total loss of life has been 1,233 men, 895 of whom went 

 down in their vessels, which foundered at sea. It is a little difficult to 

 get at the exact number of bereaved families which lost their natural 

 protectors, since for one or two years of the period under considera- 

 tion accurate record wa« not kept of the widows and fatherless chil- 

 dren left by these disasters at sea, and even if it had been it would 

 not show how many almost helpless parents have been deprived of 

 their only means of support. As near as I can get at it — making 

 what I believe to be an underestimate for the years of which I can 

 obtain no statistics of the widows and children left — 322 women have 

 been made widows, and 658 children left fatherless by the disasters to 

 the Gloucester fleet alone. Many of these families have been left in 

 utter destitution. 



There can be but little doubt that upwards of 75 per cent of the ves- 

 sels lost at sea meet with an untimely fate simply because they are too 

 shallow ; the consequence being that when caught in a gale they are 



