SAILOR FISHERMEN OF NEW ENGLAND. 71 



accustomed to more refined discourse, they think nothing whatever of it and see no impropriety 

 in its use. 



Truthfulness: social vices.— Concerning other virtues, such as truthfulness, honesty, 

 and general reliablity, fishermen do not appear to have any special peculiarities, but it is believed 

 that they will compare favorably with other men of similar grades in society. 



Social vices are much less common among fishermen than among other sea-faring men, except 

 in the largest ports; the morality of the communities to which fishermen belong is .unim- 

 peachable, or, at least, will compare favorably with those of any other section of the country, 

 while in the larger towns the social evil is by no means so prominent as in the manufacturing 

 towns. There are, of course, depraved men among the fishermen whose vicious instincts are 

 increased by the irregular character of their occupation, but a large majority of the fishermen, 

 even of Gloucester, are pure in their morals. 



The laxity of morals, which is often attributed to certain classes of our fishermen and to the 

 provincial ports which they visit, in connection with their cruises upon the off shore banks, is 

 believed to be very much exaggerated. Outside of the larger ports, as has been stated, there is 

 but little in the practice of the men upon the fishing vessels which can be criticised by those who 

 are familiar with their habits. 



Intoxicating drinks. — In most of the fishing towns along the coast spirits cannot be obtained 

 upon any pretext whatever, except in the large cities which incidentally engage in fishing. There 

 is no fishing port except Gloucester in which fishermen, or indeed any strangers, would not find 

 extreme difficulty in obtaining intoxicating liquor. In Gloucester strenuous efforts have been made 

 to overthrow the liquor traffic, both by prohibition laws and license laws, and it cannot be said that 

 liquor is there freely sold, although those who are familiar with the town have but little difficulty 

 in obtaining it. Drunkenness is not a vice to which fishermen are addicted. 



In the chapter upon "Life on shipboard," allusion is made to the custom, once universally 

 prevalent, of carrying a supply of rum on Massachusetts vessels, and it was no less common for 

 the shore fishermen to carry their jugs with them when they went out in their boats upon the 

 fishing grounds. This custom has become obsolete to such an extent that the shipping articles 

 of every fishing vessel require that "no ardent spirits shall be carried on board," and many 

 Gloucester shippers are so opposed to intemperance that they promptly discharge men who are 

 known to have been guilty of drunkenness. The medicine chest is not supplied with liquor, even 

 though the use of so important a restorative would perhaps frequently to be attended with good 

 results. It seems as if public sentiment were somewhat too radical when it forbids to the fishing- 

 vessels the privilege of carrying a small supply of spirits for use in cases of exhaustion. Many 

 experienced men, however, agree that such benefits are more than counterbalanced by the evils 

 that would result from the practice of carrying even the smallest quantity of intoxicating spirits 

 on board of our fishing vessels where discipline is so entirely absent as it is at the present time. 



Much trouble is caused by the free sale of liquor in the ports of Newfoundland, where our cod 

 fishermen frequently make harbor, and until within a few years the same difficulty has been met 

 with in the ports of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. At the present time prohibitory laws are there 

 enforced with great strictness, and nowhere save in Halifax and some of the other large ports can 

 liquor now be bought. In ports where liquor is sold, vessels are often detained on account of men 

 wha get drunk and refuse to go on board, or become involved in brawls. 



The "temperance reform" in Gloucester in 1876 seems to have had a widespread influence 

 among the fishermen — an influence which is felt to the present day. The local papers for some 

 months were full of the subject. In the Cape Ann Advertiser of February 25, 187C, is printed a 



