72 FISHERMEN OF THE UNITED STATES. 



list of twenty two vessels from Gloucester inarmed entirely by temperance men. On the 3d of 

 March a grand reception was given by the "Reynolds Temperance Reform Club," of Gloucester, 

 and in the street procession four hundred George's fishermen marched. 



The oystermen of the Chesapeake are, as has already been remarked, lawless and quarrelsome, 

 and the same characteristics are met with among the other fishermen of the same region, many of 

 whom are engaged in the oyster fisheries part of the year, in the shad fishery in the spring, and 

 the menhaden fishery in summer. Conflicts occasionally occur between fishermen from different 

 sections. The war between the Maryland and Delaware fishermen in 1876 was a serious affair, 

 resulting in injuries to several men. 



40. THE FISHERMEN'S LIFE ASHORE. 



Home life. — The home life of the fishermen has already been partly described under the head 

 of education. In Gloucester, perhaps from twenty-five to thirty per cent, of the fishermen are 

 married and have homes of their own, while in other fishing ports the percentage of married men 

 is still greater, and very lew indeed among the fishermen are homeless. On Cape Cod and in the 

 smaller fishing ports of Massachusetts and Connecticut, as well as on the coast of Maine, the fish- 

 ermen, as a rule, own their own houses, marry young, and are surrounded by large families of 

 children. As has been already said, their wives and daughters are usually well educated and refined 

 in their tastes. Even on remote islands on the coast of Maine many of the fishermen's houses are 

 comfortably and tastefully furnished. The walls are hung with engravings, and books and musical 

 instruments are to be found. It is not at all uncommon to find a piano in the house of a fisherman. 

 The earnings of the successful fisherman are almost always applied to the building up of a 

 pleasant hom^ for his family, and to the education of his children, for whom he almost always has 

 the ambition that 1hey shall be fitted to follow some other occupation than the one to which his 

 own life has been devoted. This is true in the outlying ports as well as in the larger towns. It 

 is amusing and seems incongruous, after making the acquaintance of a rough-looking old fisher- 

 man, sun browned and weather-beaten, who looks as if he rarely put foot upon the shore, to be 

 invited to his house, and to find him perfectly at home among the well dressed and gentle women 

 of his family, surrounded by luxuries and conveniences which, three centuries ago, would hanlh 

 have been found in the palace of a king. 



The old age of the fisherman is usually spent pleasantly in the home which his industry has 

 established, his daily amusement being to visit the wharves and talk over the experiences of the 

 past aud discuss the doings of his .successors. 



Many of the sea-port towns of New England are made up, in large part, of the houses which 

 have been reared by fishermen of the past or present generation. 



Mr. Henry L. Osborne makes the following observations on the routine life of the Gloucester 

 fishermen when on shore: 



"Unloading the vessel. — After the fisherman returns from a voyage - he is not at once lice, 

 but must work for a lew days in unloading the vessel's cargo. His first lew hours ashore are very 

 likely to be spent in cruising about to learn the news, and it is not improbable that he may take 

 a lew drinks with any old comrade whom be meets, while the two 'talk things over' and com- 

 pare notes. He mast, however, settle down to work not long alter his return, because the owner 

 is anxious to have the cargo brought to light, to have his vessel empty, and thus to be ready for 

 any new and promising venture. The work of unloading usually takes two or three days, or even 

 more in case of large vessels. When ready to begin operations, all hands, armed with pews, invade 

 the hold, the deck, and the wharf, and pitch out the fish from the kenches iu the vessel's hold. 



