DANGERS OF THE FISHERIES. 109 



loss. It is supposed that the schooner Henry Clay, of Gloucester, another of the Grand Bank fl<>ct 

 returning home, was lost in this same hurricane. 



Although the fishermen are exposed to more or less dangers in the summer season, these arc 

 greatly increased in the winter months, when heavy gales are very frequent, and the perils made 

 greater by extreme cold. The rigging and sails are then coated with ice and snow and it is almost 

 impossible to either set or shorten sail. 



Danger of being "tripped." — A vessel may be knocked down or tripped, either while run- 

 ning before the wind or lying to in a gale. The comparative shallowness of the American fishing 

 schooners renders them particularly liable to this class of disasters. Some branches of the fish- 

 eries, especially those for fresh halibut and haddock, render it imperative that the passage home 

 should be made with the utmost dispatch, in order that cargoes may arrive in good condition aud 

 therefore bring the highest prices. Great risks are taken by these fishermen in running their vessels 

 during gales, frequently in the trough of the sea. This is extremely hazardous and likely to result 

 in the vessel being "tripped," or knocked on her beam ends. In February, 1876, the .schooner 

 Howard, while returning from the Grand Bank with a trip of fresh halibut, was running in a 

 strong northeast gale. She was knocked on her beam ends twice in one day. At first she was 

 running with a two-reefed mainsail, and when she tripped she went over so far that the men who 

 were sleeping below were thrown from the weather into the leeward bunks and everything movable 

 was upset. Fortunately, she righted with slight damage. Notwithstanding this narrow escape, 

 the demands of the business were such that instead of the vessel being hove to, the sail was short- 

 ened and she continued to run safely until just before night, when another sea took her on the 

 quarter and threw her down so low that the sails again lay in the water, the whole after part of 

 the vessel was submerged, and the water ran" over the forward companion-way, partially filling the 

 forecastle. For a short time it was thought that she could not regain her upright position, but 

 everything held securely and she soon righted. On the 2Sth of January, 1881, the schooner Editli 

 M. Pew, employed in the haddock fishery, was thrown on her beam ends, partially filling the cabin 

 and forecastle, and throwing the cabin stove, full of hot coals, into the captain's bunk. The fire 

 was extinguished before any damage was done. She fortunately righted again without any serious 

 disaster. These occurrences are dangerous in the extreme, and fishermen who escape with their 

 lives may be accounted fortunate. 



"The schooner Sarah C. Pyle, Capt. Richard Warren, was struck by a cross sea and capsized 

 January 30, 1S70. The crew found safety by clinging to the sides of the vessel, until one of their 

 number was able to cut away the main shrouds with a pocket-knife, when the vessel righted, nearly 

 full of water. The foremast was cut away and a jury mast rigged with the foreboom, and such 

 progress as was possible was made in a westerly direction. For eight days the men were obliged 

 to cook their food in sea water, their water casks having been lost, and to melt ice to furnish drink. 

 At the end of that time they encountered a vessel and were furnished with water and other neces- 

 saries. Five of the crew were transferred to the vessel, but the skipper aud four men remained on 

 the wreck, determined to get it into port. In this condition they encountered a terrific gale, of 

 three days' duration, and were blown off seawards a distance of 245 miles. Even then they 

 remained undaunted by danger and firm in their intention of rescuing the property under their 

 charge, and declined an offer to be taken off. The wreck was towed into a New Jersey port Feb 

 ruary 13, two weeks after the disaster — a fortnight crowded with great hardship and danger to the 

 men so faithful to duty."* 



* Gloucester anil its Fisheries, p. 65. 



