DANGERS OF THE FISHERIES. 113 



During a gale on the 10th of January, 1S78, the schooner Little Kate went ashore near Dux- 

 bury, and her entire crew of thirteen men were drowned. 



In February, 1878, the schooner Eastern Queen, of Gloucester, while returning from George's 

 Bank, ran into Massachusetts Bay in the night. The wind was blowing strong from the north- 

 east, and the vessel was running under a press of sail when the lookout suddenly descried land 

 ahead. He instantly shouted to the man at the wheel. The helm was put down and the vessel 

 brought to the wind, but before this had been fairly accomplished she struck on a ledge. Not 

 withstanding the imminent peril in which they were placed, they succeeded in getting the sheets 

 trimmed by the wind, and this careened the vessel so much that after striking two or three times 

 she jumped over the sunken ledge. Although she had struck heavily she still remained tight and 

 was worked off the lee shore, arriving in Gloucester the following day in safety. 



Vessels leaving the land, bound to the fishing grounds, though starting with a favorable wind, 

 may meet with violent easterly gales before obtaining sufficient sea-room. These gales are gener- 

 ally accompanied with snow, and the vessels being on a lee shore it is sometimes difficult to escape 

 disaster. The class of vessels under consideration are better provided with cables and anchors 

 than any other sea-going craft, and are thus enabled to ride out a gale safely on a lee shore, in 

 which no vessel carrying canvas could successfully work to*windward. This is, doubtless, one of 

 the reasons why the loss of vessels from being driven ashore in gales is comparatively small. 

 Although gales are less frequent in the spring and summer seasons, the prevalence of dense fogs 

 exposes the fishermen and all seamen to considerable dangers when approaching the land, and 

 many disasters, some of them serious in character, have happened from this cause. Such dangers 

 are not unlike those already discussed, except that they are not usually accompanied by such high 

 winds, and, occuring during the warmer part of the year, are not so sure to be disastrous. 



THE DANGERS OF COLLISION WITH OTHER VESSELS. 



Collisions on the fishing grounds. — The danger of collision is to be dreaded. Many 

 losses have resulted from accidents of this kind, and lives, as well as property, have been sacri- 

 ficed. Collisions are especially liable in localities where great numbers of vessels are passing and 

 repassing, as in the vicinity of Long Island Sound, or off Sandy Hook, New York, on Nantucket 

 Shoals, off Cape Cod, or near Cape Sable, Nova Scotia. 



Fishing vessels are perhaps more liable to collision than any other vessels, because of their 

 tendency to gather in large fleets, where fish — and especially mackerel — are found abundant. Such 

 is the ardor of pursuit that the loss of booms and other light spars is considered of small impor- 

 tance, and the risk of losing them is often incurred in hopes of obtaining some advantage in the 

 fishery. 



Another fruitful season of collision is when a fleet of several hundred sail makes the attempt 

 to enter the same harbor at one time. They crowd in such numbers at the harbor's entrance that 

 it is next to impossible for them all to escape some damage. The injuries thus sustained are 

 generally of minor importance, such as carrying away booms or bowsprits. Some of the serious 

 losses by collision are the following: 



On September 26, 18G9, the schooner Isaac Walton, of Gloucester, while returning from 

 George's Bank, came into collision with the schooner William Babson, and received such injuries 

 that she sank shortly afterward. The crew were saved. 



On March 17, 1SG4, the schooner Triumph, of the same port, while bound to New York, was 

 run down and sunk by the steamer Western Metropolis. The captain and three of her crew were 

 saved by a boat from the steamer, but two of t lie crew were drowned. 

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