HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN MENHADEN. 123 



steamers, of wliicb there are uow about sixty, each from GO to 150 feet 

 iu leugtb, and costing from $7,000 to $40,000. The advantages of steam 

 are too obvious to need special notice, sucb as dispatch, economy- of 

 time and labor, etc. With the advent of steam-vessels, larger factories 

 with more ample equipment become a necessity iu order to utilize the 

 augmented supply. The first factory had the capacity to work up 500 

 barrels per day. The larger factories can now take 3,000 to 4,000 bar- 

 rels daily. At the outset 4,000 barrels per steamer was a large catch to 

 each fishing " gang." Now the average catch per steamer is 10,000 bar- 

 rels, and 20,000 barrels are not unprecedented.* The Pemaquid Oil 

 Company employs several vessels in shipping oil, and iu carrying the 

 dried scrap to England. t 



Description of steamers. 



171. The average burden of the menhaden-steamers is about GO tons. 

 They are built of hard pine, with white-oak frames, with a water-tight 

 tank in the middle in which the fish are stowed. This tank is said to 

 make the vessels exceedingly safe, enabling them to float when their 

 planking is badly injured. The steamer " Jenama Boomer,"' owned by 

 Joseph Church & Co., while at sea in rough weather had 50 feet of her 

 keel knocked out, together with eleven of the bottom planks. She was 

 taken upon a marine dock without sinking. Each steamer carries from 

 twelve to fifteen men, who live in the forecastle. | 



Mr. George Devoll, of Fall River, Mass., describes his steamer, the 

 " Chance Shot." It is 39 tons in burden, GS feet long, and 18 feet wide, 

 and 5 feet iu depth of hold. Its carrying capacity is about 700 barrels 

 of fish. The consumption of coal is about one ton daily. The cost of 

 running is about $8 per day, including coal, oil, and the wages of the 

 engineer. The crew are employed on shares, each man paying his own 

 board and running his chance. The boat and seine draw one-half of 

 the profits, and the gang half — the gang paying provision-bills and 

 cook's wages. There are seven men iu the gang besides the cook and 

 the engineer. 



A model of the fishing steamer " Leonard Brightman," owned by Jo- 

 seph Church & Co., of Eound Pond, Me., was exhibited in the United 

 States Government building iu Philadelphia and' is uow deposited iu 

 the National Museum. The steamer " Seveu Brothers," also owned by 

 Joseph Church & Co., was the first steamer built for and used in this 

 fishery. 



31. — Certain requirements of purse-seine fishing. 



Methods of handling the net. 



172. Much care and expedition are necessary in handling a purse- 

 seine full of fish. In the event of a very large draught, if the fish are 



* Maddock's Menbaden Fishery of Maiue, p. 15. 



t Appendix I, contains a partial list of vessels employed in the menhaden fishery. 



+ Plates XVII and XVIII show the menhaden-steamer and its plan of arrangement. 



