HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN MENHADEN. 155 



snuied, and bought what was left of it for the St. Petersburg Academy 

 of Science — the skeleton and some portion of the llesli — which were pre- 

 served first in salt and afterwards in alcohol. Well, we know the pe- 

 riod of time that must have elapsed since the mammoth lived in the arc- 

 tic circle must be ver\" long. We know we can talk with perfect safety 

 often thousand years. The geological estimate of it is anywhere from 

 fifty to a hundred thousand years; we cannot tell. There is no unit of 

 measure; we know it must have been some hundreds of thousands, 

 and probably it would have remained in the same condition as much 

 longer. 



" Q. Now, to come to a practical question, is this a mere matter of 

 theory or of possible use? For instance, could this method be achipted 

 to the preservation of bait for three or four mouths if necessary '? — A. 

 The only question of course is as to the extent. There is no question 

 at all that bait of any kind can be kept indefinitely by that process. I 

 do not think there would be the slightest difficnlty in building a refrig- 

 erator on any ordinary fishing-vessel, cod or halibut, or other fishing- 

 vessel, that should keep with perfect ease all the bait necessary for a 

 long voyage. I have made some inquiries as to the amount of ice, and I 

 am informed by Mr. Blackford, of New York, who is one of the largest op- 

 erators of this mode, that to keep a room ten feet each way, or a thous- 

 sand cubic feet, at a temperature of 20° above zero would require about 

 2,000 pounds of ice and two bushels of salt per week. With that he 

 thinks it could be done without any difficulty. Well, an ordinary ves- 

 sel would require about seventy five barrels of bait, an ordinary trawl- 

 ing vessel. That would occupy a bulk something less than 600 feet, 

 so that probably four and a half tons of ice a month would keep that 

 fish. And it must be remembered that his estimate was lor keeping- 

 fish in midsummer in New York. The fishing-vessels would require a 

 smaller expenditure of ice, as these vessels would be surrounded by a 

 colder temperature. A stock of ten to twenty tons would, in all proba- 

 bility, be amply sufficient both to replace the waste by melting and to 

 preserve the bait."* 



39. — Conflicts between bait fishermen and others. 

 Early feuds. 



21G. Some jealousy has naturally arisen at times between the bait- 

 fishermen and the manufacturers, as is shown by the following extract 

 from Professor Johnston's " History of the Towns of Bristol and Bremen, 

 in the State of Maine." 



A special branch of the fishing business has of late been undertaken 

 quite largely here (in Bristol), as at other places on the New England 

 coast, called the " porgey fishery." The fish are taken in seines, usually 

 several miles from the coast, and are used for the oil they produce, and 

 for manure. 



* Proceedings Halifax Commission, Appendix L, p. 457. 



