HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN MENHADEN. 123 



steamers, of which there are now about sixty, each from 00 to 150 feet 

 iu length, and costiuo- from $7,000 to $40,000. The advantages of steam 

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

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

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

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

 barrels peT 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 in carrying tlife 

 dried scraj) to England. t 



Description of steamers. 



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

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

 tank in the middle iu 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 " Jemima 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 DevoU, of Fall River, Mass., describes his steamer, the 

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

 and 5 feet in 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 in the gang besides the cook and 

 the engineer. 



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

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

 States Government building in Philadelphia and is now deposited iu 

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

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

 fishery. 



31. — Certain requirements of pukse-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 fisli are 



* Maddock's Menhaden Fishery of Maine, 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 i)lan of arrangement. 



