590 



MARYLAND. 



as compared with the preceding year, was as 

 follows: 



This shows a gain in 1879 of 396 entrances 

 and 331 clearances; total, 727. The tonnage 

 dues collected in 1878 were $107,450.80, and 

 in 1879, $130,153.30; inerease, $22,702.50. Of 

 the arrivals in the foreign trade in 1879, 330 

 were American vessels, tonnage 108,102, and 

 1,448 foreign vessels, tonnage 1,234,184, against 

 329 American, tonnage 119,284, and 1,146 for- 

 eign, tonnage 885,905, for 1878. Of the clear- 

 ances for foreign countries in 1879, 320 were 

 American, tonnage 109,814, and 1,409 foreign, 

 tonnage 1,227,321, as against 329 American 

 and 1,146 foreign for 1878. The value of im- 

 ports for the same period was : 1877-'78, $16,- 

 938,628 ; 1878-'79, $14,147,155. Value of ex- 

 ports for 1877-'78, $45,633,501; 1878-'79, 

 $57,563,905. The statement of custom-house 

 receipts from all sources is as follows: 



The decline in the amount of the duties col- 

 lected in 1879 is thus explained by the Collec- 

 tor of the Port : 



The decrease is due to the non-importation of sugar, 

 the decline in the revenue from which, as compared 

 with last year, was $1,078,253. If our imports of 

 sugar had been maintained, the revenue collected at 

 the port would show a gain of $128,930.91 over last 

 year. The destruction of the sugar business of Balti- 

 more, which has been so complete as to cause the sus- 

 pension of four large sugar refineries and two molas- 

 ses refineries, is due to the prosecutions of Baltimore 

 importers by the Treasury Department. This has lost 

 us the Dcmerara and Cuba raw-susrar trade, now 

 transferred to Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, 

 . while the revenue of the Government has not been 

 increased by it at all. It has increased the apparent 

 cost of collecting revenue at this port, and has thrown 

 many laborers out of work, the actual cost being re- 

 duced $5,272.92 as compared with 1878. The general 

 trade of the port, aside from sugar ; shows a sensible 

 improvement. There was a large increase in trans- 

 portation in bond and in transit. The gains on salt, 

 soda ash ; and tin-plate amounted to $168,779. The 

 increase in warehouse and exportation entries during 

 1879 over 1878 was $283,619.27, an increase of 7'88 per 

 cent. The importation of coffee for the year 1879 

 comprised 535,117 bags, against 413,535 bags in 1878, 

 an increase of nearly 30 per cent. 



An attempt to import heet-sugar from Eu- 

 rope was made at Baltimore, but it was found 

 to be without profit. Several samples were pro- 

 cured from Germany with the hope of making 



a market for it which would compete with 

 importations from the "West Indies and other 

 places. The merchant found that the cost in 

 Germany would be 4f cents a pound, and hoped 

 to be able to have the customs duty levied on 

 that basis of valuation. Upon taking the sam- 

 ples to the appraisers, however, they rated it 

 at 6 cents a pound, an advance of 2-f- cents a 

 pound on the German valuation. The broker- 

 age, freight, insurance, commission for buying, 

 loss in weight, and contingencies, it was cal- 

 culated, would still further increase the price, 

 until the lowest figure at which it could be 

 landed in Baltimore would be 7'65 cents a 

 pound, which was so high as to preclude all 

 possibility of making any profit by the trans- 

 action. 



The operations by the United States Govern- 

 ment and by the State for the hatching of shad 

 at Spesutia Island, at the mouth of the Susque- 

 hanna, and near Havre de Grace, were very suc- 

 cessful during the fore part of the year. Since 

 the commencement of the works there in 1871, 

 over 48,000,000 shad-eggs have been hatched, 

 and the fish distributed in rivers in different 

 parts of the country. Some have been sent as 

 far as California, and many of the tributaries of 

 the Mississippi have been stocked, also the rivers 

 of some of the Eastern States. The labor inci- 

 dent to the hatching is done on a scow, which 

 is anchored in the river in the vicinity of the 

 fishermen who are drawing their nets. The 

 works are also provided with a steam-launch 

 and several small boats. These boats are used 

 every night in gathering the supply of eggs 

 from the fishermen. The eggs must be taken 

 from the fish when she is just about to spawn, 

 and it is a comparatively small portion of those 

 which are caught that are in exactly the right 

 condition. A fisherman, when he discovers a 

 female shad from which the eggs may be taken, 

 signals one of the small boats from the scow, 

 and the man therein takes the fish, presses the 

 eggs from her, deposits them in a suitable ves- 

 sel, takes the milt from a male shad, which 

 he places on the eggs, and returns both fish to 

 the fisherman. In this way the night is spent, 

 and immense numbers of eggs are procured, a 

 female shad ordinarily yielding from 20,000 to 

 30,000 eggs. An average night's work secures 

 from 350,000 to 400,000 eggs. The fisherman 

 who procures the female shad receives in re- 

 turn a ticket or order which is good for fifty 

 cents, and which is redeemed at the end of the 

 season by the Government. The eggs, having 

 been procured, are at once taken to the scow 

 and placed in tin cans, which are about three 

 feet high and a foot and a half in diameter. 

 The bottom of the can is covered with a fine 

 gauze netting, through which it is impossible 

 for the smallest fish to escape. The cans are 

 hung on wooden arms over the side of the 

 scow, and the arms kept constantly moving up 

 and down by steam, thus lowering the cans in 

 the water and hoisting them part way out 

 again. The object of this is to keep the eggs 



