494 



NEWFOUNDLAND. 



cod oil, 3,069 tons, at $76 a ton, were exported : 

 and of refined cod-liver oil, 7,597 gallons, at 50 

 cents a gallon. The value of the exported prod- 

 ucts of the cod fishery in 1891 was $5,121,567. 



In 1892, 20 steamers were engaged in the seal 

 fishery, their tonnage being 6,278 tons. Their 

 crews numbered 4,548. The number of seals 

 taken was 348,624, their average value being 

 about $2. 



The export of herrings in 1891 was 59,568 bar- 

 rels; value, $201,058. The salmon export was: 

 Pickled, 5,423 tierces, value $91,587 ; tinned, 463 

 cases, value $1,758. The export of lobsters in 

 1891 was 57,291 cases, value $429,681. 



In 1892, at the Dildo Hatchery, there were 

 hatched and planted 165,560,000 young codfish. 

 A salt-water pond has been constructed, 48 feet 

 long, 23 feet wide, and 11 feet deep, holding 

 96,000 gallons. In this the cod are placed and 

 allowed to spawn in- the natural way, without 

 being handled or " stripped." The ova are then 

 collected and placed in the hatching jars. This 

 is found to be a great improvement on the for- 

 mer method of stripping the fish by hand, and 

 the results are a larger percentage of hatched 

 ova and much less labor. 



The number of lobsters hatched and planted 

 in the floating incubators in 1892 was 429,785,000. 

 A successful experiment was made in transport- 

 ing live lobsters to England in the autumn of 

 1892. The loss on the passage was only 9 per 

 cent. The apparatus 'for their transportation 

 was the invention of Mr. A. Nielsen, Superin- 

 tendent of Fisheries. The Fisheries Commis- 

 sion have now a protective service for exercising 

 a guardianship over the salmon rivers and en- 

 forcing the rules and regulations of the various 

 salt-water fisheries. They also maintain a Bait 

 Intelligence Service. They publish widely in- 

 structions for the proper cure and packing of 

 herrings and codfish. 



The total value of the Newfoundland fisheries 

 in 1891 was $6,679,574. The value of the im- 

 ports in the same year was $6,869,458 ; the value 

 of the exports was $7,437,158 ; the revenue 

 amoimted to $1,820,293. The public debt at the 

 close of 1891 was $5,223,363. 



The Census. The census of 1891 showed the 

 total population to be 202,040. Of these, 4,100 

 are residents of the Labrador coast. According 

 to religious denomination the population stood 

 as follows : Adherents of the Church of England, 

 69,834 ; of the Roman Catholic Church, 72.696 ; 

 of the Wesleyan Church, 53,276; of the Pres- 

 byterian Church, 1,449 ; other denominations, 

 4,895. Of the last named, the Salvation Army 

 number 2.092 ; the Congregationalists, 782 ; and 

 the Baptists, 37. 



In regard to occupations, the census shows 

 that 53,502 are engaged in catching and curing 

 fish; 625 in lumbering;. 1,258 in mining; 1,545 

 in farming; in mechanics and handicrafts, 2,681 ; 

 in office and shop work, 1,948 ; clergymen, 181 ; 

 teachers, 601 ; lawyers, 48 ; doctors, 62 ; mer- 

 chants and traders, 767. Of the whole popula- 

 tion, 193,353 were born in Newfoundland. 



A census was taken in 1884. The increase of 

 population in the following seven years was 

 4,810, or at the rate of 3'4 per cent, for ten 

 years. In the ten years preceding 1884 the in- 

 crease was at the rate of 22i per cent. The fall- 



ing off in the increase of population is mainly 

 owing to emigration, which of late has greatly 

 increased. 



The late census presents the following facts in 

 regard to agricultural stock and produce : There 

 are 64,494 acres of improved land in the island, 

 and 20,524 acres in pasture. Of oats, 12,900 

 bushels are produced annually ; 36,032 tons of 

 hay; 481,024 barrels of potatoes; and 60,235 

 barrels of turnips. The number of milch cows 

 is 10,863; of horses, 6,138; of horned cattle, 

 12,958; of sheep, 60,840; of swine, 32,011. 



There are 53 sawmills, 3 tanneries, 2 brew- 

 eries, 2 iron foundries, 4 furniture factories. 



Mining. The exports of minerals in 1891 

 were as follow : Copper ore, 7,060 tons, value 

 $63,540; regulus (copper), 3,626 tons, and ingots. 

 1,139 tons, value $502.510: total value of copper 

 ores, etc.. exported, $565,850 ; iron pyrites, 19,150 

 tons, value $57,900 ; antimony, value $1,000; to- 

 tal value of ores, etc., exported in 1891, $624,750. 

 From 1854 to 1891 the total value of copper ore 

 exported was $9,193,790: and the total value of 

 all ores exported in that period was $9,594,717. 



Shipping. The registered shipping at the 

 end of 1891 was 2,207 vessels ; tonnage, 98,619. 



Railways. The Hall's Bay Railway, now in 

 course of construction, made -good progress in 

 1892. over 70 miles having been built. It now 

 reaches Gambo. 



The Great Fire. The year 1892 will long be 

 memorable for the great fire, which broke out on 

 July 8, in St. John's, and destroyed between half 

 and two thirds of the city. In 1846 a similar 

 calamity laid waste nearly two thirds of the city ; 

 but the value of the property destroyed in the 

 fire of 1892 was five times greater than that of 

 1846. The fire broke out at 5 o'clock in the 

 afternoon, in a western suburb known as Fresh 

 Water Road and Long's Hill, which stood on 

 elevated ground overlooking the city. For six 

 weeks previously hardly a shower had fallen, so 

 that the wooden houses and buildings were dry 

 as tinder. A furious wind was blowing when 

 the fire began in a stable filled with hay. The 

 water supply was deficient, and the flames spread 

 so rapidly that in half an hour they were beyond 

 control, and advanced, pouring an ever-widening 

 torrent of fire into the heart of the doomed city, 

 wrapping its streets, squares, dwellings, and 

 churches in sheets of flame, and in twelve hours 

 destroying the labors of fifty years, and convert- 

 ing a scene of industry, activity, and prosperity 

 into a mass of ruins. Next morning, of the 

 homes of 12,000 people, nothing was left but 

 overthrown or tottering walls and a forest of 

 chimneys. Thousands who had been driven in 

 terror from their dwellings by the flames were 

 in the morning lying on the ground keeping 

 watch over the poor remains of household goods 

 which they had managed to drag out of their 

 houses. A roaring wind drove the blazing brands 

 far and wide over a large area of wooden dwell- 

 ings, which were speedily fired in all directions. 

 The heat increased the violence of the wind, and 

 speedily great flakes of burning material rose in 

 the air, and, floating away, created fresh fire 

 centers. The intense heat, the suffocating smoke, 

 the fiery particles that filled the air, the roaring 

 of the wind, the hissing sound as the fire ad- 

 vanced, the crackling of the' woodwork as the 



