OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (ADAMS ALEXANDER.) 



573 



opinion that a continuation of this policy com- 

 mensurate with the resources of the province is 

 highly desirable." 



Fisheries. The yield of the provincial fish- 

 eries in 1897 was $800,346 in value. The principal 

 fish thus caught were salmon, mackerel, herring, 

 cod, haddock, lobster, hake, and pollock. The 

 bounties paid by the Dominion in 1897 amounted 

 to $102,084, and the number of fishermen was 

 17,371. The value of the boats and material en- 

 gaged was $3,149,174. A good deal of public 

 attention was paid to the provincial fisheries dur- 

 ing the year, and a special committee of the 

 Legislature reported on March 28, 1899, as to 

 their condition in the following terms: 



" Your committee appointed to consider the 

 state of the fisheries of Nova Scotia generally, 

 and practically to inquire into the desirability 

 of establishing a system of cold-storage depots 

 along the coast, to insure a constant supply of 

 fresh bait for bank and shore fishermen and for 

 the preservation in a fresh state of a portion of 

 the catch and its shipments in refrigerators by 

 water and rail to distant markets, beg to report 

 as follows: The committee met twice, and the 

 meetings were attended by masters of vessels and 

 fishermen engaged in the bank fishing, shore fish- 

 ermen, and merchants engaged in supplying the 

 business. The need of bringing within the reach 

 of fishermen the means of developing to the ut- 

 most the fishing industry of Nova Scotia is 

 urgent. The value of the fisheries of the province 

 a few years ago was about $8,000,000, and dur- 



ing the last few years it lias greatly diminished. 

 Evidence from practical men all along the coast 

 shows that scarcity of bait occasions great loss 

 of time to both snore and bank fishermen. It 

 was asserted that bank schooners frequently lost 

 from four to six weeks out of a season of five 

 months on account of having to leave the banks 

 to hunt about the coast for bait, and that this 

 loss would be reduced by two thirds if the schoon- 

 ers were provided with small refrigerators, which 

 could be supplied with certainty at bait-supply 

 depots. It was also asserted by many persons 

 that from twenty to fifty days are lost each year 

 by the shore fishermen from the same cause, and 

 that each shore fisherman would be benefited to 

 an extent of $25 to $50 yearly if a permanent 

 bait supply was within easy reach. It appears 

 that the annual value of the industry may be 

 increased to an extent of half a million dollars by 

 the establishment of a system of bait depots along 

 the coast, and that by this means a still further 

 increase in the value of the catch may be obtained 

 by holding in cold-storage depots a portion of 

 the most valuable fish to be shipped in a fresh 

 state to Canadian, American, and British mar- 

 kets. Six or eight large refrigerators at con- 

 venient ports of call for bank fishermen would 

 to a large extent meet the requirements of the 

 province. The large refrigerators can be con- 

 structed for $2,000 each. Smaller ones, suitable 

 for local needs, for $500 to $1,000 each. We urge 

 that the Dominion Government be requested to 

 bonus a number of refrigerators." 



O 



OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. Adams, Ju- 

 lius Walker, civil engineer, born in Boston, 

 Mass., Oct. 18, 1812; died in Brooklyn, N. Y., 

 Dec. 13, 1899. He was appointed to the United 

 States Military Academy, but in 1832 became 

 assistant engineer of the Stonington and Provi- 

 dence Railroad. In 1835 he was assistant engi- 

 neer of the Paterson and Hudson Railroad, and 

 from that time he was connected with many rail- 

 roads in the capacity of chief engineer. He was 

 also connected with the United States service in 

 the survey of harbors and lighthouses and of the 

 Connecticut river. In 1845 he was resident en- 

 gineer of the United States dry docks at Brook- 

 lyn and engineer for the Boston waterworks. 

 From 1850 for several years he was consulting 

 engineer of the city of New York. He designed 

 the sewerage and drainage system of Brooklyn 

 in the years 1857-'60. In 1860 he was colonel of 

 the engineers of the 2d Division, New York State 

 militia: in June, 1861, he was commissioned colo- 

 nel of the 1st Regiment of Long Island Volunteers, 

 and he served under Gen. McClellan in the Army 

 of the Potomac. In November, 1862, he was ap- 

 pointed colonel of the 2d Hawkins Zouaves, and 

 he was in command of the troops stationed in 

 Printing House Square during the draft riots in 

 1863. As early as 1855 he had agitated the neces- 

 sity of a bridge between Brooklyn and New York 

 city, and after his return from the war he inter- 

 ested William C. Kingsley in the project, the re- 

 sult being the incorporation, Feb. 4, 1865, of the 

 East River Bridge Company. In the early period 

 of the construction of the big bridge he held vari- 

 ous posts in connection with it. In 1881-'82 he 

 was the editor of Engineering News. He was the 

 last surviving member of the 12 founders of 

 the American Society of Engineers, and was also 

 a member of the New York Academy of Science 



and of the American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science. 



Agnew, John T., merchant, born in New York 

 city, Oct. 13, 1815; died there, Nov. 29, 1899. He 

 was in the wholesale tobacco business from 1837 

 till 1869. He was closely connected with the old 

 volunteer fire department, and was also a mem- 

 ber of the Dock Board that built the sea wall 

 around the Battery. He was one of the trustees 

 of the Brooklyn Bridge from 1877 to 1885, the 

 period of its construction. He was a presidential 

 elector on the Cleveland and Hendricks ticket 

 in 1884, and he served in recent years on several 

 citizens' committees as a representative Demo- 

 crat and business man. 



Alexander, Joseph, manufacturer, born in 

 Newburg, N. Y., in 1804; died in South Orange, 

 N. J., Jan. 30, 1899. For many years, beginning 

 with 1829, he was a manufacturer of paper molds 

 in Springfield, N. J. He was a remarkable pen- 

 man, and in his later years spent much time in 

 writing souvenirs for his friends. On a piece of 

 paper the exact size of a postal card he repeatedly 

 wrote the 119th Psalm and 5 of the following 

 psalms, a total of 214 verses, 3,000 words, and 

 12,400 letters, and he embellished the four corners 

 with the Lord's Prayer, written in a space the 

 size of a 10-cent piece. 



Alexander, Robert C., lawyer and journalist, 

 born in West Charlton, N. Y., July 7, 1857 ; died 

 in New York city, Nov. 4, 1899. He was gradu- 

 ated at Union College with first honors in 1880, and 

 at the Albany Law School in 1881, and for three 

 years thereafter he practiced law in Elmira, N. Y. 

 Removing to New York city in 1884, he became 

 counsel for Col. Elliott F. Shepard, and as such 

 he negotiated the sale of the Mail and Express 

 by Cyrus W. Field to Col. Shepard. He became 

 secretary of the new corporation, and was also 



