238 



FISHERMEN'S OWN BOOK. 



plain as human lips could speak, "Halloo, Joe, so you've got me, after all !" 

 To say that Joe was frightened does not express it. He was fairly stunned 

 — so much so that he couldn't get the fish on board the dory, and he went 

 down again the length of the line. Bill, also, showed signs of agitation, but 

 endeavored to make Joe think that he was mistaken, and commenced pull- 

 ing the fish in. When he again reached the surface, Joe was amazed to 

 hear from the fish's throat, as distinct as could be, " Bill, you hurt ! Pull 

 out the hook and let me go." That was too much for Joe. He cut the 

 line, hauled up the anchor and commenced rowing home, vowing that it was 

 the d — I's own work, and he was afraid that it was a forerunner of ill-luck. 

 Bill was scared, of course, and the affair formed the theme of conversation 

 among their circle of acquaintances for several days. Soon after, the cat 

 was let out of the bag, and Bill gave some good tests of his powers, which 

 carried conviction with them. Joe treated all hands to birch beer, and the 

 talking codfish was no longer a mystery. 



What the Old Blubber Man Said. — "It may 

 smell a little fishy, but you soon get used to it," said 

 an old man who was trying out blubber on one of our 

 wharves to a young dandy-looking chap, who thought 

 the effluvia was "perfwectly horwid." "And then," 

 continued the old man, "it brings in the crispy green- 

 backs, you know, and your father was one of the best 

 blubber b'ilers I ever knew." The young man fidget- 

 ted a little with his kid gloves and cane, and then quick- 

 ly passed up off the wharf. He didn't care about hear- 

 ing the old "blubber and ile" man give him any further 

 reminiscences of his family. It's the case with a good 

 many now-a-days. They like to spend the old man's 

 money, but don't care to remember that the old gent 

 ever went fishing or foUow^ed any of the honest occupa- 

 tions connected therewith. A great pity it is that many of the young men 

 of to-day are not obliged to commence life as their fathers did. The expe- 

 rience would be the means of making good business men of them, as they 

 would then know the value of money by being obliged to work hard in order 

 to obtain it. 



The First Shipment of Herring from Gloucester to Germany. — 

 As Mr. Addison G. Procter, of this city, senior member of the firm of Proc- 

 ter, Trask & Co., was cashing a Swedish draft in Boston, Feb. 15, 1877, the 

 banker remarked, "Why don't you ship herring to Germany as well as to 

 Sweden, as the people of that country are large consumers of that fish ? " 



