126 FISHERMEN*S MEMORIAL AXD RECORD BOOK. 



ing awa}' the -wreck, they very ingeniously rigged up some temporary 

 sails which would answer the purpose of reaching port; then they 

 continued their fishing, arriving home April 11th, with a trip of 

 thirty thousand. Such pluck is well deserving of honorable mention, 

 and the Captain and his men proved themselves masters of the 

 situation. 



A Mammoth Cod. — On Tuesday, July 22d, 1873, Miss Fannie 

 Bemis, of St. Louis, while on a fishing excursion, off Eastern Point, 

 on board the yacht United States, caught a codfish which weighed 

 one hundred and thirty pounds. Can any of our Gloucester girls 

 beat this? If not, St. Louis has something to boast of. 



Number of Gloucester Firms Engaged in the Fishing Business. — 

 There are forty-three firms engaged in the fishing and fitting-out 

 business in what is termed Gloucester Harbor. Messrs. John Pew 

 & Son fit the largest number, 20 ; Messrs. Leighton & Co. come next, 

 having 19 vessels ; Messrs. Smith & Gott follow with 16; Messrs. 

 John F. Wonson & Co. have 14 ; James Mansfield & Sons, 13 ; while 

 several have 12, 11, 10, and so on. 



A Good Day's Fishing. —On Friday, June 13th, 1873, Mr 

 Abraham Geering, of East Gloucester, caught, on the " Old Man's 

 Pasture," two halibut whose aggregate weight was 377 pounds. He 

 obtained $21.34 for them, which was not a bad day's work. It is 

 very seldom that so large halibut are caught off this shore. 



A Heavy Haul. — During the month of May, 1873, schooner 

 J. W. Bradley, Captain Griffin, of Rockport, while weighing anchor on 

 Cashe's Bank, found that it came up terribly hard. They hove away 

 for a long time, and on bringing it to the surface, found that they had 

 hauled up an ocean telegraph cable. On coming up out of the water 

 it parted and at once sank. It proved to be the French Atlantic 

 cable, and word was immediatel}^ despatched to Boston, and the 

 cable was fished up and spliced in due season. 



Begun to Crow Too Soon. — Old Bill P., of East Gloucester, 

 was a queer specimen of the old style of fishermen. He was at one 

 time skipper of a small fishing-boat, and had made a poor year's, 

 work. Late in the fall, while lying in Salem harbor, he determined to 

 see if he couldn't get a couple barrels of flour on tick, knowing that 



