PREFACE. 



IN this 'centennial year of the nation, 

 when all the world is to be represented 

 at Philadelphia, our 3*oung city by the 

 sea, through some of her leading citi- 

 zens, felt a strong desire to add her trib- 

 ute to the exhibition, and let the people 

 know what she had been doing for a hundred years or more. 



The Centennial fever was raging eveiywhere, and the symptoms 

 were soon manifest in our community. Meetings were held, and it 

 was determined that the fishing business, which Gloucester had pur- 

 sued so long and clung to so tenacious!}', through good seasons and 

 poor, through sacrifices of life and property which are indeed appall- 

 ing, should be represented. To this end a committee was appointed, 

 and owing to their untiring zeal and labors there may be seen in the 

 Gloucester department of the Agricultural Building at Philadelphia, 

 a tank 23 x 12 feet, filled with water, in which correct models of the 

 fishing fleet, of the olden time and of modern times ? are afloat, illus- 

 trative of the various branches of the fisheries. A miniature wharf, 

 of the present day, perfect in all its details, and a cob wharf of the 

 olden time, a graving dock and marine railway, make into the tank, 

 while crews of miniature model fishermen, clad in the garments pe- 

 culiar to their avocation, impart animation to the scene, the whole 

 giving a vivid idea of the manner in which the fisheries of Glouces- 

 ter are pursued. About the tank may be seen specimens of the 

 products of the fisheries, of fishing gear, cordage and various patent- 

 ed articles of merit used in the business, together with specimens of 

 minerals, mosses, shells, coral, sea-corn, and other curious produc- 

 tions of old Neptune's garden at the bottom of the sea, brought in 

 by the fishermen or gathered along our beaches. 



In connection with this exhibition, this pamphlet has been prepar- 

 ed, giving a history of Gloucester and of her advancement in that 



