54 



New Brunswick herring fishery is another valuable pursuit, and at- 

 tended with much less danger than the more distant voyages to 

 Newfoundland. In the season of 1874-5, twenty-three schooners 

 made Newfoundland trips, and thirty-three were engaged in the 

 New Brunswick fisheiy. 



Early in Februar} T , on the arrival of their supply of bait, the 

 Georges fleet fit away for their earty trips, and the Grand and 

 Western Bank fishery assumes more important proportions. The 

 cost of an average Georgesman fitted for sea is about $7,868 ; this 

 includes the cost of hull, $5,200, spars, $400, rigging, $550, sails, 

 $575, 230 fathoms of cable, $450, 3 anchors weighing 500 Ibs. each, 

 $120, 12,000 herring for bait, $150, dory, 30 tons of ballast, plat- 

 forms, ice-houses, gurry-pens, lines, cabin furniture, lanterns, horns, 

 compasses, 4 tons of ice, wood, coal, water, etc. Each vessel takes 

 a crew of eight or ten men, and ordinarily is absent from two to 

 three weeks on a trip. The fish are caught by hand lines, and each 

 man keeps account of his catch by cutting out the tongues of the 

 codfish, which are carried to the skipper for record when the day's 

 work is closed, and by marking the halibut caught, on the head or 

 tail. At the end of the voyage each man's halibut are identified and 

 weighed separately, and the average weight or value of the codfish 

 taken is ascertained, and each man credited with the number caught. 

 The gross proceeds of the catch are subject to deductions for the 

 cost of bait and ice, and one-fourth of one per cent, is reserved for 

 the' Widows' and Orphans' Fund, so .that each man engaged in the 

 business contributes something towards the support of the families 

 of those whose lives are sacrificed in this hazardous occupation. 

 The net stock, or the amount remaining after the above deductions 

 have been made, is divided equally, one-half to the crew, to be dis- 

 tributed according to their individual catch, subject however to a 

 deduction of each man's share of the " crew's expenses," consisting 

 of cook's wages, water, medicine chest and milk, which expenses. are 

 borne equally by the crew ; the other half of the net stock goes to 

 the vessel. The business is at its height in the perilous months of 

 February and March, and the hardy men who follow it are called 

 upon to wrestle for their lives with many a cruel storm. 



No class of vessels are better calculated for a battle with the 

 storm-king, and no braver souls tread the deck, but the contest is an 

 unequal one, and many a staunch craft and gallant crew go down in 

 the conflict. In a single storm, on the night of Feb. 24, 1862, fif- 

 teen Gloucester vessels and one hundred and twenty men were lost, 



