AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 2235 



By Mr. Davies : , 



Q. What position did you hold in Gloucester at the time of which you 

 are speaking ? A. I was a packer and inspector of mackerel. 



Q. In Mr. Layton's firm ? A. No. 



Q. You had no connection with Mr. Lay ton's business ? A. No, ex- 

 cept packing his mackerel. 



Q. Was packing and inspecting fish a distinct branch of the fishing 

 business, and had Mr. Lay ton no interest in itf A. No interest at all. 



Q. These are your own books as a packer and inspector ? A. At that 

 time I was in the employ of D. A. Parkhurst as his clerk ; he was 

 inspector. 



Q. Is it the custom for men to inspect their own fish there ? A. Yes. 



Q. When you get fish in from the bay, you inspect and mark them 

 No. 1, 2, and 3! A. Yes. 



Q. You put your own brand on them ? A. The inspector inspects 

 the mackerel from vessels in which he is connected. 



Q. When your vessels come in from Bay St. Lawrence with mackerel 

 how do you brand them ? A. We brand them with a hot iron, Nos. 1, 

 2, 3, and 4 according to the quality. 



Q. Do they appear by your inspectors to be bay mackerel or shore 

 mackerel ? A. They do not by the inspection. 



Q. Y r ou put them on the market r.s Nos. 1, 2, 3, or 4, irrespective of 

 where ,they were caught? A. They are branded irrespective of where 

 caught. 



Q. Do I understand you that you put tLem on the market in that 

 way ? A. The buyers usually inquire whether they are bay or shore, 

 and buy accordingly, but nothing is branded on them which shows any 

 difference. 



Q. Nothing on the barrels themselves! A. No; nothing. 



Q. Y"ou have been inspector of mackerel yourself? A. Yes ; for 10 

 years. 



Q. Can you name all the different kinds of mackerel ? A. I can name 

 the different brands. 



Q. Name them. A. Nos. 1, 2, 3 large, 3, and 4. There are five differ- 

 ent legal brands. 



Q. Do you make any distinction between mackerel caught inshore 

 and off shore ? A. Not in culling them. 



Q. Suppose there was a barrel full of mackerel, could you tell what 

 were taken inshore and what out; what were taken within three miles 

 and what 4, 5, or 6 miles out ? A. No ; I could not. 



Q. Do you as inspector know a particular kind of mackerel as ill- 

 grass mackerel, as distinct from any other? A. We don't .make any such 

 distinction. 



Q. Do you know of any such distinction ? A. No; not in our brand- 

 ing or inspection. 



Q. Do yon know any mackerel as ill-grass mackerel in your inspec- 

 tion? A. I never heard of any as inspector. 



Q. During the ten years you have been inspector you never heard of 

 that? A. Not as inspector. 



Q. Practically, it is not known among inspectors? A. No. 



Q. In regard to No. 1 mess mackerel, I suppose there is such a thing 

 from the bay? A. Yes; when you cut off their heads and fix them. 



Q. Do No. 1 mess mackerel from the bay range as high as No. 1 mess 

 mackerel, say from Georges Bank ? A. For the last two years I should 

 say that our shore mackerel were the better mackerel. 



