2622 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



ing- vessel and gives no attention to the business. Take the case of a 

 non-resident. For instance, suppose I should buy a tenth part of a ves- 

 sel and pay my proper share of the expenses, but put in no skill or atten- 

 tion or time of iny own ? A. I think you would lose it. 



Q. Are there any such cases now that you know of, at Gloucester, 

 where people have simply invested in that way, incorporating no care, 

 attention, time, labor, or skill of their own ? A. I don't know of any. 



Q. Do yon know of an attempt of that sort at Salem ! A. I do. 



Q. How long ago ? A. I can't exactly tell. It is within ten years. 



Q. "What was it, a sort of joint-stock company I A. Yes. Two firms 

 moved from Gloucester with their vessels and formed a stock company. 



Q. Were they capable, competent men ? A. tYes. 



Q. There were no frauds you know of? A. No. 



Q. Now, to show what the opinion is generally of the value of one of 

 these vessels, is it difficult or not to get money on mortgage at fair 

 rates on a fishing- vessel ? A. No ; I think they would have to pay an 

 extra rate of interest. 



Q. Are there many such cases of mortgages of vessels! A. O, yes; 

 I presume so. 



Q. Do you know what interest they have to pay ? A. I don't. 



Q. Now, as to selling vessels, is it an easy thing to sell a fishing- vessel, 

 if a man, for instance, desired to go out of the fishing business ; is it a 

 thing that can be depended upon ! A. No; there is always a great sac- 

 rifice where vessels are sold at a forced sale. 



Q. I don't mean a forced sale ; but suppose he takes time enough, and 

 gives notice, and sells at a fair open auction sale, is there a loss gener- 

 ally ? A. There is usually. 



Q. And in settling up estates, how do vessels usually turn out ? A. 

 As a general thing, poorly ; during the war there were times when ves- 

 sel property sold to advantage. 



Q. For paper ? A. Yes. 



Q. Now, is the reason of this that these vessels, being built specially 

 for fishing- vessels, they can't profitably be run except by persons who 

 will incorporate in the fishing business their own time and attention 

 and skill ? A. Yes. 



Q. An outside purchaser does Bot want to buy them? A. No. 



Q. Explain to the Commission how codfish are now packed and salted. 

 A. When the crew have been settled with, and the fish have been 

 weighed, they are pitched into a dory filled by one man from a pump; 

 eight men wash .the fish, and after they are washed they throw them 

 into a wheelbarrow and they are wheeled into the fish house and deliv- 

 ered there to a salter, who salts them, and he has one man to bring him 

 the salt. They take four bushels of salt to a butt, and that gang will 

 take care of fifty butts in a day ; then they are kept in the butts not 

 less than ten days, after which they are water-hawsed, by being taken 

 from the butts and piled up in piles about three feet high, to drain the 

 pickle from them ; this takes two men, and they were employed nine 

 days on the trips 1 have in my mind ; fifty butts a day are two men's 

 work. 



By Sir Alexander Gait: 



Q. How many quintals are there in a butt ? A. There are about eight 

 quintals to a butt. Then after they come from being water-hawsed they 

 are spread on flakes to dry ; it takes four men two days to wheel them 

 out, i. e,, fifty butts. The flakes have three-cornered strips nailed on 

 frames resting on horses, in such a way that the frames can be taken 





