AWARD OP THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 2769 



Q. Does she get better after that? A. I do not think she then gets 

 any better, but she does not afterwards show depreciation so much. 



Q. In what does the depreciation, which you are pleased to put down 

 at $1,000 for the first year, consist ? A. Well, in sails and rigging and 

 wear of the vessel. 



Q. If she is properly fitted out, how does it happen that the loss is 

 $1,000 the first year, and why the small amount of $000 afterwards? A. 

 She might not depreciate that amount, but any man knows that if she 

 was put on the market the depreciation would amount to $2,000. 



Q. In other words, she would not be considered a new vessel, and 

 therefore she would not bring the same price as if she was just launched ? 

 A. No. 



Q. Would you undertake to swear that a vessel at the end of her first 

 year would not be as good a vessel, for all practical purposes, if not 

 better, perhaps, than when she was launched? A. No; I would not 

 swear any such thing. 



Q. Would you swear that she then might be just as good ? A. No ; 

 there would be wear and tear of sails and rigging during that year. 



Q. Would there be any wear and tear of the hull if she did not meet 

 with any extraordinary accident ? A. I do not know that there would 

 be any particular wear and tear of the hull if she was in good order. 



Q. At the end of the first year, does not the rigging get set and does 

 not the vessel then work generally better altogether than at first ? A. 

 Well, I do not think so. 



Q. Have you any experience yourself in this respect? A. Well, I 

 have had some a little experience, but not a great deal. 



Q. Do you wish to have the Commission understand that the usual 

 value of the ordinary fishing- vessels which run out of Gloucester to fish 

 in the Bay of St. Lawrence is $8,000 ? A. Some are worth more than 

 that. 



Q. I mean on an ordinary vessel; is $8,000 the ordinary price for 

 them ? A. I do not know that this would be the average value to-day 

 of the vessels which come in to the Bay of St. Lawrence. 



Q. I speak of 100- ton 'vessels ; do you say that this would be the av- 

 erage value or the average cost of such vessels ? A. It would be the 

 average cost of a new vessel. 



Q. Do you speak of their cost as it was during the war, when built, 

 rigged, and launched, or as it is at the present time ? A. I am speaking 

 of the present time. 



Q. Do you swear that an ordinary vessel of 100 tons, such as are used 

 in Gloucester for fishing in the bay, now costs $8,000 ? A. In the 

 vicinity of that yes ; the cost would be $7,500 or $8,000. 



Q. That is at the rate of $80 a ton ? A. Yes. 



Q. Is not that an immense price? A. I do not think so. 



Q. Is that an ordinary price? A. I think so; but I could not say. 

 1 have not bought any vessels by the ton. 



Q. You see that if a 100 ton vessel costs $8,000, this would be $80 a 

 ton ? A, Yes. 



Q. Are you swearing as to the cost of vessels from your own knowl- 

 edge or at hap- hazard ? A. Yes. 



Q. Then you swear that a vessel of that description costs $80 a ton t 

 A. About that yes. 



Q. Did you ever build one yourself ? A. Yes. 



Q. Is there anvthing extra about the building of these vessels f A. 

 Yes. 



174 F 



