12 



these "scooDers* were owned in Gloucester in 1741, and 

 nearly ali of them engaged in fishing on the Grand Banks, 

 where, after securing their cargo they would go to Lisbon, 

 Bilboa or Cadiz, and bring back wines, salt, etc." 



Just previous to the Revolutionary war, 542 vsseels were 

 engaged in the fisheries from Massachusetts, of which 326 

 belonged in Essex County, distributed as follows: — Marble- 

 head, 140 ; Cape Ann, 75 ; Salem, 34 ; Beverly, 30 ; Man- 

 chester, 25 ; Ipswich, 12 ; and Newbury 10 ; employing over 

 2500 men in 17,000 tons of shipping, actually engaged in 

 fishing, whose products amounted to £150,000 in value. The 

 Revolutionary war and other causes reduced this fleet from 

 S26 sail to 188 in 1790. 



The fisheries suffered severely in the latter part of the last 

 century, and the first of this, by wars and disasters, the fish- 

 ermen becoming extremely poor, while judging from the prices 

 paid ill Lynn in 1817, I should think the "planters " might 

 have been in pretty good condition. As the source of infor- 

 mation gives a short item comparing the prices of 1817 with 

 1829, I will give it you entire as I copied it from Gloucester 

 Telegraph of 1829, as follows: 



"The Lynn Mirror shows that the price of living is re- 

 duced less than one-half since 1817, while labor is as highas 

 it was ten years ago." 



