FISHERMEN'S OWN BOOK. 229 



Picking the Nets and Trawls, 



Wherein We Find Good Hauls of Facts, Incidents, Off-Hand Sketches, and 

 Items of Interest Concerning the Fishermen and Their Calling. 



Important to Fishermen. — The Direct United States Cable Company 

 have charts for the guidance and information of fishermen, showing the lo- 

 cation of the company's cables, with the depths of water, and request cap- 

 tains to give them a wide berth. Should any vessel, however, lose her 

 anchor or cable by reason of coming in contact with the telegraph cable, 

 and will use every endeavor to save the same from damage, the company 

 will reimburse the loss, subject to adjustment, upon being satisfied that the 

 claim is a just one. On the fourth page of the advertising department may 

 be found full particulars, and it being of great public interest, we thus call 

 attention to it. 



The sum of $100 was received by Collector Babson in March, 188 r, from 

 the Direct United States Cable Co., as compensation for the loss of anchor 

 by sch. Oliver Eldridge, Capt. John Scott. The schooner was at anchor on 

 Brown's Bank, and had drifted during a high wind and fouled the telegraph 

 cable. Upon ascertaining the fact, Capt. Scott cut his cable and reported 

 the case to Collector Babson, who sent on the evidence, and the company 

 promptly paid the damages. The honorable manner in which the company 

 proposes to deal with our fishermen should entitle it to the most careful 

 consideration when they are fishing in the vicinity of the cable, by using 

 every precaution to avoid fouling it, and when fouling, to cut at once rather 

 than run the risk of injuring the cable. 



Interesting Statistics Gleaned from Exper- 

 iments of the U. S. Fish Commission in Glouc- 

 ester. — The loss of weight of codfish from the 

 round to the market-dried fish is from 54^2 to 65^ 

 per cent., the average loss being about .6023, dis- 

 tributed as follows : Loss in splitting, .4044 ; loss 

 in pickle, .1496 ; loss on flakes, .0483. The shrink- 

 age in length from the round to the split fish is from 6^ to 11^ inches. 

 By extra drying, in the warmest weather, the average loss in weight is about 

 a half per cent. more. The loss of weight of Georges cod in curing, after 

 being split and salted on board the vessel, averages about 11^ percent. 

 The average loss in weight of market-dried fish in boning is nearly 22 per 



