FISHERMEN'S OWN BOOK. 237 



has never once been without the light of that small candle. However far 

 the fisherman might be standing out to sea, he had only to bear down 

 straight for that lighted window, and he was sure of a safe entrance. And 

 so for all these fifty years that tiny light, flaming thus out of devotion and 

 self-sacrifice, has helped, and cheered, and saved. 



Rare Fish. — Sch. Laura Nelson, Capt. Roderic Morrison, arrived from 

 Grand Bank in July, 188 1, bringing in a very curious fish taken from the 

 stomach of a halibut caught on the western end of the Bank. It measured 

 three feet, one inch, in length, and about two inches through, and was of a 

 silvery color, having a sharp-pointed head, with a projecting flexible under 

 jaw, and a small fan-shaped tail. It was presented to Capt. Martin, local 

 representative of the U. S. Fish Commission, by whom it was forwarded to 

 Prof. Baird at Woods Holl. The professor is of the opinion that it is of a 

 new genus and new species, closely allied to the scabbard fish, of which two 

 or three specimens have been received from the Banks. 



Look Out for the Raw Material. — It is a mistake for any community 

 to allow its raw material to be carried away, to have its value increased by 

 labor somewhere else. Gloucester is learning this to some extent, and the 

 preparation of boneless fish, the canning of mackerel, and the manufacture 

 of fish glue and fertilizers are all steps in the right direction, making labor 

 for many hands, and enhancing the value of our fish products. The prac- 

 tice of selling mackerel out of pickle, on the other hand, which has grown 

 up of late years, is a step in the wrong direction, as the profits of packing 

 and inspection might just as well be kept at home. Selling from pickle all 

 the early part of the season, and thus giving to other markets the profits of 

 handling the catch, and compelling purchasers to seek their supplies else- 

 where than at the producing headquarters, will, ere long, cause Gloucester 

 to lose its prestige as a mackerel market, and the later catch of home in- 

 spection will have to seek a market through second hands. Gloucester is a 

 loser by many thousands of dollars, from the practice of selling out of pickle, 

 which we hope to see done away with another season. 



The Talking Codfish. — Recently two chaps, 

 whom we shall call Bill and Joe, went out back of 

 the Point in a dory to try their luck fishing. Bill 

 possessed good powers of ventriloquism, which Joe 

 was not aware of. They spent a couple of hours 

 in fishing, and had good luck, when Joe hauled in 

 a large-sized cod, and when he came up alongside, 

 imagine his surprise when there issued from the cod's mouth, in words as 



