418 GEOGBAPHICAL EEVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



though iu a straight line it would not be more than two-thirds that distance. It has a total popu- 

 lation of 400, the greater part of the inhabitants being scattered over a considerable area and 

 principally engaged in farming. There is but little fishing done at Ocean View for commercial 

 purposes, nearly all of the farmers catching fish during their spare time for their own use. But if 

 any of them get more than enough to supply their own wants they generally peddle them through- 

 out the country, while a few are occasionally taken to Frankford and Dagsborough and shipped 

 by rail to Philadelphia. The fishing grounds resorted to are the waters of Indian Eiver and its 

 tributaries, and a few fish are also caught along the beach bordering the Atlantic. There are 

 fifteen men engaged in the fisheries more or less regularly. These employ in their work fifteen 

 boats, worth $66; fifty gill-nets, valued at $150; twenty small haul-seines, worth $225, and fifty 

 eel-pots, valued at $20. 



The products of the fisheries are 210,200 pounds of sea fish and anadromous species, of which 

 105,000 pounds are menhaden, these being almost wholly used for fertilizing purposes; 1,000 

 pounds of fresh-water fish, 200 pounds of turtle, 72 terrapin, 15,000 clams, and 14,400 crabs. 



It may be here stated that one gang of men, nine in number, make a specialty in the summer 

 time of fishing for menhaden with a drag-seine along the outer beach. These men are farmers 

 and do not devote their whole time to the business of catching menhaden, but when a school of 

 fish is seen near the beach the crew man their boat, go out and throw their seine, and haul the 

 fish ashore, using them as a dressing for their farms. Occasionally, when schools of menhaden 

 are expected, one man keeps a lookout for them, being relieved in turn by some of his fellows. 



KOXANA. The village of Eoxana is situated about 3 miles in an almost due-east direction 

 from Frankford and is 7 or 8 miles distant, by the road, in a southwesterly direction from Ocean 

 View. The total population of the place is COO, though the village contains only about 200 inhab- 

 itants. The principal occupation of the people of this town is farming. There are, however, 

 sixty-seven men engaged in fishing, nine of them following it regularly for a livelihood, while 

 the remainder engage in both farming and fishing, employing themselves in either one of the 

 two pursuits at such times as they think they can obtain the best remuneration for their labor. 

 In pursuing the fisheries they make use of twenty-two boats, valued at $290 ; ninety-eight gill- 

 nets, worth $490 ; twenty-six haul-seines, worth $1,205; fifty eel-pots, worth $25; and one small 

 building and press for the extraction of menhaden oil, valued at $400. The fishing grounds to 

 which they mainly resort are in the headwaters of Isle of Wight Bay and along the shores border- 

 ing the Atlantic ; though they sometimes visit the waters of Indian Eiver and the salt ponds near 

 the beach which borders the ocean. 



The products of the fisheries are 467,200 pounds of auadromous and sea fish, of which 300,000 

 pounds are menhaden, these being almost wholly pressed out for oil or used for fertilizing the land; 

 39,200 pounds of fresh- water fish; 3,000 pounds of turtle; and 3GO terrapin. 



A considerable business is done in fishing in winter for rock and perch and in the early spring 

 for herring, while iu summer the fishery for the spot exceeds that of any other in value. A small 

 menhaden factory was established at Fen wick's Island in 1878 by Mr. D. N. Warrington, who 

 carries on surf-fishing with a drag-seine to a limited extent. In 1880 he made 10 barrels of men- 

 haden oil and 45 tons of scrap. The fish are caught as they pass along the beach bordering the 

 ocean in their migrations to and from the feeding grounds farther north. 



WILLIAMSVILLE. Williamsville, the southern town on the coast line of Delaware, is about 

 3J miles distant from the village of Eoxaua. Here there is a small collection of houses, though 

 as a rule the population, which numbers some three hundred, is considerably scattered. The 

 principal occupations of the residents of this place are farming and fishing. There are thirty-nine 



