(394 GEOGRAPHICAL EEVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



down lower than it would be had dependence been placed solely in what the vicinity would supply. Prices of freight 

 through this canal: Oak timber, 17 cents, and pine, 14 cents a ton. Oak sawn stuff of an inch thick, 40 cents M, and 

 of other thicknesses in proportion." 



"Thirty years since [written in 1834], forty sail of boats from this place were engaged in the fishery on the 

 eastern shore ; a few were employed in the Bank fishery. The fishing business diminished as ship-building increased 

 and was found more profitable. It was mostly discontinued twelve years ago. Nine hundred barrels of clams are 

 dug here annually. The persons by whom they are obtained sell them, exclusive of barrel's and salt, from $2.50 to 

 63. Such bait was formerly vended at Marblehead, and now in Boston for the prices mentioned with reference to 

 Ipswich." 



"For the last twenty years [written in 1865] about fifty men and boys have been employed, chiefly in the spring 

 and fall, in digging clams for fishing-bait. For this purpose, the clam-flats in each town are, by law, free to all its 

 residents, and to no others. Five bushels of clams in the shell, it is usually reckoned, make one .bushel of 'meats'; 

 about two and a half bushels of the latter are put into each barrel, and this quantity an able-bodied man can dig iu 

 three tides. One bushel of dry salt is used for each barrel. During this period of twenty years, about 2,000 barrels 

 of clams have been dng yearly, on an average, and sold at an average price of $6 per barrel. Deducting for the cost 

 of the barrel $1, and of the salt for it 75 cents, the sum of $4.75 per barrel or |8,500 per year has been earned in this 

 business. The bait is marketed chiefly in Gloucester." 



The Gloucester Telegraph, of October 18, 1865, states that "the fishing business of Essex is represented by seventy 

 men, who secured during the past season 18,000 bushels of clams, netting $12,000. Capital invested, $400." The 

 census of Massachusetts for 1875 gives the following figures for Essex : "Clam-diggers, 9; fishermen, 6; ship carpenters, 

 122; spar-makers, 6." 



BEVERLY. * 



THE FISHERIES OF BEVEKLY FROM 1832 TO 1845. Mr. John Pickett, who has been engaged in the fishing business 

 at this place from 1832 to the present time, informs us that the home fleet in 1832 consisted of from forty to forty-five 

 sail. 



The Salem Observer of June, 1838, stated that in that year there were in Beverly fifty-eight fishing vessels, 

 employing three hundred men. The tonnage aggregated over 3,000 tons and the rate of bounty was $4 to the ton. 



The Gloucester Telegraph of January 29, 1845, gives the following account of the fisheries of Beverly for the year 

 1844 : " Twenty-three schooners, making one fare each, and twenty-five schooners, making two fares each aggregate, 

 forty-six schooners, 3,356 tons brought in 30,000 quintals fish, worth $67,333, and 313J barrels of oil, worth $4,622. 

 The bounty was $13,650. Besides the home fleet, twenty-three schooners belonging to other ports brought in 12,494 

 quintals fish and 179 barrels of oil, and paid $2,000 for curing their catch." 



The following extract from the Gloucester Telegraph of January 21, 1846, shows the amount of income from the 

 fisheries at Beverly for the year 1845 : 



Codfish caught, 26,982 quintals, at $2.40 , $64,756 80 



Cod oil, 283 barrels, at $14.25 5,444 00 



Amount of bounty paid by government 12, 914 00 



Tongues and sounds, 420 barrels, at $5.50 2,310 00 



Total 85,424 80 



Number of vessels employed in the fisheries in the year 1845 42 



Number of hogsheads of salt expended 3, 500 



Number of hands employed 350 



CONDITION OF THE FISHERIES FROM 18,";0 TO 1869. The fishing business prospered and increased np to 1850, when 

 it numbered seventy-five sail, employing 1,200 to 1,400 men, nearly all of whom were of New England birth. Vessels 

 leaving home from the 1st to the 15th of March returned in July and refitted, making two and often three trips a 

 year. The years 1857 and 1858 were financially disastrous ones, and since that time, with the exception of during the 

 years 1863, 1864, and 1865, the business shows a steady decline. 



The Gloucester Telegraph of January 7, 1860, says: "The amount of fishing bounties paid for the district of 

 Salem and Beverly for the year 1859 is $18,176.76. The amount of tonnage employed in <ho business in this district 

 is 4,723 tons. The number of foreign entries at the custom-house in this city for the year 1859 was two hundred and 

 seventy-five, and the number of clearances for foreign ports during the same period was two hundred and sixty-one." 



Two items from the Gloucester Telcgrapl) give an account of the condition of the Beverly fishing fleet for 1869: 

 " The Beverly fishing fleet last year employed twenty-seven vessels with an aggregate of 1,700 tons and three hundred 

 and fifty men. Of codfish and halibut 32,000 quintals were landed ; of oil, 350 barrels. About $200)000 was stocked. 



"The Beverly Citizen states that the fishing fleet from that town has made a very successful season's work, the 

 estimated amount of fish landed being about 32,000 quintals of codfish and halibut; number of barrels of oil, 350; 

 amount stocked, $192,000; oil, about $0,000. The number of men employed was SCO; number of vessels, 27, with an 

 aggregate of 1,700 tons. The largest amount of fish landed by any one vessel was by schooner D. A. Wilson, owned 

 by Pickett & Wilson, consisting of 2,288 quintals, two fares." 



