672 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



THE CAPE ROSEWAY WHERRY employed iu the lobster and inshore fisheries of Penob- 

 scot Bay, Maine, especially in the vicinity of Castine, is a lap streak boat with sharp bow, round 

 bilge, narrow, flat bottom, and very narrow heart-shaped stern. It ranges in length from 12 to 18 

 feet, is entirely open, and seldom provided with sails. 



THE DOKY. This well known style of small boat, in such common use among the fishermen 

 of New England, is much used in the lobster fisheries, either as a tender to the smacks or alone, 

 by fishermen who set their traps close inshore. 



THE FISHING SMACKS. The carrying smacks are described further on in connection with the 

 account of the lobster markets. In 1880 forty-five registered smacks (between 5 and 20 tons 

 measurement), of the class called dry smacks, were engaged both in fishing and in carrying to 

 neighboring ports. These are additional to the fishing boats above described, and are apportioned, 

 to the several States as follows : Maine 8, Massachusetts 9, Rhode Island 5, Connecticut 22, New 

 York 1. 



THE LOBSTER CARS, AND METHODS OF HANDLING LIVE LOBSTERS. 



CONSTRUCTION OF THE CARS. The live cars used for the temporary storage of lobsters are 

 plain wooden boxes, with open seams or numerous small holes, to permit of the free circulation of 

 water. The buoyancy of the wood of which they are constructed keeps them at the surface of the 

 water, though with little more than the upper side exposed, and with large cars it is sometimes 

 necessary to attach a few empty casks to give them greater buoyancy. They are moored to wharves 

 or stakes, or anchored in shallow water near shore. 



The usual form of live car, such as is commonly employed by the fresh lobster dealers in most 

 sea-port towns, is an oblong, rectangular box, the size and capacity varying according to the 

 requirements of the trade. In New York these cars average 12 feet in length, 8 feet in breadth, 

 and about 3 feet in depth. The frame-work consists of five rectangular frames, set upright and 

 at reg'ular distances apart. To these are nailed the boards forming tLe top, bottom, sides, and 

 ends, and which are about 1 inch thick and generally not more than 6 inches wide. Interspaces 

 of 1 to 2 inches are left between the boards, excepting on the top, where the boards are placed 

 closer together. There are no interior partitions. The opening into the car is on the upper side, 

 and is made very large, extending from one end to the other, so as to occupy the center half of 

 the top. It is covered with four doors, arranged in pairs, each pair extending from the end to the 

 center frame. These doors are hinged, or held in place by means of a cleat and staple only. At 

 Fulton market, New York City, about forty-eight such cars, with an average capacity of 600 

 lobsters each, are in use. 



Many of the cars used by the Boston dealers are much larger than the above. In connection 

 with the Boston lobster markets, about fifteen cars are employed, with capacities ranging from 

 5,000 to 10,000 lobsters each. A car suitable for holding 10,000 lobsters measures 40 feet long, 12 

 feet wide, and 5 feet deep. 



LOBSTER CARS AT EASTPORT. At Eastport, Me., and elsewhere along the Maine coast, the 

 dealers' cars are generally of large size and divided into compartments, to accommodate the large 

 or market lobsters and the small or canning lobsters separately. One of the cars which we hav c 

 examined at Eastport is about 25 feet long, 16 feet wide, and 5 feet deep inside, and has a capac 

 ity of 20 tons of lobsters. It is divided into six equal compartments, three lengthwise and two 

 crosswise. The compartments opposite one another are connected by openings large enough for 

 the lobsters to crawl through, and the car might therefore be said to contain only three double 

 compartments. A large door opens into each. This car was moored alongside of a wharf, a long 



