THE LOBSTER FISHERY. 673 



spar lashed lengthwise to the car serving as a fender between them. The car was also given 

 greater buoyancy by having three empty casks lashed to each end. Another style of dealers' car 

 at Eastport measures about 20 feet long, 14 feet wide, and 4 feet deep, and is divided into three 

 simple compartments, with a door to each. 



METHOD OF HANDLING LIVE LOBSTERS AT EASTPORT. When a smack arrives with lobsters, 

 it runs up to the outer side of the car and ties to it. The doors on the outer line of compartments 

 are then opened, and the men standing in the smack (which is always in that vicinity a dry smack), 

 pick up the lobsters in their hands, measure them at a glance, and throw the larger ones, those 

 measuring above 10J inches, into the end compartments, and those under that size into the center 

 compartment. The principal lobster trade of Eastport consists at present in the shipping of live 

 lobsters in barrels to Boston. On each shipping day the lobsters are hoisted upon the wharf by 

 means of a basket and tackle, and transferred to the barrels. The small lobsters are allowed to 

 accumulate in the center compartment until a sufficient quantity has been obtained to warrant 

 boiling and canning them. One of the objects in having an inner series of compartments is said 

 to be that the more active lobsters generally crawl through from the outer compartments, leaving 

 the less hardy ones behind ; the latter can then be used first for shipment, and the others retained 

 for a longer time, if need be. 



LOBSTER CARS ELSEWHERE. At Wood's Holl, Mass., the dealers' cars measure about 15 feet 

 long by 6 feet wide. At South Harpswell, Me., they measure 10 feet long by 7 feet wide and 2 

 feet deep. 



THE FISHERMEN'S CARS. The fishermen's cars generally resemble those of the dealers, in 

 construction, but are made of smaller size. Old leaky boats, especially dories, furnished with a 

 cover, are also frequently employed on many parts of the coast. If the open seams do not 

 afford a sufficient circulation of water, numerous holes are bored through the bottom and sides. 

 At Eastport, Me., the fishermen's cars have a capacity of 2 or 3 tous each ; at Wood's Holl, Mass., 

 they are about C feet long by 4 feet wide or slightly larger. At No Man's Land, Massachusetts, the 

 cars are made of three shapes, and are moored to stakes, just off the beach, in front of the town, on 

 the northern side of the island ; they swing with the tide. As this area is much exposed to heavy 

 seas during some months, the majority of the cars are constructed with special reference to 

 breaking the force of the waves that may beat upon them. For this purpose, the top and bottom 

 are made to converge towards one or both ends, which latter are, therefore, narrow and elongate. 

 The body of the car is, however, rectangular, with the door on top, and is constructed like the 

 ordinary pattern, which is also employed to some extent at this place, but is usually made of 

 smaller size than the others. About thirty cars, being an average of about two cars to a man, are 

 in use at No Man's Land. They average in size about 10 feet by 5 feet by 2 feet deep, and have 

 a capacity of 1,000 lobsters each. In the summer, however, it is not considered safe to put more 

 than 500 or COO lobsters into each at a time. They are emptied once or twice a week into well 

 smacks running to New York. Outside of the lobster season they are hauled upon the beach. 



REASON FOR USING LOBSTER CARS. The process of freezing now so commonly resorted to 

 for the preservation of fresh fish cannot be applied in the case of lobsters, and they must be kept 

 in stock and shipped either alive or boiled. The use of ice in shipping live lobsters in barrels in 

 the summer is not to freeze them, but to reduce their temperature presumably to nearly that of 

 the water from which they have been taken, and great care must exercised in the packing to pre- 

 vent the water from the melting ice coming in contact with the gills. 



Lobsters generally ship best alive, and are almost always transported in that condition. The 

 use of live cars by both the fishermen and dealers is therefore a necessity, resulting from the many 

 SEC. v, VOL. n 43 



