EVOLUTION OF THE FISHING SCHOONER 317 



The ballast consisted of stone carried in the hold; con- 

 sequently the center of gravity was high and the righting 

 power of the vessel reduced almost to a minimum. In the 

 matter of tonnage there was a decided change from 1845 

 to 1885, which represents the first stage of the develop- 

 ment of the clipper type of schooner. Previous to 1850 

 the vessels employed in the New England fisheries seldom 

 exceeded 45 or 50 tons, old measurement, representing 

 about 25 or 30 tons of the present system of rating. In 

 the mackerel fishery there arose a demand for larger ves- 

 sels, and this demand was increased when the trade in 

 frozen herring with Newfoundland began to assume a place 

 of importance between the fifties and the sixties, as vessels 

 that were employed in the mackerel fishery in the summer 

 would be engaged in the frozen herring trade in winter. 

 Thus the average size of the offshore vessels increased 

 gradually, so that by 1880 they were of 75 tons burden, new 

 measurement, or 100 to 110 tons by the old measurement. 



The final stage in the development of the clipper 

 schooner was inaugurated with the building of .the 

 Grampus, a schooner made for deep-sea work of the United 

 States Fish Commission, in 1886. The work of designing 

 the new schooner was placed in the hands of Capt. J. W. 

 Collins, a man of wide experience and thorough knowl- 

 edge in all matters pertaining to the fisheries, who describes 

 his new model as follows: 



"The Grampus, as the schooner was named, was a radi- 

 cal departure from the prevailing form and was in reality 

 a new type of American fishing vessel. She was about two 

 feet deeper than the ordinary schooner of the same length ; 

 the after section was more V-shaped, with easier horizon- 

 tal lines ; the stern was not so wide and had a much stronger 

 rake ; while the stem was nearly perpendicular above water, 

 though curved strongly below. Many other new features 

 were introduced in her construction to insure greater 



