170 THE SHAD STREAMS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

pended upon the shad they caught; they gave the poor a chance after 
they got all they wanted. 
“ People on the West Branch used to own an interest in the Hunlock 
fishery, and a Mr. McPherson used to come in a boat to get their fish 
and take them back. They used to come from Easton bringing salt, 
with which they used to buy fish; you could get one hundred shad for 
a bushel of salt. Nanticoke dam was commenced in 1828 and finished 
in 1830. I only recollect of one shad being caught above the dam since 
it was put in, and that was on the flats after a big freshet. The people 
used to go off the bars with as many shad as they could carry ; they came 
in from all around in crowds; they used to camp and salt their fish down 
on the banks of the river. Mr. McPherson used to take his boats back 
to the West Branch loaded. He traded off cider, oil and whisky. At 
the time the dam was put in, shad were selling for ten cents and twelve 
cents each. Widow Stewart used often to take in thirty or forty dollars 
of a night for her share of the haul. 
“ Hunlock’s, Dutch and Mud fisheries were night fisheries; Stewart’s 
and Fish Island were day and night fisheries. Farmers hauling grain 
to Easton, often hauled back hundreds of bushels of salt. Boats coming 
up the river used to bring leather, cider, oil, salt and iron; going back 
they would take shad. McPherson and Hunlock owned the Hunlock 
fishery and had a large fish-house. Hunlock got as his share from five 
to six hundred dollars per year, besides all the shad he could use. We 
used to have shad until shad came again. 
“The owners of fish-houses used to have arrangements so that when 
they run out of salt they could dry and smoke the shad, as they now do 
herring and salmon. Some of the shad used to weigh eight or nine 
pounds; I saw one weighed on a wager turning the scales at thirteen 
pounds; about seventy or eighty would fill a barrel. The shad improved _ 
very much coming up the river; those caught in this valley being very 
much larger and finer than those caught at Columbia. I remember when 
Shamokin dam went out, the shad came up to our dam and were caught.” 
The following extracts are from the Susquehanna Democrat (April 17, 
1818) : 
“Newark, N. J., April 7—On Wednesday three shad were caught in 
the river Passaick. A pair of them weighed eleven pounds and were 
sold to one of our public innholders at a shilling a pound. A solitary 
one was caught about two weeks before and sold to the same innkeeper.” 
May 14, 1819.—‘Shad this season taken in unusual numbers; they 
have been sold in Philadelphia as low as $4.50 per hundred, and at the 
Potomac fisheries as low as $3.00.” 
April 21, 1820.—“ At Alexandria shad 7s selling for $2.50 a hundred, 
and at Philadelphia they are selling for $3.00. In Wilkes-Barre, not- 
withstanding the scarcity of money, they are held at $18.75.” 
April 26, 1822.—“‘We congratulate our friends on the prospect of 
