[59] FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 571 



that time dredge ropes had been made of hemp or manila, and usually 

 for deep work a tapering rope of 3 inches, 2£ inches, and 2 inches in 

 circumference had been employed. The size of the steel rope selected 

 for our work was 1£ inches in circumference throughout its entire 

 length. 



"For the first dredging cruise it was supplied in 3,000-fathom lengths, 

 each length wound upon a separate wooden reel. For the second cruise, 

 the working reel already having 2,700 fathoms upon it, I had the rope 

 supplied on wooden reels, each containing only 500 fathoms, in which 

 shape it was easier to handle in the event of having to replace losses at 

 sea. One wooden axle common to all these reels formed part of the * 

 outfit. 



"The shortest nip that we gave the rope was over the pulleys of the 

 leading blocks, the scores of which were 18 inches in diameter, and this 

 did not break up the zinc enough to give trouble from rusting. We used 

 no preservative on the rope, and had no need for it ; but that recom- 

 mended by the Roeblings is raw linseed-oil applied with the fleecy side 

 of a piece of sheepskin, or to the oil may be added equal parts of Span- 

 ish brown or lamp black. 



" At the works wire rope is reeled up under strong tension, and in 

 reeling off for use it should be passed directly from one reel to the other 

 under at least slight tension, and it never should be coiled down or 

 faked by hand. When supplied in a coil, the coil should be rolled 

 along like a wheel, and the rope paid off in that way to the working 

 reel. 



"The dredge, trawl, &c, should always be attached to the rope by a 

 shackle. We at first used hooks which we moused with wire, but they 

 always broke adrift, probably by bending. Long shackles should be 

 selected, of a size to slip into the thimbles and into the eyes in the 

 arms of the dredge. I would call particular attention to this matter, 

 hoping to prevent a resort to makeshifts." 



It is now customary with the Fish Commission to fasten the trawls to 

 the dredge rope by means of the safety hooks described elsewhere. 



Splicing. — "In joining two lengths of the rope, a 'long splice,' at least 

 20 feet in length, is made. To make an eye splice at the end of the 

 dredge-rope, turn the end of the rope around an oblong or heart-shaped 

 thimble, and unlay each wire from the thimble to that end. Lay these 

 wires as an untwisted strand along the rope, and serve wires and rope 

 together tightly with annealed-iron wire for a distance of 8 or 10 inches 

 from the thimble. Cut off the free ends of the wires about three-quar- 

 ters of an inch above the serving, and turn down each wire neatly along 

 the serving." 



The splices on exhibition are made in pieces of rope actually used by 

 the United States Coast Survey steamer Blake, and hence the kind of 

 rope employed by that steamer is also shown. 



