778 FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. [134] 



Bung-bucket or water-thief. 



Tin ; tubular ; closed at bottom and open at top. Provincetown, 

 Mass. 25,784. Wm. H. H. Weston. Used instead of a pump 

 for drawing drinking-water from the bung-hole of a cask. 

 More common on large than on small vessels. 



58. Fids, marline-spikes, and splicers. 



Splicing-fid. 



Hard wood, round, and painted. Length 28 inches, diameter of 

 thickest end 4 inches. Gloucester, Mass., 1883. 57,817. U.S. 

 Fish Commission. Used for splicing cables. 



Improvised splicing-fid. 



Hard wood, pointed at one end : rope strap through the upper or 

 larger part 3£ inches from the end. Length of fid 18 inches; 

 diameter at butt end 5 inches. U. S. Fish Commission. Made 

 by fishermen on board of their vessel. Used for opening the 

 strands of a cable when it is being spliced. 



Hand fids. 



Series of hickory hand fids. 25,146. Wilcox, Crittenden & Co., 

 Middletown, Conn. Used chiefly by sailmakers. 



Marline-spike. 



Sailmakers' marline-spike. 25,147. Wilcox, Crittenden & Co., Mid- 

 dletown, Conn. Used in making sails. 



Marline-spikes. 



Series of marline- spikes. 25,164. Wilcox, Crittenden & Co., Mid- 

 dletown, Conn. 



Bone marline-spike. 



Made from the jawbone of whale. 29,419. Frank O. Blake, Port- 

 land, Me. 



Bone marline-spike. 



Made from the jawbone of sperm whale. 29,455. Robert D. Bax- 

 ter, Provincetown, Mass. 



Pricker. 



Sailmakers' marline-pricker. 25,148. Wilcox, Crittenden & Co., 

 Middletown, Conn. 



Splicer. 



Splicer or pricker. 29,418. Wilcox, Crittenden & Co., Middletown, 

 Conn. Used for splicing trawl-lines. 



