50 FISHERMEN OF THE UNITED STATES. 



mating the intellectual and moral condition of this city. The influence of the Gloucester educa- 

 tional institutions is, however, soon felt by the foreigners who settle there. 



Fishermen's ohildebn. — The children of the foreign-born fishermen sailing from Gloucester, 

 as well as those whose parents are natives of New England, have profited much by the excellent 

 system of schools which is as marked a feature of this port as of any other city of its size in Mas- 

 sachusetts. It is a common occurrence to see children of fishermen — both of foreign and native- 

 born parents — carrying off the honors at the schools, and a few years later occupying responsible 

 positions. As a matter of fact, some of the most competent teachers in the Gloucester schools^ - 

 if not, indeed, a majority of them — are the daughters of fishermen, nor is this specially surpris 

 ing in a city which has often been represented in the Massachusetts legislature by men who bad 

 formerly been fishermen, while its city government, mayor included, has been largely drawn from 

 this class. 



Higher education. — Thus it will be seen that while the majority of New England fisher 

 men generally acquire only education sufficient to enable them to pursue their vocation,' 

 there are, nevertheless, a considerable number who, profiting by the opportunities of going to 

 school in winter, acquire sufficient knowledge of books to enable them in after years not only to 

 take command of fishing vessels, but to enter into fields of labor, and to accept responsibilities 

 which require no ordinary amount of intelligence and judgment. It is by no means uncommon 

 to find fishermen who have a remarkable store of general knowledge, and some who have come 

 under our personal observation could quote at length from many of the poets, history, and the Scrip- 

 tures. In more than one instance that might be mentioned, fishermen have shown considerable 

 taste for art. This usually exhibits itself in making various kinds of scrimshaw work, such 

 as minature vessels and carving on wood or bone. In rarer instances they learn to paint or draw 

 and sometimes produce very creditable work. 



Many of the songs and ballads published in the local papers of the fishing towns, and in a col- 

 lection of such, called " The Fishermen's Song Book," printed in Gloucester, have been written by 

 fishermen. 



34. SEA EDUCATION. 



Training op the TotrTH for fishermen. — The young fisherman enters upon his career with 

 a store of hereditary and acquired attainments which render it possible for him soon to become an 

 excellent mariner. Along the coast of Maine, where the old methods of fishing are still prac- 

 ticed by the boat fishermen, small boys are taken out to help their fathers and brothers as soon a« 

 they are old enough to be of practical assistance. It is not uncommon to see boys of eight or 

 nine handling fish almost as large as themselves. On the cod and halibut vessels, and upon mack- 

 erel vessels which use the purse seine, boys are of little use until they are large enough to do a 

 man's work ; consequently, at the present time they are rarely shipped until fifteen or sixteen. 

 This change has many advantages, yet there can be no doubt that its effect is derogatory to the 

 general grade of intelligence among the fishermen. Boys, who at the age of ten would be willing 

 to ship on a fishing vessel, when five or six years older have obtained a fair education, and the 

 taste for some occupation on shore has created a dislike in their minds to the life of fisher 

 men, whom they consider to be their inferiors in ability and education ; consequently, they do not 

 become fishermen, and, though they make useful members of the shore community, the fishing class 

 loses. These remarks apply particularly to large ports like Gloucester and Provincetown, where, 

 at present, it is rather unusual for the son of an intelligent fisherman to be a fisherman himself, 

 though, until within the last twenty or thirty years, the occupation of fishing had been for several 



