8A1L0E FISHERMEN OP NEW EKGLAND. 91 



shall prepare for each meal, and if he be well qualified for his work the dishes are eufiSciently 

 numerous and varied to suit any but the most fastidious appetite. 



Salted or corned meats are now always carried, though most vessels on leaving port take more 

 or less fresh meat, and ^ome which are engaged in market fishing have more fresh meat than any 

 other kind. Hard bread is rarely or never used, except to make puddings. The "soft tack" 

 made on the fishing vessels often equals in excellence the best bread that can be obtained on shore. 

 Canned milk, eggs, fruit, and other delicacies are often carried. 



There can be no question that fishermen, ordinarily, are provided with much better food than 

 the people of the same class engaged in shore pursuits. To the improvement in the food is per- 

 haps due the greater longevity of the fishermen, and the long period during which they may be 

 actively engaged in a sea-faring life. The changes in the manner of fitting out the fishing vessels 

 have been slow. It is said that the Marblehead and Beverly fishermen began the innova- 

 tions by carrying extra supplies of provisions, the property of individual members of the crew. 

 Sometimes every man would have his own butter tub and can of sugar on board. Gloucester has 

 always taken the lead in improving the food of its fishermen, and, as early as 1850, vessels were fitted 

 out from that port in much the same manner as at the present time. The introduction of canned pro- 

 visions has been of great importance to the fishermen, and, of course, there is dissatisfaction at the 

 change on the part of many of the older men, who think that their successors are indulging in need- 

 less luxury, and also on the part of some of the fitters upon whom falls a portion of the increase in 

 the. expense; such articles as milk and eggs are, however, paid for by the crew. There is, of 

 course, some foundation for the feeling that the profits of the business are decreased by this more 

 expensive style of living, but it is also true that men of the better class would not be willing to 

 submit to the privations and hard fare endured by their predecessors. 



The shrewdest fishery capitalists have satisfied themselves by experiment and observation 

 that it is to their interest to provide their vessels with good provisions and a good cook, and to 

 keep their vessels in the best of order generally, since by these means they secure good men, 

 who are contented to remain in their service. Those firms in Gloucester which have a reputation 

 for liberality have no difficulty in securing any men whom they may desire to have in their service. 



One of the most striking changes is that ardent spirits are no longer supplied as a part of the 

 outfit of the vessel. The history and significance of this change is discussed elsewhere. 



On some of the smaller vessels of the New England coast, such as those employed in the shore 

 fisheries of Maine, and many of the Boston market boats, the fare is probably little better than in 

 the olden times. Some of the vessels are correspondingly antiquated in their rigging and outfit, and 

 the fishermen retain many of the characteristics which have been referred to in connection with the 

 offshore fishermen of olden days. The fishermen of France still live in the old way. Our vessels 

 on the Grand Bank are sometimes Uoarded by the crews of the French bankers, who look upon 

 them much as the hungry school boy looks upon the baker's shop. They eagerly ask for soft bread, 

 which they consider a luxury. 



The American fishermen undoubtedly fare better than any other class of sea-faring men, except, 

 perhaps, the officers of merchant vessels. 



45. DISEASES AND LONGEVITY. 



Diseases op fishermen. — The most common diseases among the fishermen of Gloucester are 

 consumption, rheumatism, typhoid fever, and dyspepsia; but the pure air which the men breathe 

 and their active lives save them from many of the ailments wjiich are common upon shore. As 

 might naturally be expected from the exposure to which they are subjected, consumption is the 



