DANGEES OF THE FISHEEIES. 127 



In Gloucester, subscription lists are often circulated, musical and literary entertainments are 

 given, and benefit balls are organized by the friends of impoverished families.* 



On the occasion of extensive disasters, such as occurred in 1862 and 1879, large subscriptions 

 have been made both in Gloucester and in other cities. The contributions through various sources 

 for the relief of sufferers at (Jloucester after the great losses of February, 1879, amounted to about 

 $30,000. 



Many fishermen belong to such organizations as the Masonic fraternity, the Odd-Fellows, and 

 the Knights of Pythias j and in some communities the systems of assurance and mutual help thus 

 provided are called into much activity. A large percentage of the native-born fishermen are 

 probably Freemasons. In Gloucester there are two lodges of Freemasons, and in Provincetown, at 

 Boothbay, Me., and at other ports on the coast of Maine this organization is large and influential. 



There is no doubt that if the town records of the early days were searched many instances 

 might be found of especial provisions for individual cases like that in the law here quoted, which, 

 though not directly to the point, illustrates the usage of the colonies in the seventeenth century : 



" Att the Generall Court of his Ma«« held att Plymouth, on the 4*" of October, 1675. 



" This courtj being informed of the low condition of Apthya, the relict of John Knowles, of 

 Eastham, whoe was lately slayne in the collonies seruice, towards the releiffe and support of the 

 said widdow and her children, haue ordered to receiue ten pounds out of the proffltts of the fishing 

 att Cape Oodd, wherof fine pounds to be payed to her this yeer, and the other flue the next yeer."t 



One of the earliest instances of public aid to fishermen's families, of which record has been 

 found, was in 1771, when the provincial government of Massachusetts placed in the hands of a 

 committee the sum of deil8 for distribution among the families left destitute by the destruction of 

 twenty-nine vessels in a storm on the Grand Back. 



Charitable societies have been organized at various times and places. Such was the Marine 

 Society of Newburyport, which had, in 1861, funds to the amount of $26,000, mostly the contribu- 

 tions and legacies of sea captains. Among its beneficiaries at that time were said to be some of 

 the most respectable people of Newburyport, superannuated seamen, widows, and children. The 

 fishing interests of this town have of late declined to such an extent that there is no need of such 

 a society except to continue its past benefactions. 



Wellfleet, in its days of importance as a fishing port, supported a charitable organization 

 called "Wellfleet Marine Benevolent Society." In 1861 this society had a reserve fund of $3,000.| 



At Portland, Me., there are no organizations to provide for the fishermen's widows and 

 orphans, but the masters of merchant vessels are cared for by the Marine Charitable Society. 

 The comparatively* rare cases of destitution among fishermen here, as in many other fishing ports, 

 are provided for by the town poor laws. 



In some of the largest fishing ports, such as Gloucester, where the frequent recurrence of dis- 

 asters is so extensive as to be practically beyond the reach of individual or extemporaneous efforts 

 for relief, charitable societies have been organized, but we cannot learn that any are now particularly 

 active outside of Gloucester. 



* A MBKiTOEious ACT. — Capt. Ezeluel Call, who was lost in the schooner William Murray during the severe gale 

 of April 2, 1871, left a widow and five small children. Soon after his loss she was presented with a house-lot at Elver- 

 dale, and her relatives and friends signified their intention of building a house thereon and making her a present of 

 it. The money for the lumber was raised by subscription, the cellar dug and stoned by willing hands ; then followed 

 the carpentry work, painting, &c., all done by volunteers. The house was ready for occupancy in the spring of 1873, 

 and the thanks of the widow and the fatherless will descend as a benediction upon the hearts jf those who assisted in 

 its erection either by money or labor.— Cape Ann Advertiser, 1873. 



tPlymouth Colony Records, Vol. V, 1668-1678, p. 177. 



tProvincetown Advocate, Jan. 25, 1871. — "A notice of the annual meeting in the Methodist church Jan. 17."" 



