368 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 
market soon threw this.trade into the hands of the fishermen largely, and farmers all along the 
coast began buying and using fish on their land. 
“The introduction of the purse-seine by Mr. Benjamin Tollman, of Portsmouth, RB. I., about 
1845, (?) entirely revolutionized the pogy fishery, and from that time fish could be taken at any dis- 
tance from shore. The first method, as with the drag-seine, was to row out from shore when fish 
were seen, but it was not long before they began using a fleet of four small boats for catching them. 
One was called the seine-boat, another the “mate,” and the remaining two the ‘ tenders,” or “carry: 
away boats.” ‘Che four boats would start out together, and sail about near each other looking 
for fish. 
s¢Ag goon a8 a school was seen the seine-boat and mate would start for the windward side and 
the tenders to leeward. The masts were unstepped, as soon as the seine-boat and tender reached 
their position, and elevated above the boats. The boats were then fastened together, and one-half of 
the seine transferred to the mate-boat, after which they rowed for the school, tie captain standing 
in the bow and keeping close watch of them. As soon as they reached the school the word was 
given, the boats separated, and the captain and mate took the steering oar of their respective boats 
and brought them around the fish as the net was shot, the tenders generally marking the leeward 
boundaries of the school. As soon as they met, all hands got into one boat, and allowed the other 
to drop astern out of the way. The fish were dipped into the tenders and carried to market. 
“The next change was to introduce a schooner to carry the seine and afford accommodations 
for the men. This method was first employed in Long Island Sound. 
“The first pogy steamer built was the Seven Brothers, belonging to James Church, of Newport, 
R. L, in 1870. Tug-boats had been engaged the previous year during calm weather to tow the 
boats to and from the fishing grounds. L. Brig htman & Sons employed the. steam-tug Fairy for 
this purpose in 1869,” 
THE CLAIMS OF CONNECTICUT AND NEw YorxkK.—Others claim to have manufactured oil 
at an early date.* It is said that as early as 1850 or 1852 there was an establishment for the 
manufacture of whitefish oil near old Fort Hale, New Haven Harbor. Elisha Morgan, of Poquan- 
nock Bridge, Conn., is said to have made oil from bony fish previous to the year.1850. He owned 
seines with which he caught fish to be spread upon land fresh. When he could not sell all his fish 
to the farmers he extracted their oil by boiling them. 
Whether the value of the article and the methods of manufacture were first brought to notice 
in Maine or not, the people of that State were slow to improve their opportunities and the trade 
first assumed its importance on the shores of Long Island Sound. Whether the fisherman’s wife 
of Blue Hill is the sole discoverer of the properties of meuhaden oil is not evident; perhaps the 
facts were also known to others. At any rate the tradition of the Bartlett family is not current on 
Long Island. In the year 1850, according to Captain Sisson, D. D. Wells and his son Henry E. 
Wells started the first factory in the vicinity of Greenport, using steam for making oi] and scrap. 
“At that time there were some few pots (whalemen’s try-pots) used by other parties in boiling the 
fish in water and making a very imperfect oil and scrap, but were not very successful. The first 
oil made by D. D. Wells & Son was very black, impure, full of fleshy matter, and hada very offensive 
smell. It did not come much into use, and for a long time the profits of the business were small; 
but by persistent effort in perfecting machinery the quality of the oil was so much improved as to 
*The manufacture of oil and of artificial guano from fishes has long been practiced in France, where the fish 
salled merlan (Gadus merlangus) is employed for the purpose, yielding 14 to 2 per cent. of oil. In France the fish 
cake remaining after the extraction of oil is dried at a steam heat and is then ground tine and packed in air-tight 
casks for sale as manure. 
