546 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [56] 



time (the period depending upon the condition of the weather, etc.), after 

 which they are spread on the flakes to dry again for one or more days, 

 when they are ready to ship. 



The work of curing cod is done almost wholly by women. In many 

 cases a women has sole charge of this work of curing the fares of bank- 

 ers or vessels from the Labrador coast, and is called " master of the 

 voyage." Being employed in curing fish from childhood, many of the 

 women acquire great skill in this special work, and their weather wis- 

 dom, judgment regarding the proper time to spread fish, etc., are often 

 remarkable. Married women are generally appointed "masters of the 

 voyage/' and unmarried women from fifteen to thirty years of age are 

 employed as assistants or laborers. The girls are hired either by the 

 season or employed in a more transient manner by the day. At St. 

 John's the former receive about $100 or upwards for six months' labor, 

 while the latter are generally paid 50 cents per day. If occasion calls 

 for extra effort, and it often does, the girls are expected to work from 

 daybreak till night, about sixteen or seventeen hours of continuous 

 hard labor out of twenty-four. One would think this work of carrying, 

 lifting, spreading, and piling fish would break down the health of 

 young girls, but they seem to thrive on it, and though not remarkable, 

 as a class, for their beauty, these "flake wallopers," as they are called, 

 are nevertheless healthy and strong, while it is not uncommon to find 

 those who have regular and pleasing features. 



The flakes are generally built on a steep hill-side, propped up on posts, 

 except at one side where they rest on the ground. The frame- work of 

 the top, usually rough trunks of small trees with the bark on, is covered 

 with boughs of the spruce and fir, and upon these the fish are spread 

 and piled as occasion demands. Near by are the store-houses, the shan- 

 ties for trying-out oil, the wharf or stage, and the other accessories of 

 a Newfoundland curing establishment. The illustration (plate XV) 

 shows a curing stand at St. John's. But at the out-of-the-way fishing 

 stations along the coast the curing of cod is carried on in a very prim- 

 itive manner by the fishermen, who barter their " catch " with the tra- 

 ders that go about from port to port in schooners to pick up all the fish 

 they can in exchange for supplies. 



