iU 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jtot 21, 1881. 



purpose undoubtedly— pulling- on calm waters or on the fish- 

 ing banks with two men and two pairs of oars— hut woe to 

 the single hand in a squall. Finding a sea-going yacht unat- 

 tainable, I c Deluded to come to anchor at a lifle watering- 

 place near Gloucester and, chartering a dory, I here daily 

 rowed east and west; have got from the fishermen the bear- 

 ings of e d ledges and pollock grounds. I have fi-hed from 

 Dan to Bershcba from sunrise till dewy eve. Miles and miles 

 have I rowed in this same dory— and nary a cod, nary a pol- 

 lock, pary a fish, except the miserable "dinner," which are 

 dignified hereabouts by the name of perch. My hands are 

 like leather, my nose would make a respectable beacon and 

 my fn.ee the color of an old saddle. I have been out in thun- 

 der .'(malls, got wet, been blown miles to sea, been picked up 

 by fishing schooners and that patience so requisite to a fish- 

 erman hath ceased to he the virtue wrongfully attributed to 

 it. I have loafed around the wharves of Gloucester until the 

 all-pervading atmosphere of salt codfish has penetrated my 

 very bones. 



Hast ever been to Gloucester? Don't go ! Everyman, 

 woman and child you meet has a codfish in his, her or its 

 hand. It is the business of the place and its aristocracy are 

 the true codfish type; prices of everything high and the tide 

 always low and smells- oh ! They charge you ten cents for 

 landing at the few pairs of steps the wharves boast and 

 there's no fishing between it and Boston. The shores are set 

 with one continuous line of lobsier pots, traps, seines, trawls 

 and contrivances to take everything that, swims. 



I have settled with the dory inan^ packed my kit and shall 

 shake the sea- weed from off my feet and depart— whither ? 

 Tell me where to go to fish— or rather, to catch something. 

 I am not particular — inland or elsewhere. 



To come from the Pacific coast, where I have caught the 

 lordly salmon (excuse the customary scientific name) until 

 my arms ached and the strap of my trout basket has almost 

 cut to the bone with the weight (am I following in the fool- 

 steps of your numerous correspondents, and bragging a lit- 

 tle ?)— to come to this benighted regon to laud from a whole 

 day out on the water with a few miserable "dinners " and 

 have my dory man, by way of encouragement, say, '* Got a 

 nice lot of 'em this time, hain't ye ?" I want to go home. I 

 want to strike out for the Sierra's rushing streams ; Lake 

 Tahoe, with its ten-pouudcrs ; the roaring McCloud, withirs 

 speckled (I shan't say " beauties ") three-pound Dolly Var- 

 detis ; the foaming Truckee, with its red-bellied fly-snappers ; 

 the heads waters of the Sacramento, with its six-pound river 

 trout, or even the bay and harbor of San Francisco, with its 

 tomcods, smelt and young salmon- -and 1 would go if I could 

 A friend invited me (John Paul, of the Tii/nme—you know 

 him) to go to the Adirondacks; but, oh I those cussed black 

 flies and skeeters. Sball I go to the St. Lawrence, Kange- 

 ley or to Moosehead lakes ? 



Who wants a chum for a trip?— one who knows what a 

 fish is, who has lived under canvas, not days, but months 

 and years ; who can handle a boat or an axe and who won't 

 stay in camp and drink all the whisky— is not afraid to do 

 his share of work and will pay hia.prv rata of expenses ? 



Don't say go to Long Island's sea-girt shore — I've been 

 there, and had no luck. The tautog had just struck out and 

 the bluefish had not struck in, and three days,' expens!sthere 

 equal ed the price of a Western farm. I want to go where 

 every fish I catch, if any, don't cost ten dollars a pound. 

 The unsophisticated countryman seems to tlynk, whenever 

 he encounters a man with a gun or fishing rod, that Mr. V*n- 

 derbilt or Jay Gould is out for recreation and goes for him. 

 The firm of " Gouge & Swindle" si em to keep all the hotels, 

 own all the horses wagons and boats. 



Is shooting and fishing a crime, that it should be so pun- 

 ished ? It. reminds me of a conversation I overheard on the 

 wharf at San Francisco one d-iy: "Hello, BUI, what yer 

 doin' ?" "Nothin' much— jest set up the bobstay on that 

 ere sloop " " What are yer guilt' 10 charge r" " About two 

 dollars, I reckon." " Two dollars (contemptuously) ; charge 

 'em ten. If they will keep yachts let 'era pay for it, d— n 

 'em." That idea has worked East as sure as you are born. 



Speaking of yachts, I saw the regata of he Boston Yacht 



Club on the 4-th and that it w«b a failure also — no wind. All 



the blowing down this way seems to be on shore 



Podgeks. 

 . — . — ,j- — . 



AMERICAN FISHERMEN. 



INTERESTING FACTS CONCERNING THEM. 



Professor G. Bkown Goodk, of the United States Fish 

 Commission, and special agent of the census in charge of 

 fishery statistics read an inte esting paper on "The Fishermen 

 of the United States," before th« Antiiropoloitcal Society of 

 Washington. Professor Go de said : Every man en- 

 gage i in the fisheries has at least one oihcr man who is 

 dependent to a considerable extent upon the labors of the first 

 for support. To the class of shoremen belong (I) the capi- 

 talists who furnish supplies and apparatus for the use of the 

 active fishermen; (2) the shopkeepers from whom they pur- 

 chase provisions and clothing, and (3) the skilled laborers 

 who manufacture for them articles of appaie\ shelter and 'he 

 apparatus of the trade. In addition to the j r d'essional fisher- 

 men, there is a large class of men who htve been called 

 "semi-professional" fishermen— men who derive from the fish- 

 eries less than a half of their entire income. Taking into ac- 

 count all those per.-ons who are directly employed in the 

 fisheries for a larger or smaller portion of the year, those 

 who are dependent upon fishermen in a comm Tcial way for 

 su> port, and the members of their families wh are actually 

 dependent upon their labors, it cannot be far out of the way 

 to estimate the total number of persons depejdent on the 

 fisheries at from 8u0,000 to 1,0(10,000. 



The total value of the product to the producers of the fish- 

 eries of the United States has not yet been definitely deter- 

 mined, but it will doubtless prove to be somewhere between 

 forty and fifty millions of dollars. Of the thirty-one Sta es 

 and Territories whose citizens are engaged iu the fishery in- 

 dustry, seventeen have more than a thousand professional 

 fishermen. The most important of these States is, of course, 

 Massachusetts, with from eighteen to twenty-five thousand 

 men. Second stands Maine, with ten to twelve thousand, 

 unless, indeed, the sixteen thousand oystermin of Virginia 

 and the lift' en thousand of Maryland are allowed to swell 

 the totals for those States. Maine, however, statds second 

 so far as the fisheries proper are cot eerued. Third comes 

 New York with about 5,000 men, then New Jersey with 

 4,000 men, Notth Carolina with 51,500, Oregon with its horde 

 of salmon fishermen, 2,500 in uumber; Florida with 2,100, 

 Connecticut and California with about 2,000 each, Michigan 

 with 1,781, Wisconsin with 1,800, Georgia withl,4'M), Ohio 

 with 1.046, Delaware. Rhode Island and South Carolioieach 

 with about 1,01)0; New Hampshire, Alabama, Louisiana 

 and Texas with about 400 each and Mississippi with only 00. 



The majority of our fishermen are native-born citizens of 

 the United States, although in certain localities there are ex- 

 tensive communities of foreigners. Most numerous of these 

 are the natives of the British provinces, of whom there are 

 at least 4 000 employed in the fisheries of New England. 

 There are probably not le-s than 2,000 Portuguese, chiefly 

 natives of the Azores and of the Cape De Verd Islands. 

 Most of the Portuguese luve brought their families with them, 

 and have built up extensive communities in the towns whence 

 i hey sail upon their fishing voyages. There are also about 

 1,000 Scandinavians, 1,000 or more of Irish and English 

 birth, a considerable number of French, Italians, Austrians, 

 Minorcans, Slavs, Greeks, Spaniards and Germans. In the 

 whaling fleet may be fouu I Lasoars, Malays and a large 

 number of Kauakas, or natives of the various South Sea 

 Islands. In the whale nshery of Southern New England a 

 considerable number of men of partial Indian descent may be 

 found, and in the fisheries of the great lakes — especially 

 those of Lake Superior and the vicinity of Mackinaw — In- 

 dians and Indian half-breeds are employed. 



The salmon and other fisheries of Puget Sound are prose- 

 cuted chiefly by the aid of Indian fishermen. In Alaska, 

 where the population depends alnvst entirely upon the fish- 

 eries for support, the head of every family is a professional 

 fisherman, and upon a very low estimate one-four<h of the 

 inhabitants of Alaska should be considered as fishermen. 

 Few of them catch fish for the use of others than their own 

 immediate dependents. Only one Chinaman has as yet en. 

 rolled himself among the fishermen of the Atlantic coast, but 

 in California and Oregon there are about 4,01)0 of these meu, 

 all of whom, excepting about 30b, are employed as factory 

 hands iu the salmon canneries of the Sacramento and Colum- 

 bia basins. The 300 who have the right to be classed among 

 the actual fishermen live for the most part in California and 

 the product of their industry is to a very great extent ex- 

 ported to China, although they supply the local demands of 

 their countrymen resident on the Pacific coast. 



The negro element in the fishing population is somewhat 

 extensive. We have no means of ascertaining how many of 

 this race are included among the native born Americans re- 

 turned by the census reporters. The shad fisheries of the 

 South are prosecuted chiefly by the use of negro muscle, and 

 probably not less than four or five thousand of these men are 

 employed during the shad and herring season in setting and 

 hauling the seines. The only locality where negroes partici- 

 pate to a large extent iu the shore fisheries is Key West, Fla , 

 where the natives of the Bahamas — both negro and white — 

 are considered among the most skillful of the sponge and 

 market fishermen. Negroes are rarely found, however, upon 

 the sea-going fishing vessels of the North, There is not a 

 single negro among the 5,000 fishermen of Gloucester, and 

 their absence on the other fishing vessels of New England is 

 no less noteworthy. There is, however, a considerable 

 sprinkling of negroes among the crews of the whaling vessels 

 of Provinceton and New Bedford, New Bedford alone re- 

 porting over 2'I0. These men are for the most part natives 

 of the West India Islands, such as Jamaica and Se. Croix, 

 where the American whalers engaging in the Atlantic fishery 

 are accustomed to make harbor for recruiting and enrolling 

 their cren T s. As a counterpart of the solitary Chinaman en- 

 gflged in the Atlantic fisheries we hear of a solitary negro on 

 the Pacific coast, a lone fisherman, who sits on the wharf at 

 New Tacoma, Washington Territory, and fishes to supply 

 the local market. 



The number of foreign fishermen in the United Sta'es, 

 excluding 5,000 negroes and 8,000 Indians and Esquimaux, 

 who are considered to be native born citizens, probably does 

 not exceed teu to twelve per cent, of the total number, as is 

 indicated by the figures which have already been given. 

 Considerably more than one-half of the fishing population of 

 the United States belongs to the Atlantic coast north of the 

 capes i f Delaware; of this number at least fou'-fifths are of 

 English descent. They are by far the most interesting of 

 our fishesmen, since to their number be'ong the 20 000 or 

 more men who may properly be designate t lhe "sailor fish- 

 ermen" of the Umted States, the crews of the trim and en- 

 terprising vessels of the sea-going fishing fleet which ought 

 to be ttuTc-'ief pride of the American marine, and which is 

 of such importance to our country as a training-school for 

 manners and as a medium through which one of the most 

 valuable food resources f the Continent is made available. 



Professor Goode referred to the mental and physical traits 

 of the New England fishermen, their enterprise as shown in 

 their readiness to adopt improved methods, their intelligence 

 and public spirit. He Spoke also of the education Of the 

 young fishermen, and t'.-e injury to good seamanship result- 

 ing from the custom of deferring the shipment of boys who 

 formerly enterid the business at the age of ten or twelve, 

 but who now remain on shore until they are fifteen or six- 

 teen and have hid their perceptive facul ies dulled by school 

 training. Reference was made to th" morality of the fisher- 

 men, I lie strict observance of the Sabbath to be met with 

 amomr large classes of th m, and the entire absence of aTlenl 

 spirits on the fishing vessels. The character of their favorite 

 books and newspapers, th' ir amusements, their dialect and 

 their sup rstitious were discussed The chief diseases were 

 no ed to be dyspepsia and rhenmatsm. They are as a rule 

 long lived, though the fishing population of large ports like 

 Gloucester is decimated by disisler every year or two. The 

 financial profits vary from $1,000 to $100 a year for each 

 man, though sometimes a year's work results Bolely in an 

 embarrassing burden of debts. 



. — .»■ . ■ 



FISHING IN TENNESSEE. 



SEVERAL parties have been out fishing lately and had fair 

 luck, though the present weather is en' irely too ho forany 

 out-door sports. Major ltei-s, of this city, is still in the 

 uvmn ains of East Tennessee, enjoying his angliog tour. 

 The " Major" is one of the most scientific and untiring dis- 

 ciples of " Sir Izaak" in this section, and, when he makes a 

 raid on the finry beauties, he never returns without his game. 

 General Ira P. Jones is another of our noted fishermen, and 

 a more genial and cultivated gentleman W' >uld bo hard to find. 

 As we say out here, " George Akers takes the cake." There 

 is almost as much pleasure in listening to some of his fish 

 stories as to oatoll them yourself, for in the former ca*e you 

 are sure to catch some Mg ones. Charley Hillman ranks in 

 excellence wi h the above named, but Charley is a sly fellow; 

 no one t ver hea'S of his going fishing, but coming back, thus 

 he has all the fun to himself. The gallant chief of our Fire 

 Brigade, Captain W. Stockell, has seen the day when no 

 man in the State could match him, but now his duties pre- 

 clude his absence from the city, though such is his fondness 

 for the sport he will now and then wet his tackle in the Cum- 

 berland down by the wharf, and, when he does, his negro 

 aide-de-camp always brings back a airing of jack, drum, or 



cat. Colonel R. M. Edwards tlate Greenback candidate for 

 Governor) is an angler of the old school. He needs but little 

 tackle, and that strong. He says i 



'• If any of you fellows would come out into my country 

 (Bast Tennessee) wi'h all them dam'd jinted poles and little 

 brass winders, the folks would laugh you out of: cmnteoance. 

 What we want; is a good bamboo, twentv foot of line, and 

 a strong hook, and when a trout gets away with that, it's 

 what he's got a right to do." 



The " Wisconsin Club," on their return from the lakes, 

 brought back some fish, bu', with an unheard-of liberality, 

 ate them among themselves ; so we of r.hr " Can't-Get-Away 

 Club " must wait until our friend " Mayhnry," of the Grand 

 Rapids route, comes this way. as he is quite capable of bring- 

 ing us a mess if he only thinks of it.— J. H. D. 



Nashville, July 11. 



BASS AT ALEXANDRIA BAY. 



Westminster Park Hotel, > 

 Alexandria Bay, N. Y,. Julv 18. j" 



WE are having great sport rip here. To-day, Mr. II. R. 

 Clark and I took over fifty black bass weighing from 

 II to 2|- lbs. We returned to their natural nnrserv'nearly 

 thirty that would go from one half to one pound. We kept 

 away from the perch and rock bass as much as possible, but 

 were bothered by them a good deal. Nearly all of the largest 

 bass were taken by casting small minnows ; still, as we used 

 fly rods, there was some music even with the minnow-fishing. 

 The favorite fly was my Saint Patrick, which I christened 

 last fall in honor of old Mike Morrison. 



The bass are just fairly getting into "schools," and no 

 doubt there will be some great catches the latter part of this 

 week and all of next week. The size of the bass this year is 

 not up to the average, or perhaps I should say the average is 

 good enough, though there are not as many four or five- 

 pounders as usual. I have not met any conscientious man, 

 who carries a balance with hitn, and says that he has caught 

 a five-pound bass this season. Of course "Gem scales, two 

 for a quarter," "weigh as you please," don't count as scales 

 at all. 



The steam launches are all engaged. The newest one, The 

 Flower, has been leased by our good friend, Chas. G. Emery 

 (Goodwin & Co.), who knows two things besides how to make 

 "Old Judge " cigarettes. The two things are, how to catch 

 black bass and how to entertain his friends. 



Chas. F. Imbeie. 



Growth of Carp.— Mr. J. Rivntl recently showed a carp 

 to Mr. E. G. Blackford, of the New YotkF'Sh Commission 

 which weighed four p m' ds and was on" of ten whi 'u had 

 been received from the United States Fish Cowmi-sion on 

 the 15th of S ptember, 1879. Wlv-n the fish were trans- 

 planted they were less than two inches in length. Mr. Ray- 

 nal's pond, near White Plans, Westchester County, is some 

 seventy f' el long, thirty-five in wid h, and its extreme dep'h 

 is eight leet. It has been in u-e as an ice pond. It is we 1 

 surrounded by vegetation. The carp have never b en fed. 

 Whea examined for the ro», this was found in a f-drly ma- 

 tur.d condition, though the fish would not have spawned 

 before a mouth. It was caught on lhe Founh of July with 

 a worm-baited hook, and afforded considerable sport. 



A Tarpijm Caught with Rod and Rem.,— We recently 

 published an article on the tarpon, or tarpum, Mef/lops tlirU- 

 soidfs, of the Gulf, in which it was claimed that the fish was 

 too powerful to be taken with the rod. A few days ago Mr. 

 Albert Ferguson, of jack-lamp fame, called and exhibited 

 some of the enormous sea es which characterize this fish, 

 and informed us that it « as taken by Mr. Benjamin Jones, 

 while in Florid), with a rod and reel. The rod was a 

 Oonroy bass rod a -d a 3 '0-yard, 13-thread line. The fish 

 was six feet four inches in length am I weighed 1T1 pound-'. 

 He was one hour and 'hree-quaite s hetore he could bring 

 him to gaff, after which he proved loo large to take him into 

 the boat, and was towed ashore. 



The IoHTHTOi'HAGorjs Club should make a note of the 

 tact that the Bostoit I'wnmerCMil Bulletin says that the 

 conchs, both the queen and common com h. are "not only de- 

 sirable for their beautiful shells, but make excellent soup. I 

 have, when I could get very little use, managed to worry 

 down a stew of conch, but while the flavor is good e otigh 

 the les lure of the flesh is not unlike rubber. It's precious 

 tough meat to chew. The worst of it is that in order to get 

 the meat one has to spoil the shell by sum hing the small end 

 1 1 dislodge th • tail, which hangs on there tenaciously, t, ongh 

 even ihen, if not too badly broken, the shell remains of some 

 use. 'I remendous trumpet tones can ' e produced from it by 

 a skilled performer, and it is the universal dinner-bell of 

 Honduras. 



Another Railuoau Book. — We have received the beau- 

 tiful " travelers' and Tourists' Guide," published from the 

 New Y T ork office of th Central Kai road of Ne v Jersey, 110 

 Liberty street. The well-known Toms River, Faked lliver 

 and Barnegat resorts for sportsmen are reached by ill s road 

 and the book contains the tulles information of loutes, dis- 

 tances, fares, hotels aid everything else that the Irav. fir 

 wants to know. It may be had free on app ication by letter 

 to H. P. Baldwin, General Passenger Ag nt. Address as 

 above. 



Thb Fortune Bat Claims — Gloucester, Ma 5 s , Jub' 10 — 

 The amount paid by the Commissio'-er f om the State De- 

 partment yesterday, as reimbursement for Fortune Bay losses, 

 in 1878, was between $55 000 and $G>,000. Claims were 

 presented by twenty-two Gloucester vessels. 



There was a young lady ot tuoueester, 



VVUe-io parents though. Hire hart loacester: 



But site came tueli one day 



To ihelrtuvtul dismay- 

 So ttiey called her a wicked lmpoucester.— Pvek. 



There was a youusf iidy f mm Worcester, 

 Who Climbed alter a bob-called roreeater; 



Hat he roosted so tilgli 



In a tree near the sSy 

 Tiiat she called to her brother to oorcester. 



Specimen espies of this paper will be sent free upon applica- 

 tion. We will esteem it a favor if our readers will call ihe at- 

 tention of their fruncU to the merits of the Foebst and 

 Stueam. 



