ALBATEOSS EXPLORATIONS; ALASKA, WASHINGTON, AND OREGON, 
63 
sharing $75 each. The expenses of the trips were high, however, $15 per ton being 
paid for ice on the first one, although on a subsequent trip it was obtained at $8 per 
ton, which was considered very low by the dealers. The high price demanded for ice 
is one of the chief obstacles to the development of the fresh-halibut business on the 
Pacific coast. Could this necessary article be obtained at reasonable figures, the 
western fishermen would stand a better chance of competing successfully with the 
eastern markets in supplying the fresh trade. 
The Mollie Adams landed her cargo at Seattle. A fare of 50,000 pounds of fresh 
halibut was recently taken to Tacoma, Wash., by the schooner Oscar and Hattie, this 
being the first cargo lauded and shipped from that port. The fish were taken in the 
vicinity of Cape Flattery. Little or nothing was realized from the trip. The ice cost 
$22.50 per ton, and high rates across the continent were charged by the Northern 
Pacific Eailroad Company, over whose road the shipment was made. After dis- 
charging her cargo, the Oscar and Hattie proceeded to Port Townsend, where prepara- 
tions were made for a second trip. An agreement was entered into with a firm at 
Vancouver to furnish the ice at $10 per ton, but three weeks passed without receiving 
any, and the schooner was forced to go north in the hope of obtaining a supply from 
the glaciers in southeastern Alaska. 
Capt. S. Jacobs and others interested in the fishery are seriously considering the 
expediency of building ice-houses at Seattle, and making the attempt to cut ice for 
their own use the coming winter. It is stated that ice 6 inches thick was cut in the 
vicinity of Seattle during the winter of 1887-88. If this fact is true, however, it was 
an exceptional season, as many of the old residents in the region claim that the 
weather is never cold enough there to make ice over 3 inches thick. Should the 
effort to obtain the ice in Puget Sound prove unsuccessful, it is thought to be feasible 
to make use of large scows in bringing down supplies froiu the glacier region of Alaska. 
The expense of obtaining the ice by this method, including the cost of building and 
towing the scows and of cutting the ice, it is considered will be much less than by the 
present one. 
A FLETCHED-HALIBUT TRIP. 
July 24 the schooner Mollie Adams left Seattle, bound north on a fletched-hali- 
but trip, the first one of its kind that had been undertaken on the Pacific coast. But 
few halibut were captured until the schooner arrived off the southern extremity of the 
Queen Charlotte Islands, where they were found in great abundance and of larger size 
than on the grounds off Cape Flattery. A few of those taken were estimated to weigh 
over 300 pounds each. About half of the number obtained were large enough for 
fletching, the remainder being used as bait or thrown away. The trawls were not 
left down over night, the fish biting so rapidly that all the available time was occu- 
pied in caring for the day’s catch. Only one cod was caught during the trip. Dog- 
fish were numerous, but did not seem to interfere with the halibut taking the bait, 
as is the case at this season farther south. 
The fishing was carried on in depths of only 30 to 45 fathoms, so that the use of 
hurdy-gurdies was not resorted to. Halibut fishing in this region is very much easier 
than on the Grand Bank. Operations were continued without intermission until 
August 26, when a severe gale of wind sprang up from the southeast, lasting two days. 
