Show TONS OP OF BAIT CATCHING MENHADEN OFF THE OF NEW ENGLAND of flab ara am un uirl cap cured ini slowed A pon rd A A accod modA of the binny tribe WI which 10 cun con lie ISO used in many wan pitching his irrice acre agh h tile the lookout at tho the masthead of the in menhaden en linden steamer shouts out ont gleefully A school A school aria and immediately all is bustle and e excitement on board As this is ia a now experience to 0 o you sir you shall havo have a seat scat with me in my boat thank you captain I 1 arn am only too eager to seo see the fun the crews now toko like thi places n tho the seine boats while two of tho the party parti known as drivers h ivors go out in advance li i ottlo t thirteen foot boats to loam learn the chiou ct d direction i r iou in bi which the school is inovia moving anil and to mark out its size the jolly captain a true type of the traditional caps capr square built sturdy genial his face bronzed by berrs of exposure to sunshine and aad set sea breezes and aal very intelligent 1 i ge rit withal takes his place at tho the in side bow ear 0 ir in one of the seine boats a and I 1 the mate a corresponding position in tl the io other and ana by the time they the school t lie drivers describe the movements of the fish they now begin throwing out the seine each boat going in an opposite direction mound the school the drivers in the meantime splashing the tha water to keep heep the fish esli from escaping soon tile the boats meet and all hands now pull at the parse line the net and cork line the steamer is ia brought alongside and after the fish are driven well together the net is fastened to the steamers side aria and they are baled into the hold by means of a largo dip net run by a donkey engine the next nest thin thing on the pro gramme is is to prepare the menhaden for salting salti ag to bo be used as bait for which there is great demand this is a simple process but to me its novelty invests it with particular interest tho the head of the tha fish is taken inthe in the lefthand left hand of tho workman and with a peculiarly shaped knife held beld in the right liand hand ho he cuts a slice elice longitudinally tu from each side of the body leaving the head and vertebra vertebras verte bras to be thrown away or occasionally to ba pressed for oil the slivers are salted and packed in barrels this opening act of the days dayal drama ended captain williams invites me t to accompany him into the cabin and the jolly skipper there entertains me with some somo interesting points about the fishery its queer liow how many different names the he menhaden is known by observes the skipper fact is it has baa more aliases than a veteran criminal more nicknames than there were colors to josephs coat besides the more common na name me of menhaden it is known as pogy boily fish hardhead liard head whitefish bunker oldwife clis clie boy ell c 11 wife alewife falba faeback fatback fat back ck anil na yellowtail yellOw eb id I 1 td griat malong as tho the common sea I 1 herring but is ll 11 deeper beep and moro more robust looking 0 its average 0 length is from twelve to fifteen i nelies inches I 1 hardly need tell you that it is valuable as a bait tish fish it excelling nil I 1 11 others as such that as a 1 food res ouica ca it is ia thought to have h ve great quantities that its chief value is as a fertilizer feti lizer and and that it is also valuable for the oil a and nd scrap produced by cooking and pressing them for illustration here are some mi minutes ut es I 1 made iu in my memorandum book in in regard to what was done il in n the year asso which w is a fair representative season that year the total weight of the catch was pounds equivalent to about I 1 s menhaden in number pretty big army eb di quantity of ou oil produced ON gallons and of guano tons having a total value of capital invest invested edin in steamers etc and their outfit and in bactol factories acs ics As compared with previous tiou J years however the yield of oil was small 11 about how long captain does the tha catching season last well you see eee is as soon as tho menhaden make their appear appearance Ruce in the bering vessels start in pursuit of ei ero n and continuo capturing cm em till they disappear in the fall from the menhaden oil and guano factories alon along the sent southern h coast of now en england land new york and new kew jersey shores tire the fleets of stearn steam and sail vessels be bein begin in their cruises early in may chasing the fish alon along the sh shores 0 r es and ill hi the lounds t wherever th they ey can be found tho the vessels seldom cruise cruise wore moro n tenor ten or fifteen miles from land tho the total area of the ground is estimated at square geographical miles the average st steamer earnor is about the ei of this one thatis that is to say some 70 tons measurement 00 feet long 17 feet beata beam 7 Z feet depth of hold and seven feet draft braf 1 aft af t and costs it costs not far from 1000 a mouth month for wages fuel and provisions to run it like this boat they are screw steamers aria and are rig rigged ged with one mast f fo rard which is bitted with a crano for taking in the calah ca the mens quarters are in the for forecastle castle the fish are stored in bulls bulk in the lie hold ILI the engine house as you eee cee is astern aste rn the he main hatch N with ith coal bunkers opening on deck each side ride all of eun ein have fitted to the bulwarks bulwa on either side ide s near tho the stern batern cranes for the boats and towi towing u chocks aro are set in the deck on quarter aft the hold or tank tor for storing 0 the call 1611 is water tight there are some steamers cai engaged aged in the fishery which are moro more ii 11 f feet long carrying from twenty seven to thirty men and cost and upward most of the steamers carry four seine boats steamers have come into vogus the factories have greatly increased their facilities tor for handling largo catches the fint factory could work up only a few hundred barrels a day whilo now the big factories take from to barrels daily york yolk herald |