The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-06-23 00:00:00

application beyond the three-mile limit of this
country. It was under this conviction that the Com-
mission to which he referred recommended the
abolition of all restrictive measures. In conclusion
he pointed out how heavily this question bore
on the social condition of the fisherman. Every
act of legislation with
,regard to the fisherman
created a new offence. If the common welfare
and the cotrimon interest, said Professor Huxley, can
be clearly shown to render such regulations desirable
or necessary, then of course fishermen 'rust put up
with this as they put up with anything ei,-•6—as we all
put up with such restrictions. But supposing that no
good case is made out—supposing that regulations of
this kind are made on sufficient inquiry, and based on
insufficient understanding of circumstances of the case,
then I am free to confess that I think those who make
such laws deserve very much severer penalties than
those who break them. (Cheers.)

On Monday evening a conversazione was given by
the Fishmongers' Company, at Fishmongers' Hall,
London-bridge, when the Executive Committee of the
International Fisheries Exhibition and the jurors
were especially invited to attend. The guests were
received by Mr. J. Hampden Fordham, Prime
Warden, and Alderman Sir T. Dakin, and amongst
those present were Count Munster, the Marquis
of Exeter, the Earl and Countess of Ducie, the
Baroness Burdett Coutts and Mr. Burdett Coutts, the
Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress, Mr. Alderman
and Sheriff De Keyser, Mr. Sheriff Savory, &c., &c.
The band of the Royal Artillery played selections
during the evening, and upon the principal staircase
leading to the various apartments were stationed the
watermen who had been winners of the prizes
annually awarded by the Fishmongers' Company, in
addition to the coat and badge given by the will of
Thomas Dozgett in 1721 to cpmmemorate the accession
to the throne of the family of her Majesty the Queen,
Choice exotics were placed at the entrance and on the
staircase and other portions of the building, and
several works of art and objects of interest were
exhibited in the magnificent great hall and other
apartments.

THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH'S PAPER.
A brilliant company assembled on Tuesday in the
conservatory where the conferences are held to listen
to the paper of the Duke of Edinburgh on " British
Fisheries and Fishermen," embodying the results of
his observations during the period he was in command
of the Royal Naval Reserve, and had to visit every
place of importance on the coasts of the United King-
dom. The Prince, who was accompanied by the Duke
of Northumberland, the German Ambassador, Lord
Hamilton, the Marquis of Exeter, Lord H. Lennox,
Mr. Birkbeck, M. F., Professor Huxley, and other
noblemen and gentlemen, took his place on the dais
soon after twelve o'clock, and was warmly received by
the audience.

The Prince of Wales then proceeded to read the
paper, in which, after some preliminary observations,
his Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh says—l
have thought it beat to accompany my remarks by
some slight account of the principal kinds of fisheries
in which the men are engaged, the number of persons
dependent upon fishing for their livelihood, the methods
of capture employed, the quantities of fish taken annu-
ally, the manner of its disposal, and its commercial
value. Throughout the period of three years, annmenc-
ing November, 1879, during which I held the command
of our Naval Reserves, my duties necessitated my fi e-
quent presence on the British coasts, both by sea and
by land, giving me occasion to visit a very large num-
ber of our fishing villages. I was thus afforded oppor-
tunities of observing our fishing population, and of
appreciating the importance of our sea fisheries, not
only in obtaining a considerable portion of our food
supply, but in providing a means of subsistence for a
large section of our population, and in keeping
within our borders a skilful, brave, and hardy race
of seamen, trained from their earliest boyhood
to seek their livelihood from, and to contend
with the most stormy and tempestuous of seas.
My duties, however, obliged me to be so constantly
moving from place to place that I requested the divi-
sional and station officers of her Majesty's coastguard
to make inquiries within their several commands to
collect statistics relating to the sea fisheries of their
vicinity, and to furnish me with such information as
they could obtain on the subject. I also addressed a
similar request to the officers in command of her
Majesty's Revenue cruisers, and I take this oppor-
tunity of thanking them for their careful and pains-
taking labour. These returns were furnished from
nearly 800 different places on the coasts of the United
Kingdom.

Referring in graphic language to the effect of the
railway system in distributing fish, the capture of
which employed (counting fishermen and their families)
over half a million of people or 540,000 souls, the
paper then drew a picture of the existence of our
fishermen, both in fine weather of summer when their
life seemed most enjoyable, and when caught in a
winter storm with all its sad consequences both to
the men and their families. From the earliest ages
the inhabitants of our coasts have made the sea
contribute to their food, and the pursuit has pro-
duced a race of men strong, inured to hardship
and exposure, patient and persevering in their
calling, brave, prompt, and full of resource, intelli-
gent, and amenable to discipline. These qualities are
inherited and intensified from generation to genera-
tion, and the foundations of the great position
which this kingdom has attained amongst the
nations of the world must in some measure be attri-
buted to our fishermen, for they were our first seamen
who, increasing in numbers and skill, have leavened
the whole nation with that love of maritime adventure
which has resulted in peopling the uttermost parts
of the earth with our race, and in establishing that
Empire on which the sun never ceases to shine.
(Applause.) The fisheries of the west of England were
the nurseries of the sailors who enabled Drake to cir-
cumnavigate the world, and, as he said, "to singe the
King of Spain's beard" on more than one memorable
occasion. A number of steamers or smacks attend
on this fleet, for the purpose of conveying the fish
which have been caught to the most convenient
harbour, whence it can be despatched to the markets;
these vessels are called "carriers." 'Were it not for
this system of carrying, the trawlers would either
have to cure the fish taken by them on the distant
fishing grounds, or much time would be lost by each
vessel having to bring her own catch to land in a
fresh state. They performed them with alacrity
and steadiness, which could only be attained by
close attention to, and a lively interest in, the in-
struction imparted to them. The officers charged
with their instruction without exception, spoke favour-
ably of them. Great as are the risks inseparable from
the fisherman's vocation, yet the men are daily exposed
to dangers which might be avoided, but which at pre-
sent result in lamentable loss of human life. The paper
then explained, as one source of this preventable loss
of life, the system by which the North Sea trawlers
transferred their boxes of fish by small boats from their
excellent seaworthy vessels to the "carriers," fast
smacks, or steamers, which carried them to the land,
and suggested that a searching and careful enquiry
should be made by a competent authority, whenever
loss of life occurred on board a fishing vessel, as soon
as the vessel returned to port,—The paper then set
forth copious statistics showing the number of
casualties occurring in various districts, and re-
commends that fishermen should add one more to their
good qualities, and adopt the prudent plan of making
provision, by assurance, for widows and orphans, and
for their own old age,

In a second part of his most interesting paper, his
Royal Highness gives a lucid account of the sea fishing
industry of the United Kingdom, classified in its four
great divisions of trawling, drifting, great line fishing,
and seining, trawling being the method resorted to
for the capture of the various descriptions of
fish which frequent lower depths of the sea,
such as soles, plaice, turbot, dorey, haddock,
cod, &c. ; drifting being employed for the capture
of the fish which exist near the surface or
in the middle depths of the ocean; these are herring,
mackerel, and pilchard; the great line being used for
the capture of fish near the bottom • and the seine is
the net used to surrcund fish in shallow waters near
the land. A number of interesting facts are given as
to the localities where fish most abound, and of the
mode in which the owners and crews of the shipping
craft divide the produce taken. Much interesting and
valuable information is given also as to the habits of
fish and as to an interesting experiment which has
been made on the Dutch coast of dogs to bring lines
ashore from fishing•boats that want to beach when
the surf is so heavy as to make the operation clan.
gerous for men to attempt.

In conclusion his Royal Highness said—The move.
ments of fish are very difficult to account for; they
appear in, and disappear from, localities for no obvious
reasons. It may be that sea fish have found out
that in the shallower waters near the land they
are exposed to the attacks of an enemy which
they hope to avoid by seeking the greater depths
of the ocean. Instead of 13oking upon any im-
provement of the means of capture as tending to
exterminate the species, I am rather disposed to
welcome it as the possible producer of an increased
supply of fish, for the benefit of our teeming popula-
tion. Any research into the laws which govern the
life habits, and movements of fish, presents great dif-
ficulties owing to the vastness of the subject, the
limited power of man to explore the recesses of the
ocean, the freedom of its inhabitants to roam whither-
soever they please, and the never-ceasing tides and
currents which, together with the variable action of
the winds, keep the seas in such constant and
uncertain motion. The Government of the United
States has set the example of devoting a sum
annually to the breeding of sea fishes ; it is pro-
bable that the scientific research necessary to ensure
success of this undertaking will furnish us with a
knowledge not only of the method of spawning of sea
fishes and of their powers of reproduction, but also of
their habits and movements. It is difficult to over
estimate the economical and commercial value
of accurate information on these points; we may
hope, in time, to learn from them how to
stimulate the production, should it ever become neces-
sary to do so, and how to improve the methods of
capture so as to ensure the smallest percentage of de-
struction of the young and immature of the species.
Such knowledge, and its application, might tend to a
very large increase in the supply of fish of various
kinds. The example of the United States is well
worthy of imitation by the European nations which
have large stakes in the fisheries; from their relative
position to one another joint action is almost a neces-
sity, as all would equally share in the material and
scientific benefits which might accrue from researches
made in this direction. I, therefore, hope sincerely
that the present International Exhibition may do much
to bring about this unity of action. (Cheers).
On the motion of the Duke of Roxburghe, a vote of
thanks was passed to the Prince of Wales for read-
ing the paper, and to the Duke of Edinburgh for
writing it.

It is estimated that in 1882 as many as 59,974 men
and 14,202 boats were employed in the fisheries of
Spain.

On Tuesday a miner named Evan Evans met with a
shocking deatfi4t the Wynnstay Oolllerie4, ltuabon.
He was cutting coal, when he was suddenly embedded
by a fall of roof. His companions hastened to zescue
him, but their efforts were unavailing, the body being
greatly mutilated. He expired shortly after he was
extricated,

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