The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-06-11 00:00:00

CUTTLE-FISH BAIT

The grand bank of Newfoundland has been known
for over a century as excessively productive of cod-
fish, and of late years, during the autumn season, the
fresh bait used for the capture of this fish has been a
cuttle fish or squid with movable eye-lids, called
Onmastrephes illccebrosa. This squid does not appear
early in the year, during which time the herring and
the capelin are used as bait, but begins to migrate
northwards in autumn in large, but intermittent
schools. At one time they are taken as fast as they
can be hauled in; while again they will occur but
rarely.
The old and young squid appear to form dif-
ferent schools. They are captured by a process
called "jigging ; " the only gear is a peculiar hook,
called a " jig," with a couple of fathoms of mackerel
line. No bait is used. The jig carries a number of un-
barbed pins, which get entangled in the tentacles of the
squid, whereupon he is hauled up so fast that escape
is impossible. The instant lie emerges from the
water he discharges through his siphon a jet of salt
water, and by a rapid succession of respiratory acts
sucks in air and soon becomes almost spherical, by a
second contraction he now ejects from his siphon the
contents of his ink bag, and if the fisherman be not on
the alert he may be struck full in the face by the inky
stream.
. When the squid lie thick, the scene on the bank
is exciting; there is the monotonous noise of the
squirting, varied with some loud tone of human wrath
as an expiring ink-shot has told home.
These squids are sold at from 25 to 40 cents per
100, and a large vessel will in a single season use over
100,000. They are preserved in ice, and sometimes
even salted.

Mr. H. L. Osborn, who spent three months in a
cod-fishing schooner on the Newfoundland banks, has
published in the May number of the "American
Naturalist" a very full and interesting account of
this from an economic point of view, very important
cuttle-fish.

The Queen, Princess Beatrice, Princess Victoria
and Princess Elizabeth of Hesse, and Prince Leopold were
present on Sunday at Divine service at the parish church of
Crathie. The Rev. James Barclay. M.A.. Minister or Rt.
Cl:::.bert's, Edinburgh, officiated

BISHOP OXENDEN AND THE REVISED
TESTAMENT,

Preaching at Canterbury Cathedral on Sunday
afternoon, Bishop Oxenden (late Bishop of Montreal)
alluded to the revised edition of the New Testament.
After tracing the history of the New Testament and
the causes which led to the present revision, be said
perhaps there never were so nianyo learned
Greek and Hebrew scholars in England as
there are at the present time, and it there-
fore seemed to be a favourable time for an
effort to make clear certain passages which were dark
and obscure. The men to whom the revision was
entrusted were not all Churchmen—some were Non-
comformists, and they were so anxious to make it
a universal work that they invited the assistance
of some of the most earned men whom America
could produce, and he believed it had been under-
taken with a single desire t'.> the glory of God.
The difficulty of the translators was twofold. First,
out of the many hundreds of Greek manuscripts
of the Scriptures they had to decide which was
the most accurate, and then to translate it into
English, leaving the old translation as nearly as
possible unchanged. But they must not run away
with the idea that the Bible which they loved so much
was to be forcibly taken away from them. No such
thing. The New Testament which they now possessed
was still theirs, and it was only likely to be put aside
after many years of inquiry had proved that we
were to gain by the exchange. The great question
was whether the new version was an improve-
ment on the old one. This remained to be decided.
In a few weeks it would be in the hands of almost
everyone. so that those who were competent to
pass their judgment upon it would have an
opportunity of doing so. He regretted that some
passages in the new version had been left out entirely,
two instances of which he referred to in the Doxology
at the end of the Lord's Prayer, in the 6th chapter of
Matthew, and the 7th verse of the sth chapter let
Epistle St. John. For his own part he would be
satisfied with the old version, but if the new version
proved itself to be a better one, he should be glad
to accept it as containing a fuller exposition of the
mind of God.