The Illinois free trader and LaSalle County commercial advertiser. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1841-1843, 1843-09-15
NO. l3.

/ wv VIC INV i't dlNtbCi, WIFI II SIIlgtC I1OS
ton and repea, tie act, In so rapid sue:
cession, that their arms seem continually
on the swing. To be Nighttime is an
object of earnest desire among the ambii
,ious; and the muscular ease, the preci.
sion and adroiness Of movement; which
such men exhibit in the strife are admira-
BILE. While the school remains along
side, and will take the hook, the excite-
ment of the men, and the rushing noise
of the fish in their beautiful and manifold
evolulions in the waller, arrest the a.ten-
ton of the most careless observer. OF.
tentimes the fishing ceases in a moment,
as If put an end to by magic the fish.
according TO the fsherman's conceit;
panic stricken by the havoc among them,
suddenly disappear from sight.
Eight, ten, and even twelve thousand
have been caught, and must now be
"dressed down." This process covers
the persons of the crew, the deck, the
tubs. and everything near, with blood
and garbage, and as il is often performed
in darkness and WEAKNESS, and under the
reaction of overtasked nerves, and the
gentleman or amateur fisher, who hither-
to has seen and participated in nothing
but keen sport become disguised. They
ought to remember, that in the recrea-
tons of manhood, as those Of youth. the
toll of hauling the hand-sled UP hill is,
generally, in proportion 10 the steepness
and slipperiness which give the pleasu-
rable velocity down.
The approach of night, or the disap-
pearance of the maskerel closing all labor
with the hook and the line, the fish, as
they are dressed. are thrown into casks of
water, to rid them of blood. The deck
is then cleared and washed the mainsail
is hauled down, and the foresail is hoist
ed in its stead; lantern is placed in the
rigging; a watch is set to salt the fish and
keep lookout for the nights and the mas
ter and the remainder of the crew, at a
ale hour, seek repose. The earliest
CLEANS Of light find the anxious master
awake, hurrying forward preparations for
the mornings meal, and making other ar
engagements for renewal Of the previous
days work. But the means which were
SO successful then, fail now, and perhaps
for days to come; for the capricious crea-
lures will not take the hook nor can all
the art of the most sagacious and expert
enccd induce them to bite. Repeating
however, the operations which we have
described, from time to time, and until a
load has been obtained, or until the mas
ter becomes discouraged or his provisions
are consumed, the vessel returns to port,
and hauls in at the inspectors wharf,
where the fish, many or few, are landed,
sorted into three qualities, weighed, re-
packed, re-salted, and re-pickled. In two
or three days, she is refted and on her
way to the fishing ground. Meanwhile.
the owner, and all others who inquire.
"what luck learn from some wise sold
SALT (and there is always Sir Oracle)
how much knowledge the mackerel have
ACQUIRED since the previous season. Iiav-
ing been thus employed until the cold
weather approaches, or the fish leave the
coast, the smaller vessels haul up, and
their shippers pass the winter in cracking
nuts, relating stories, and accounting for
bad voyages, or Boosting of good ones
while the larger vessels 80 south, and en-
gage in freghtlng.
The bait which we have said, is thrown
overheard to attrac, the fish TO the surface.
is usually composed of small mackerel, or
sailed her!ings cut in small pieces. AS
economy and success alike require care
full use of it, the master seldom allows
other hands than his own to dispose Of il.
1t was formerely the duty of The man
who kept the watch on deck, in the night
to cut the bait on block. But the bait
mill has taken the place Of this noisy and
tedious process. Nothing certainly, in
the time of any fisherman now living, has
occasloned so much Joy as its introduce
ton. This labor-saving sleep promoting
machine, as constructed at first, was ex-
treemly simple. 1t was a box, which
was made on end, and crank projecting
through the side, while internally it had
a wooden roller armed with small knives,
in rows, so arranged, that when the roll
Ter was turned, the fish to be ground or cut
up should undergo the operation by
coming between these rows of, knives and
others which were arranged along board
that sloaped towards the bottom.
As already remarked. the mackcrel
fishery is as old as any other and was
commenced in Massachusetts. This state
not only took the lead, but retains il.
The business has been extensive and sue
cessful; at the present it is diminishing"
As the sun in all his splendor was peer