The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1873-10-23
Sardines.

recent trCnch letter gives an entertain
ing history of the catching of sardines !:
The >ardine fishery, with all its attendant
Industrial activities, is one of the impor-
tant business features ofthe coast ofFrance.
There are Indications however, that these
toothsome little fish are either becoming
scarce or less easily caught than atoretime !;
Tor the yield grows less every wear both
IN the aggregate quantity obtained and the
average catch per boat The fishery is
prosecuted from April till October, and fur
nlShes employment to some 10000 sailors
with their $50 boats on the water, and
some $4,000 men, women and children on
land, preparing the fish for market Every
year shows diminution in the catch and
an advance in The price. This is shown by
4 table, recently published by the Ameri-
can Grocer, which gives the figures of the
Sar'ne fishery for the past thirty years, and
EXHIBITS the annual decline in quantity
caught and the corresponding advance in
market price Whereas. from 1910 to 1869
the average catch per boat was 335, goo
ltSh. and their price about 81 per LOCO:
the catch last year averaged only $4,000
ll'h per boat. and the price has mounted
| mp to some $50 per 200 fish. 1t is,
therefore. quite probable that. unless some
change soon comes. sardines will take their
| place among cpicurlan raritieS and will
| command that peculiar respect which,
while so numerouslv and cheaply procured
They have failed to compel. The prepar-
alton of sarlines for market is quite an in
| tercstng performance and is mostly done
by women and children who leave country
homes to spend the ''sardine season" on
the coast. These do all the handling of
the fish from the time they leave the boats
until they are ready to be finally soldered
up in their boxes They work ten hours
day as a rule, and may do rs much over
work aS they choose, at from three to four
and 4 half cents an hour They usually
make sixteen hours a days work, and as
they are free to eat As many sardnes as
they want (although expected to ''tind
themselves" in all other rcspects.) they
generally manage to make enough during
the Sardine season to keep their families
through the winter. They sleep in an out
house OF the ~hanty description, and supply !
their OWN beds and do all their own house |
keeping.
The condition precedent first catch
Your fish having been complied with the |
sardine> are taken to the workshop, where |
they are at once ~alted which is done bv
ttIIph NJ iillR' t.ttll DtSAti Il IGN ltuNtSittl
of rock salt and shaking the basket so that |
the salt shall reach every fish Then they
are spread out upon tables covered with |
zinc and left there three or four hours to !
allow all liquid to drain off Next they |
are decapitated and deprived OF their in
sides by means of sharp knives, which are
made to operate with wonderful dexterity |
in the hands of these female and infantie |
nv W. cbipfr ,r-i+b +l,o |
next process, after which the fish are |
sardines capacity. which is hung up in the |
tents are dried Frying comes next in |
order. and this is done, not in their own
fat, of which the fish have no supcrabun- |
dance but in the best kind of olive oil, in |
pans each Just large enough to hold one |
of the wire baskets. Here they simmer in
the boiling oil from five to ten minutes, |
until by testing they are found to be |
cooked This testing consists in taking |
out fish and breaking it in two, when, if |
it is white and the back bone quickly |
detaches itself. the fish is considered cooked |
and the basket is taken from the pan |
After cookin. the baskets of fish are taken |
away and hung Just over a zinc table, for |
three or four hours. where they hang I'M
til perfectly dry, and are then placed be-
fore the women who do the packing. This |
is the only handling they get after being
stood mp 10 dry As previously described |
They are nov taken out of the baskets, |
one by one, and laid in the boxes, literally |
sardine fashion, and are overlooked with |
pure fresh olive oil. As the fish absorb |
portion of the oil there is no stinting of the |
deluge they receive. The boxes then pass
10 the hands of the soldcrer, who operates |
with an iron kept hot by gas-burner sin |
its midst" connected by Il rubber tube |
with the gas pipes, and having before him
L table 30 arranged rs to reyolvc and save
time in manipulating the boxes The pro-
cess OF soldering is swift and systematic
a single revolution OF the iron completing
the job. a final touch is the depositing of
the boxes 500 on 900 at once, in a vat
where they are made to boil ten or fifteen
minutes. After this they are put away for
day or two in 4 room, llneedeep with
SaWdnSt, where a swarm Of girls are ready
10 rub them with sawdust until all the oil
is wiped off and the boxes are as bright as
can be. Thence they 90 to the packing
room and thereafter 10 the place appointed
for all good sardines.