The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1877-02-21
Tho DAILY nlTELL|CENCER.
Wednesday, Feb'y 81, 1877.

HEERISG Fi=aISG.~O o.. waters
abound with fsh, in great vsrietv and
in 40 inexhaus,able quantity. b.. Of
these none are likely to figure 10 PROM
inently in the extensive and important
fishing interests. certain to grow I'D Oil
these shores in the near future. and
rAnk eminently among our chief
scarce, Of wealth, as the behring's Thi.
element o. wealth may, however. Ia
considered comparatively laten. in our
vsters Our fishing interests, at pres
snt, rank among the least Of our in iu,
tries, and are 20 far Of but little momen.
in the aggregate Of our home enter
prizes. Time. however, will most c.r-
tAinly work great change IN eli this
These interests. now just budding into
an inception. are destined ere long 70
become OF much importance. and
figure among our principal sources o.
revenue. The time must needs come
when they will be to Western Wash
isgton what they are to-day to Eastern
Maine. Nova Scotia. Southern New
Brunswick and the al jacen. islands;
and to these sections their fisheries are
the chief source Of wealth. and yield a
. revenue OF millions annually. Their
cod, hs,ibut and mack erel fisheries are
important, but their principal revenue
is derived from the large and extensive
herring fisheries. ou. of which humid
reds Of enserprising men along the
coast have made snug little fortunes in
. few years. One who has never Wis.,
tied that portion Of our continent
wouid be surprised at the amount of
capital invested in, and the wealth de-
rived from, this single branch ofindus-
try. But We are Of the opinion that
they enjoy no particular. nasaral adj
vantsges there for the prosecution
Of this business that can not be
found on Puget Sound. We lack only
in this however: We have not the
knowledge and experience tc apply to
the business here that they have there,
and perhaps the capital. This requis-
its experience they have gained through
many years Of toll in the avocation, and
have reduced the business to q science
by introducing one new feature after
another. year after year. Time WAS
when this business there, which is now
principally liz the hands Of men of con-
siderable means. was controlled by
few poor fisherman who pursued it in
much tue same manner a. the Grecian
fisherman do here about Seattle to-day.
They set their seines at half ebb tide,
drew them in on the fats at low
water aud picked out the behring's. pre-
cisely in the same manner a. We noticed
number Of Grecian fishermen doing
yesterday near the railroad wharf. And,
by the way, these fellows made some
pretty handsome haols Of large behring's
during the aftsrnoon, which among the
primitive fishermen of the Atlantic
coast would have been quite extraordi-
nary. We noticed q number Of Indians
out in their canoes At the same time.
picking them up Mt lively rate on long
sticks set with sharp nails These facts
go TO show that behring's are quite as
plenty ia our bay. ~ they are in some
of the bays along the Atlantic sea board
where. they have proved qsitc bo-
nsnxA - many cnterprising citizens.
The old method Of herring fishing. and
which Is the only one yet adopted here.
has passed out Of date there and is rs
far behind the times now ss the sail
packets of revolutionary times or the
age OF stage coaches. About the time
the war broke out. some one conceived
the idea Of catching behring's in new
kind Of brush weir. others took tho cue
from him and soon the old seines went !
out Of use. Men Of means went into !
the enterprise. Great oil presses were
built on gigantic scale and these were
soon. and are still turning out an iu,- /
mense amount of oil about Qu,ldy and |
the Bay Of Fundy. and yielding u
handsome profit to their fortunate /
possessors. Hundreds of barrels Of
herring sre caught in single night in /
one Of these weirs. They are taken |
by scow loads to the pressing establish
ment and salted down in great tanks.
and allowed to remain a few days till |
corned They are then put in huge ket-
ties and boiled till thoroughly cooked. !
From the kettle they are removed to
the mammoth press where all the oil is
extracted. The pumice, which RENAME
is carefully barrelled up and is CEN
sidered one Of the best fertilizers ex-
tAnt. and some Of il finds market in
England.