The Cecil Whig., 1878-11-09

men, who do not cease from their work,
however, with the running of these fish,
but spread their nets far into the Autumn
for the less abundant but equally valuable
perch. taiiors, pike, mackeIcl and other
scaly prizes which swarm IN the rivers and
flats of the bay. Il is not often that the
dainty epicure who complains of the high
price of shad at seventy cents per pair
stops to think of the severe toll and ex-
posure undergone by those Who catch them,
or of the bare livelihood which is secured
at such cost of health and comfort April
nights are damp and chilly, even when
Spring over coat softenS the bite of the city
air, but when they are spent upon the
water in dienched clothing or waist deep
an the water, handling wet nets and strug-
Cling fish, there ought 10 be some compen-
satlon beyond the necessares of life But
there is rarely any. The fisherman has no
chance To exc out his fortunes by small
farming, for his busiest time ON the water
is just when his crops need all the hus-
bandman' time and care. AS rule, he
has but little education, and his moral is
no! apt To be lar in advance of his intel
lcctual culture. He has little time for
reading, even should he possess that by no
means universal accomplishment, and when
he makes the effort, the result is not al
ways satisfactory, AS the following dia-
logue. which actually took place on a fish
ing shore will serve TO proye.
Say, John, what you been a-doin with
you self ali Winter? ?''
- been a-readin de Bible"
Well, what you got outen it ~
Well, been a-readin' bout a strong
man. He was the strongest man ever was.
lie vas name Thompson. and he had
fight with the Phillipses, an killed 'em
every one 'cept une, an he broke his jaw
bone
\ clergyman heard that an old fisher
man was dying, aud went to visit him
He found the old man in a miserable shan
ty, alone, with no comforts about him. and
lying on a rough bunk covered with straw.
The poor fellow seemed quite content with
death. When pressed for reason for this
comfortable state of mind. his reply was
that he didn't sec what God 4 mighty
had agin him more'n agin another man."
and that WAS the sum of his religion.
The methods by which shad are taken in
the various rivers of the Shore differ ma
rerially according To the depth of the
stream and the character of the bottom.
In the Chester, for instance, the hauling
seine is generally used, one side being lead
ed and the other provided with iloats-
When the nets are shot" they rest upon
the bottom, and the ends are slowly
brought together everything enclosed in
the bag must come ashore or leap over
the top line. There are few scenes oi
greater interest To ali iiler than the land
ing of the seine; the foam and boil Of the
water as the Imprisoned thousands dash
madly from side To side and are crowded
together by the fast closing ends; the flash
aud gleam of silvery scales as the strong
iinned leap wildly into the air; the lash
rngs of some huge rock fish cntangled in
the stout meshes: the rush and scurry as
4 shark or double head y darts against
the yielding cords and the strange forms
OF marine and luvral life which are cast
upon the strand, afford varied amuse-
ment and study. Where the channel is too
deep for seine hauling. the float net is sub
siituied, the lower side floating freely, and
,,.I,
CLING themselves by their gils among the
threads. When thousands of yalis of gill
nets are set in the bay, 1t is pleasing
sight TO watch the flicker of lights from
the "hurrican- lanterns fastened To the
stakes To mark the place of the nets. In
the waters of the lower peninsula differ.
ent method still is adopted, the rough and
uneven bottom, full of rocks and bristling
with snags, rendering it impossible to use
either seine or float net. The fisherman
sweeps tue water with a bow net, made like
\ huge battledorc.' while his boat is
rowed down the current by partner: for
the shad swim deep and against stream
\ line from the middle of the mesh reaches
to his hand, aud the tightening of this cord
indicates that a school of fish have struck
the net. when the whole apparatus is swept
upward toward the boat, and the catch Sc.
cured.
The fishing interests of Eastern Mary
land have suffered terribly from the reck-
less aud wasieful destruction of young and
spawning fish, The laws against the use
of small meshed nets and for the preven-
tion of Sunday fishing, although rigidly
enforced, have failed to check the diminu
tion resulting from such wholesale destruc
tiop, and the only hope of remedy now lics
| in pisciculture. The fish commissioners of
the State have exhibited great energy in
carrying out the provisions of the act Of
Assembly for supplying the depleted
streams, and many thousands of young
shad, bass, trout and California salmon,
from the Matching houses at Druid Hill
Park, are annually placed in the Chester.
the Choptauk, the Nanticoke and other
peninsular rivers. rs well as in the water
courses of the Western Shore. The work
has been going on for two years, and its
hrneiiclal effects will be felt by the next
fishing season. Notwithstanding the scar
city, however, fish still furnish the cheap
est food for rich and poor: the usual prices
in the Easton market are for perch and
pan rock, twenty-five cents per bunch; for
herring, one dollar or less per hundred, and
for shad, from twenty. five To forty cents
per pair; after very heavy catches they
have been known To "touch bottom AT
one dollar per dozen. When it is remem.
hered that these prices are for fish which
are esteemed delcacies, and that yellow
perch, catfish and eels are proportionately
lower and abundant during half the year,
it will be seen how inestimable a blessing
to the laboring poor of the peninsula is the
Chesapeake with its tributaries as "A source
"f cheap and wholesome food. The amount
of revenue To the Shore is very great, the