The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-09-28
"A Maine Farmer and Fisherlnnn.

IL was the islander who was both farmer
ana nshcrman, as person uniting in him.
sel1 the TWO most ancient and honorable
professions, that aroused III Middleton tho
principal interest. Such one could not
take the trips of two to three weeks with
the seiners OF the coast fleet; still less could
he 60 tho long voyages Of the banke 8, to tho
bays OF L'Escaut aud Chaleurs, to Green
lanu anu even as sometimes happens, to
the coast of Iceland, for fresh bulibut,
where they join the fleets ot Northern
France, the Netherlands, aud the Scandi-
havlans. lie must attend the loDstcr-traps
sot wcirs for herring, menhaden, alewivcs.
and al ackerel; keep drag nets and travis:
perhaps, II 1aVorably located, make a
specially of supplying bait to the fleet,
which, now that IL must be kept iced, is
often III great straits for it. Between times
he runs to she for day or two in his
cat-boat, his CLAMP ton boat" or his
Jigger. The cat boat, it appeared, was
the better sailor, since the more canvas IN
a single sail, the closer into tho wind; but
inc hampton boat-a modified pink stern,
with shoulder of-mutton sails ON it's small
masts-was tho "abler," that is to suy.
better qualified to stand the cxigencics of
all sorts OF weather. The jlgger, however.
u small schooner of perhaps forty feet lonr
ny ten feet beam, with Il considerable hold,
and cabin with four hunks, Il table, and
rusty sheet-lon stove ltr.
ward, seemed tho most available for general
purposes, whether for taking a haul of fish.
''sniacklng" IL load Of Holsters, wood. or
ice, or hawking u load of apples ut retail
from port to port, where they were a
rarity.
A professional "draggcr" carried nearly
mlle OF nets. They were straight and
not very deep. The tisll was meshcd in
them ny the gills. Thus by the regulation
ot the size Of mesh only picked fish need
Do taken, While the great purse seines OF
the fleet take everything, destroy at every
haul a value neurly equal to what is saved,
anu tend toward rapid extinction of the
hsh, as Middleton Was told, besides having
already reduced the average size.
Ihe trnwl was another engine Of formid-
able havoc, against Which thcro was equal
complaint IL is The method in uso among
the bankers, except OH Georges, whcrI
the tide runs too swift for anything but ly-
ing to al anchor, and hand lining over tho
sidt. The purse seine and the lrawl arc
Inc twometnods of taking fish par eucel.
te'!cc, The fcrd or Tor The mackere', tho
ttter lor all The h rs Of g. Ga. size, r. Wh,n
4lldileton saw tlawl, he found that it
was long cord with hundreds Of baited
hooks fixed at intervals along it. 1t was
sunk 81 as 10 rest On the bottom, buoyeti
at both ends, and left there. A tra,yer
Kept great numbers OF these lines neatly
coiieu III tubs, and set them one after
anoLhcr. Alter sufficient lapse OF time,
nc Went back To the iirsL, and "underran''
IL, that is drew up one end, passed it over
his boat, taking of the fish, and batting
The hooks anew, and paid it out at ono
side US he took it in at The other. Tho
method pursued by tho bankers was to
carry Twelve or fourteen dories, whicn
were put out when the fishing ground was
arrived at, with two men in each, provided
with tabs of travis at discretion.
1t was the sun. Gu c,i salt-tish that was
the 1avorite article of diet In tho islandcrs
househoids, while very little account was
made of the fresh. Tho young people had
some merry customs of their own with it.
They represented that il u certain particl,-
larly suit strip in tic centre Cal cd tho
dream ''line,' were eaten before going to
bed, the girl or tho young man one was to
marry would be lndlcateo by appearing IN
a visioii aid handing hlm or her glass OF
water.