The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1881-10-28
Select Story.
LANDING A SWORDFISH.

"Now, then, altogether =
A swing on the peak halyard OF
trim smack, and fourteen-feet sword
fish rose in the air and was skillfully
lowered into dray that had been back
ed up to the pier for its reception.
That's what | call roarer," the
captain of the vessel said, holding aside
the piece of canvass with commendable
pride, so that the reporter could catch
its points ''Just cast your eye over
that sword. See how sharp it is; and
then over the body-h.w the lines round
up The whole fish is made for speed
a regular privateer. Fine eating, too.
This one goes to the market, and should
Judge that it weighed 400 pounds. They
make the finest kind of steaks. The
meat is white and ric.. and somewhat
like mackerel; in fact, they belong to
the mackerel family, so I'm told. It's
great sport catching them, but you get
used to it,like everything else. I've been
in the business twenty-five years, and
have caught some pretty big fish, can
tell you. We nailed this fellow up the
Sound, off Montauk, on our way to
Martha's Vineyard, and as had an offer
to bring some freight here brought him
in myself. The New England coast is
the best place for them, especially around
the south of the Cape, and to give yor
an idea of the Importance of the business
about 100000 pounds are caught every
year, worth about 100000 in rounC
numbers. In the Mediterranean, arOunt
about Italy and Greece, the business il
nearly as good"
"How about these stories OF their run
ming into ships?"
81 can vouch for one" the captain re
piled. SIN 1860 l found myself il
Ceylon, and, wanting to get home,
shipped on the bark Maud, bound fo
Liverpool. We were browsing alon
one day off the Bay of Biscay, stunsail
and everything jammed on her, and
was leaning on the weather cathea
when felt kind of shock-just tn
kind you feel when ferryboa strikes
piece of ice, only sharper--and the neA
minute there was something thrashin
about near the cut water that took
be a whale, but before the skipper g
for'ard it was gone We sounded til
well that night, and she had made abo,
six inches of water, and we kept I'll
pumps a going off and on, thinking tn
we had started plank. Finally we p'
into Tynemouth, in tho north of En-
land, where the bark was owned, an
went into the dry dock, There thu
found uader the bilge about ten inch
of the sword of one of these fellows.
had gone through the copper, oak plan
ing, and all, and broken off short.
heard of another case where sh
was struck in the Indian Ocean, al
was damaged so that the owners car
down on the insurance companies, W
tried to get out by saying it was
put up job; but they got Profess
Owen, the great English scientific ms
into court, and he swore right and II
that not only did the swordfish do
but they were as dangerous as a sh
from cannon. l don't remember t
exact words of his testimony, but he ST
the force of the blow was equal to
many hundred blows from hea
sledge or a twenty-four pound sh
Anyhow, they got the insurance
1--WE most generally use an iron
catch them, though some use hook, g
the Italians use some kind of liz
when they are out, to coax them
-- We have rest of iron rugged on
jibboom, and the striker stands on
while mau in the foretop sings out
"a the man at the helm how to follow h
l took a party of young Boston fellC
out last year They hired the wi
business, and wanted to do the wi
thing themselves. They pitched PEN
!. for the places, and when we left Holr
=" Hole one was hanging over the or