Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-05-17
CATCHING RED LORSTERS.
Instructive Interview with the Captain
Of a Smack.
From the New York Times.

Instructive Interview with the Captaim
Of a Smack.
From the New York Times.
The Mary Lane had made longer trip than
usual. and had picked up In addition to her hold
full Of fresh mackrel well full OF fine big lob
steers. Like many OF the fishermen, the Mary
Lane had an article Of vertu under the compan-
ionway in the shape Of a small keg of New Eng
land rum, supplemented by small piece OF
bric-a-orac known as q tin pint cup TO drink it
out Of and under the gentle influence OF the
rum and two or three Reina Nictorias war
ranted not to draw without a plaster, Capt.
Fairfax gave to the reporter, and indirectly TO
two or three million readers. some account of
the mode Of life, domestic habits. and final
massacre of that rare bird OF the sea, the
lobster.
after all the collics you've had from eating
| lobster salad" said the captain, (Which was
| only too true,) II don't suppose you know that
nearly all the Holsters brought to this market
come from the Atlantic coast, north Of New
York, and hardly any of them from the s'uth ard.
1t takes the New England coast to bring out
good HOLSTERS. III high rents north winds
drive them south OF Cape Cod they can stand It.
but give any lobster of mature age a choice in
the matter and he'll go north of the Cape. He
| likes rocks, and that's where he finds 'em. The
| northeastern part Of the New England coast il
the best lobster grounds In the world IL is full
of shoals, bays. inlets and rocks, and that's what
the lobster likes for feeding ground. Where
| there's straight line Of coast, you see and no
rocks, the bottom generally shelves out into the
water little ways, and then deepens suddenly,
| and don't give the lobster a chance. There
| is no coast anywhere can touch the coast OF
| Maine for lobster ground. They grow up
there as big as pumpkins and as many in a hill.
They're like you New Workers. the Holsters
| They like summer residence and winter
home. As soon as the weather grows cold, they
sail out into water deep enough not to be
lodi hu tno
Thirty fathOms or thirty-fve suits lobster very
| well for winter quarters. He lives there as
| warm and comfortable as you please. As soon
as the weather gets warmer the notion seems
| to strike nearly all the Holsters at the same
time that they'd better be getting In shore.
They come in I'm regular lines, as any old
lObster-catcher will tell you, the big strong ones
i'm front, to protect the little fellows who follow.
Two fathoms of salt water, three fathoms. four,
| five. or six will answer for the summer home.
| The lObsterman generally builds his shanty on
the shore of some cove, where there Is q good
| strip Of land TO beach his boat on. He don't
only catch Holsters, you must understand. Bless
your heart, he'll catch anything. from mack rel
| down to rheumatic. But Holsters give him
plenty to do at odd times. He builds his fish,
houses, that are generally bigger than the house
| he lives In himself, though the whole plantation
wouldn't cost over $50 Then he sets up his big
reel to wind his nets on. He always has big
iron kettle to boil the tar and rosin that he coats
the ropes of his lobster traps with"
THE traps are the principal part OF the lay
out in the lobster fishery" the Captain con-
tinued. They're like big bird-cages. but the
lobsterman would rather see dozen Holsters In
one of them than dozen canaries tell you.
Each trap is about feet long by 2 feet wide
and feet high. They are made OF Stats set
pretty wide apart SO the lobster can see the
nice bait inside. The bait is fixed on a row OF
| perpendicular hooks. The lobsterman puts
enough stones in the trap to sink it, and last
ems piece Of line to it: At the other end of
the line is piece of wood for buoy
| to show him where the trap Is. If the line
gets loose ten chances to one he loses his
trap. Both ends of the traps are made of
rope netting well tarred. The bait? Well,
| Gods head is about as good as anything. Cum
| ners do very well and are often used. Mister
Lobster sails up to the trap looks between the
Stats and sees nice Gods head just waiting for
him to eat it. He can't get In between the Stats,
| SO he takes walk around the premises looking
for the front door. He soon finds it, because it
was put there for him to find. In one of the
| rope network ends hole is left-a very pretty
| hOle just large enough for the lobster to go
| through going in. He walks backward YOU
know, and his claws slip through without any
| trouble. When he gets i'm he can't get out. That,
you see isthe percentage In favor of the game. III
he knew enough he could get out without any
| trouble. Finding himself in a scrape, he tries
to walk out frOntward, and he can't do it. III
| he had sense enough to back out he would be
| all right. He don't eat much of the bait III
there are 90 Holsters in a trap in the morning
there isn't generally more of the bait gone than
| piece as big as your finger Maybe they're so
scared that it effects their appetite. A lob
ster man has to have hundred or hun
dred and fifty Of these traps IL he wants to
make q living. He drops them around in q
circuit that often covers several miles, and
visits them all every morning. In the winter
| time, when he has to fish in deep water, the
lobsterman often runs good many risks. But
it's very seldom you hear OF q lobsterman being
| drowned. He goes out with his dory loaded
with traps, for he has to take them In frequently
| to bait them and make the necessary repairs. III
the Holsters knew their own strength they'd
make short work of the rope ends of the traps.
| But they don't. With his big front claws he
can crush a clam shell. If you don't believe
Holsters have any strength just let one of them
| take hold OF your finger. He eats clans,
mussels, cunners. founders and such fish.
full-grOwn lobster weighs from pound and
a half to twelve pounds. They have caught ff-
teen and eighteen Founders. but they're scare
| as hens teeth. To be fit to eat a lobster ought
| to measure, without the claws. from one to two
| feet in length. There is such a demand for
| them, though. and SO many are taken, that 101z
| inches, without any regard to the weight, is
about the average. That has been made a stand
ard size among the dealers. The average size
of Holsters caught is smaller now than it was
a few years ago on account of the large number
| of men engaged i'm the business And the prof.
| its have decreased quite as much as the size Of
| the birds. Time was when a man could make
- or $5 day clustering if he had a good
ground. But them times is gone. A lob
ster man has to put in a good days work
nowadays to make even 81. They are slow
CROWN creeturs and it don't do to kill 'em or
too fast. They don't grow up in single season,
| like the what-you-call-' ems, and then die. They
| live to a fat old age If let alone. When you see
one two foot long and weighing Is pounds
you may make up your mind he's 80 year
| old. I'll tell you when you'll see one that big,
when them cast-irOn dogs in front Of the Sub
Treasury begins to bark. But it is no uncom-
moR thing for lobster to live to be Is years old
When they once get to be 10-pounders they are
big enough to keep of all sorts of enemies ex-
cept lobster traps. They tell us about 15-pound
Holsters, these scientific market-men. II they
should see such thing once they d think the devil
fish was after them sure. / suppose you know
that Holsters are always black before they're
billed. The shell don't grow it drops of every
spri1g and new one comes on. The new shells
size is according to the size of the lobster-big
lobster, big shell; little lobster, little shell.
The first shedding Of the shell is said be when
the bird is about five years old. This may be
and 1t mayn't I don't know. When a lobster Ia
three years old he is not generally more than