Omaha daily bee., 1883-05-16
SEEMING THE SHAD.
Drawing the Net at a New Jer-
seq Fishing Station,
Exciting Scenes.

Cor. New York EyesiJg Poet.
But now the tide has reached its
flood. The old watcher on the shore
seizes a dirty white flag and waves it
frantically to the distant bostmen.
The negro hands wake stupidity from
slumber, and rubbing their eyes, take
their places at the poles of the wind.
lass. The sleepy horse, too, Is reused
to animation by u lusty thump on the
vertebral column, and under stress of
man and horse power the great wheel
begins to revolve and the long rep, to
tighten. The distant tireme also has
been reused into life, the anchor
weighed, and eighteen pair of biceps
are pulling the craft no stream, white
the net pays out astern. Two or three
row. boats act az a sort of skirmisn
line to the outer semicircle Of floats to
warn off intrnding slcops and schoon.
ers. A half hour sufi les to pay out
all the coiled.up meshes aud connect
the further end by q fresh rope with
another windlsss q quarter of q mile
from where the FIRST wheel Is turning.
The net with It's land ropes now in.
cludes a vast semiclrcle of water.
Standing at the centre one can.
not see, &C far Is II, the line of
floats at the outer line. The hauling
a. both enos ~ done slowly, for the
strain Is enormous, and when the rope
has brought In the net to shore the
windlass has to bs dispensed with, as
the meshes would be orr on the ma.
chiuery. Now follows the most curl.
Gus spectacle of all. The negroes,
protected by rpb5ers reaching far up
on their thighs, dash into the water.
Each has a shoulder sash made from a
thick strip of netting ending at the
valet in a slip noose Ct cord, which by
means of a peg Ia quickly passed over
the fl )at rope of the net and fastened.
Tnen, bending their shoulders shore
ward, they walk up the strand, drag
ging the net, each In turn loosing his
knot to take bis plsce once more at the
river end of the human line. 1t is a
long and morotonous pull, lasting for
m hour, that follows, but the pictur.
cirque figures of the negroes, thei,
occasional shouts or songs, the gath.
cred crowds on the bank, and the
strange forms of snag, or stone, OIL
weed, that the net brings In, make
constant interest and excitement.
Sometimes 1t Is a pioneer fish that
b:esks the surface, or a huge tree.
Dough from the muddy Delaware bot.
tom, or an eel, which, In advance Of
its fellows, las been caught In the COLL
aud is brought In squirming to Its fate.
When nj sees, however, the Immense
toll and power needed to handle one
of these colossal %seines, much of tn,
poetry of fishing is msrred by the ex
pense. Not counting equipment o,
horses, some forty or fifty men arr
needed In the various processes Of
paying, coiling, and dragging the
seine An ordinary negro hand herr
earns about $22 a mon+h and board
by labor whose exposure, hardship
and strain cannot easily DO under
rated.
As the seml.circle of floats narrow
its dimensions, and with lessened re.
~sistance the net IN In faster an,
faster, the excitement deepens. Tn,
meshes now are clogged with tn,
shells of fresh water clans, which tw,
email boys armed with sticks strik
away as the cords emerge from tn
water. To keep the lower edge o
the net close to the bottom and pre-
Q vent the esoape CT the fish a stalwar
: negro at either side tramp.ng dow
the sinker rope on the sand. No'
comes the climax. The other hug
shad dashes almost out of water u
the bank, turns his cleaning side, an
darts again back into the r~estrsinin
net. Catfish, cells and clammy suck
ers break water, and a nimble perc
leaps through the air like a flyinl
fish. Vain the struggle for existence
The remorseless net, relentless o
fate, closes In. A few pulls more an
the sinker rope Is on shore, and tn
prey are banged in Q meshy basin fit
feet Wide. A moment later and
circle Of men have "hived" tn
fish In q foamy, flutterlng ma.
that churns the muddy water int
spray. A boat Is run alonside, astron
, scoop net transfers the shad, mike
with alewives, herring, perch, cat6s
and suckers, to the crafts bottom, an
the haul Is ended. Sometimes, pal
ticularly If the season Is early, tn
draw will be Q ''blsnk," and not
shsd will come In to reward all tn
g two hours trouble. But 1t Ia q raj
q thing not to get at least q hundred
and n OF two years ago $500 sha
4 and o 1000 slewives were drawnat or
: haul. When first caught the Dsl,
ware shad Is an object of rare beaut!
Fat, rotuud, with rich, dark gree
= back, and sides of opaleucent silve
he far transcends the faded SPLENDID,
that appear q few hours later on IL
boards of the fish mart, When fir
taken from the water the shad doc
, not leap about after the fashion of tt
. trout, bass and other game" fist
d but contents himself with On occs
Hional dull thump of protest with hi
muscular tail.
Six hauls of the kind described 81
made at Glouchester each day-thr,
!. at high and three at low ~wster-du
J ing the whole season Of Two month
except on Sundays.
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