Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-11-24
Nothing has now to he done excep. d

Nothing has now to be done excepsoo
trim and hoist a white riding-light, and
to keep watch till sunrise. Our even
ing's labor thus concluded, we repaired
to the cabin, where I found my chest
neatly slowed and my bunk ready. Our
ideas of comfort are relative-an axiom
applicable to each and every detail OF
smack life. A smack's bunk is coffin
like cupboard, with sliding panels in
lieu of doors. 1t is about six and a half
feet long by three and a half feet in
width, and three feet in depth. Its
furniture is a mattrass and a bolster,
and it serves all the purposes of bed
ROOM, sofa, wardrobe, and private store
cupboard. Sheets are an unknown
luxury. You sleep, according to taste,
in your clothes or without them, and in
summer time, at any rate, you need no
rug or coverlet. For my own part, I
Invested myself of boots and jacket,
and after a warm cup of tea and a bis
cult, was soon sound asleep, not even
beingroused by the midnight supper and
the shift of the deck watch. The sea
and the wind, the groaning of the warp,
the rattle and creak of the sails and
cordage, and the footsteps and whls-
pered voices of the watch all blend on a
fine night in II pleasant, drowsy muir
muir, and sleep steals over you gently
and tendcrly. And here it may be ad-
ded that a smack's cabin, although
small, ill-lighted, and often very warm,
is never close, unpleasant, or unwhole-
| some like that of a barge. The fresh
sea air forces itself down the companion,
there is a perpetual draught from the
fireplace up the funnel, and your bunk
is as we'll ventilated as any bedroom is
or need be.
AS night melted away into daylight,
we We're all hurried up on deck to get
up the gear. This is a slow process, Of
ten taking some hours. The first thing
is to haul your vessel close to the wind;
then the capstan is put to work, and the
warp and bride dragged up inch by
inch. The strain is very severe. Some
Of the capstans are worked by steam o.
with patent winches and cranks. That
of the Alarm is more primitive and is
worked by six hands, each at a bar.
Round and round they tramp, with a
measured song or chant of ''Heaye her;
now, now; heave her, heave her" When
the beam at last shows itself, a strong
tackle is promptly thrown over each
end. One, the "derrick,'' is at the YES.
sells stern. The other, the ''burton,'
is siung from the main-mast head. By
their joint action the beam is
hoisted up and dashed to the
sides. Then the mouth of the net Is
got on board. During this part of the
process a few fish manage to make their
way off. But when once the ground
rope is over the side, the net is closed,
escape is impossible, and, as the great
bag is pulled in mesh by mesh, the fish
founder and wriggle down into the
cod" AS the ''cod' approaches the
surface, the amount of the take shows
itself, and the excitement becomes in
tense. First, a rope is passed round the
net so that the 'cod'' is tied up like a
great sack. To this tie, or lashing, is
attached the ''burton." Another rope,
attached to the end of the "cod," is
worked from the derrick" Then the
huge purseful of fish is hoisted steadily
on to deck; the cod-end is unfastened,
and out the captives roll and flap and
struggle in n great indiscriminate
heap. 1t is a sight to stir any n who
in the least loves sport. The early
morning, the thwart rays of the young
sun, the sea beaten vessel with her sails
and cordage, the deck alive with fish,
the hands IN all their picturesque I'M
couthness-it is a scene crowded with
vivid detail; a lost opportunity except
for a sea-painter, master of his art. In
a moment, however, we are back in the
prosaic details of business. Each man
pulls out his knife and sets steadily to
work. The haddock, cod, ling and
whiting are Quilted, thrown into a heap
and thoroughly washed down with
bucket after bucket of salt water. The
turbot, soles and place are set aside.
This done, the take is a little more care
fully sorted out and packed in boxes for
the market-the little fish at the bottom
of the box and the larger at the top.
Next all the ''sculch''-foul fish, such as
cats, stingrays and toads or anglers; un-
stable fish, such as small gurnet, dabs,
plaice and haddock; and with these all
sea rubbish, such as whelks, weed,
"scruff," sponge, s'candy," CRABS and
other refuse-is hurled overheard, and
the decks are well sluiced down. The
boat is thrown over the side, and sets off
to the steamer loaded up with the morn
ing's take; and, pending her return with
a fresh allowance of ''empties,'' break
tast is prepared below. Our catch for
this, my first morning on the Alarm,
was reasonably good. We had sixteen
boxes of haddock, two of plaice, two of
cod and one Of turbot. -L0ndon Times.