The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-05-27
THE FISH TRADE.
THE SONS OF CAPE COD AND THEIR
ENTERPRISE.
The Sandy Peninsula in Early Days-A
Club OF Observation-Disclosures Of
Swampscott-Fish Markets
Wholesale and Retau.
Boston Rudget.l

Ever Since Tue plBIlDlS 4dUueO d.
Plymouth bay those treasures OF the deep,
cod, haddock, halibut, mackerel and the
smaller varieties of the finny tribe, such as
perch, founders, smelts, etc, have been
a source not only of wealth, but precious
boon in this section of the country IN
times of need, when agricultural labor
produced barren results. The waters
which wash the shores of this crooked
and sandy peninsula, Cape Cod, in early
DAYS were alive with the above named
specimens of floating population which
sometimes by force of numbers darkened
the face of the great deep. The great
value of these marine productions was
soon appreciated by our hardy predeces-
sors, and fishing was for many years the
most productive branch of industry to
switch they could resort to sustain life.
Cape Cod is supposed to have derived that
name from the fish which kept its inhab
itants from starving, and which for years
was the staple product Of the colony.
All along shore, away down to the ter
minus oceanward of Cape Cod, the hardy
fishermen trained their boys to be sailors
with such perfection that Cape Cod boy
was preferred above all others by the ex
porting and importing merchants OF BOs
ton, New York, Baltimore and other mari
time cities. The finest ships that ever
sailed from these ports were navigated by
Cape Cod seamen, whose early training
was in the fishery business. Fishing for
fun and fishing for living are two very
different things, fact which will be
readily acknowledged by those who have
tried both.
About the year 1910 a club of amateur
fishermen was formed, COMPOSED of many
lively Boston boys and middie-aged mer-
chants for the purpose of exploring Mas
sachusetts bay and catching the biggest
cod to be found floating or swimming in
its waters 1t was called the Mammoth
expected to do his level best IN capturing
a leviathan of the deep. Large pools,
sometimes amounting to So, 50, 49, and
even S25, were offered for the first sCaly
culprit hauled on board. Capturing fish,
however. was not the primary object of
the amateur fishermen, as some of the yet
remaining original members can attest.
Several of the committee on "bimbo" and
"draw poker" are yet living.
The fishermen of Swampscott have al
ways enjoyed high reputation for dar-
ing and skill, and the Phillips beach dun
fish are esteemed a luxury the world over.
Some of the Nahant boys have earned ce-
lebrity and competence by their industry
and skill, but the palm must be awarded
to the hardy fishermen of Marblehead and
Gloucester, and especially the latter, who
lead the world for daring and enterprise
in this speciality of business From the
outside of those solemn rocks of Nor
w
winged clippers, manned by hardy sailors.
to the foggy and treacherous Grand
Banks" and the coast of Labrador, in
search of cod and halibut. Hundreds of
them return in the course of a season with
profitable fares, and many, alasi are no
more reported. The widows and Or
phans of Gloucester, RockDort, and Mar
blehead would make large population.
Fish markets have existed in Boston for
nearly a century, the first having been
established near the present Chelsea ferry,
and later on at the Town dock, where
Faneuil hall market now stands. The
first regular stall in that building was
opened by the late Isaac Rich. and con-
tinued by Shattuck Jones in later years,
the business now being IN the hands of
Mr.. Q. A Jones, the largest retail dealer
in Boston. Boston is the acknowledged
head-center of the fish trade in this coun-
try, even the metropolitan city of New
York receiving its principal supplies of
standard fish from Boston. To show
something of the magnitude of this trade,
figures show that in the last reported year
the New England catch of mackerel was
$40, 674 barrels, and that of cod 1854, OBS
quintals.
The clipper schooners now in the
Grand Bank. business are quite as stylish
In build as the ordinary run of gentle
mems Yachts and their CABIN accOmmO-
dations are commodious if not elegant,
yet it is the general belief among old
sailors that safety has been sacrificed to
luxury. These elegant boats are not of
the proper models for sea-going ser
vice; the old "pinkey" style of craft were
the safest boats that 1oated. Sharp at
both ends, and of the full model amid
ships, they could ride out seas that would
founder vessels of modern build. Seldom
was one of these unique boats lost in the
bowling gales which prevail, and always
have prevailed, on the banks or on the
treacherous coasts of Newfoundland and
vicinity.
The wholesale fish interests are now cen
aeTed upon T wharf, known for the past
100 wears as "Brimmer's T, it having
been built in the Olden time by Martin
Brimmer, whose name figures in Boston
records as conspicuously as that of Robert
Treat Paine and his numerous descendants,
Among the old fish-dealers of Long wharf
were the Nickersons. old Cape Codders,
Churchills and others. The retail trade
in fish is mostly confined to Faneuil hall
market and its vicinity, but in some por-
tions of the city the old fashioned style of
pe6dling from hand carts is still in vogue.
In the suburban districts the vender
drives about in covered wagon and sells
from house to house
Philosophical Explanation.
TBrooklyn Eaole1