Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-09-09

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a Wells Mel speciAl says = There's
Ma lsr ye,'' said IN oil-skin-coyered
llshefnsn 70 the Timcs's correspondent,
holdink M his sail, showing 4 full o.
senss ana holes. /" Wind aud weasnef
~ much, bat them cassed doSusn,
thsy'ye sot IN solid"
= DO yea mesn that the sad was TORN
- dognshl /"
/" Why, ssrtin I do" replied the
6xhernsn. "Ye don't s'pose I'd chsw
4 u1yssIg, do yer Why, them ere
AZ. = pointing 10 boatioAd no had
thought IL, q would eat tea-penny nails
e they could get 'em. Every yea,
about this time they come around, aud
it,s rood.by fishin'. | went out yes
essdsv and took over two hundred
ooupd Of cod and hsddock, but this
norma when / got OF Boon island
/ couldn't get : bite. Then |
hauled in, and my hooks was clean
gone, an see the dogdsh had sot in.
There amt nothin' to do but 60 a-fishin
for 'em, 10 put in wire hook, and IN
less n two hours ! had the boat so iail
on 'em had to stop for fear Ia SINK
her, and sgin ! didn't like ter be aout
with 50 many on 'em. Why, Ter ten
miles, o. fur as could see, ] could see
their ripple; they'd sot in solid sure
and were starvin'.
~No, l don't know where they come
from. but from the Gulf Stream or
warm water, / reckon, though some on
'ern stays around here oil the year
around. They was so thick that II Ia
hsd . spear | could have taken 'em
y;rbt from the bot as fast IS could
work. They bit at the oars, and the
sail happened to drag, and, as you see,
they regularly chawed it up. Why :,
I'd happened to go overheard it would
have been good-by, John; and don't
you forget 1t. -, u
Accidents ever happenS" Well
should say rs much. Some years ago
4 man that / knew well lived up al
Towa's End, up the coast. l kept
ssiI.host moored off shore. One evenin
be went down to take his wife out iora
sail. and told her to wait while he swan
ont and brought her in. SO he hall
stripped and went overheard, and when
he fot in midstresm he gave scream,
and they saw him leap half out oil
water and then go down, and one
Of the men who was on the beach
and saw him said that when he riz
up the dogfsh were clinging to him all
over. They tore him all to pieces just
like wolves, and when they got out
there in a boat they couldn't see nothin'
but dogfsh and the stain on the water.
Another time, up on the Georges,
schooner was lynn at anchor, when the
men heard 8 splash, and running to the
side they see the shippers little boy
had gone over; but all they could SO,
was ball OF dogfsh goin' over and
over tryin' to get at him. and they
never see the young one agiD. As |
tell you, they're just like pack Of
hounds or wolves, and eat one an
other up just as soon as not, and
o little sooner If anything. We do
good deal Of trawl-fshin' here, aud half
tie time you'll find nothing but heads
on the hooks. The dog6sh will come
along and chaw up all the fish that is
ON, and then get caught themselves. and
then another dogfsh will come along
and eat that one up, and so It goes.
You see, there's so many millions OF
'em there and nothin' for 'em to eat.
Jest look here now. I'll take 'em out
at random, and you'll find .'em rs
empty as a spare room "; and the fish
ermsn took a dogfsh from the pile and
cut it open, and then half a dozen
others, showing that none Of them had
4 particle Of food in their stomachs.
1--WE seen 'em eat jelly fish," con-
tinued the man, - and they must be tar
nal hungry to do that, for there amt
enough solid stuff in thousand jellies
10 Eli q fly." While the Wells man
had been speaking four other dories
had sailed into the little creek, each
laden above the rail with dog6sh, so
that the boats sank dangerously low in
the water, and on top Of the heap in
each boat sat the owner, encased in a
rubber suit, steering the load with a
single oar, which he usei as rud-
der. All told the same story regard
ing the ferocity Of the dog6sh
and their vast numbers. Some Of the
fishermen showed the marks Of teeth
in m oar others, q sail gnswed by the
hungry brutes, and all manifested dis
gust that the dognsh had "sot in"
Before night dozen boat-loads had an
chored in the little bay, aud the shore
was covered with the fish. Each mar
sat down among the fish and skilfully
removed the liver, tossing 1t into q
small can, from which it was taken and
placed in . caldron and boiled down
The dead and useless bodies were sole
for small sums by the cartload to .
long, lank native, who urged team o
patient oxen down into the water aut
pitchforked the defunct dog6sh into th'
cart. The fish are used as fertilizers
The tyawl-lines used By these sharl
fishermen would be revelation to som
Of our fishermen. - That line," sal
4 man ' no, with three others, was gang
ing hooks, I" is about three miles long
and every three or four foot there's
hook on leader three foot long, so 20
kin do your own fggerin' as to the cost
We reckon there's about four miles 9
line on good trawl, and 1900 or 4, 90
cod-hooks kin be put on, and IS sharks
all big fish, gets away with 'em, it
something Of cost, kin tell y
This line was new last year, but q
theee ere gansins are rotten, an
we've been putin on hooks for thr'
daya; tomorrow We bait her u
ana bait il scarce The oper
lion Of batting Was interesting. T.
fISheEaan had expended about els
bait, which consisted Of macker,
squid, and clans. Three men We
batting. They sat in circle and CO,
: menced at the end, tested each hoo
baited, and coiled the baited line 10