The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1888-11-16

OhA BANHNAAN LAaIAAObA AAS NgAtu VI
other fshiag grounds in the Bosphorus.
Amsterdam, from a village of herring
catchers, cabins and odd shaped huts,
rose by the skill of the natives and fame
Of their commodities in foreign coun-
tries to atfiuence and grandeur Two
centuries ago the sayings were every
where current that Amsterdam is
founded on herring bones" and that
''Dutchmen's bodies are built of picked
herrings."
The Romans, like the Egyptians, car
ried the art OF rearing fish to great per
lection, and almost every rich citizen
had a fish pond. At some of their feasts
a thousand of the choicest fishes were
set upon their tables. 1t was a custom
at one time to carry the dolphin TO their
banquet rooms alive in order to glut
their eyes with its changes Of color when
dying. Cato, in complaining of his
countrymen, said: 1T was hard matter
to save Rome from ruin, when fish was
sold for more than an OK" The ruins
of Roman fish ponds have been found in
modern excavations.
About the yeAr 1000 there was but one
quay or wharf in the city of London.
The first was a Billingsgate, the great
fish market The wharfage was half
penny for every bOatload OF fish landed
The first dry dock constructed in the
same city NOW so celebrated for its i'm
mense docks and warehouses; was used
by the Greenland Whale fishers. Liver
pool also was once poor fishing village,
and its first step toward wealth and i'm
portance was toward The close of the
as a station for the embarkation of
troops to Ireland. Glasgow in the
reign of James !. was a small village,
and owes its first impetus to the wealth
derived from the fisheries.
The first fishers in American seas were
Frelchman, and there is a tradition
among the hardy race Of Biscay that
their forefathers had found the way to
Newfoundland before tue advent of
Columbus. Iii a matter Of fact, how
ever, that the fisheries of Newfoundland
were known to the Biscayans and Nor
mans as carly as the year 1901. Cabot,
when he returned from his voyage OF
discovery, reported that the waters of
America contained an abundance of fish,
creating an intense excitement, and YES
sells bearing aloft the flags of France,
England, spain and Portugal came an
nually in search Of cod for nearly a cen
fury before a European colony was
founded in America north of the limits
of the tnited States.
The Englishman who made the first
lrrauf fhn 4 flur,faa
Bartholomew Gosnold, who explored the
coast in 1j02. and, catching Goldfish near
the southern cape Of Massachusetts, gave
the name which it si;ll bears. Close
upon him followed the celebrated John
Smith, who took 40, G0O' fish, which he
dried, and 5000" which he ''cOrned, y
or picked, in the waters Of Maine, and
purchased large quantity of furs from
the natives. The profits of his voyage
were upwards Of seven thousand dollars.
Nova Scotia, down to the commence
ment of the revolution, was hardly
known and rarely spoken of, except in
connection with its fisheries. The prox
unity of the fishing grounds to the nu-
merous harbors combine to make Nova
Scotia the most valuable spot in the
world for cltching and curing fish.
Mackerel fishing takes the lead, receive:
more attention and is far more popular
than the other branches. The reasons
are apparent at a glance; it is the leas
laborious and most profitable.
The fisheries OF Cape Breton. Prince
Edwards Island Magdalene islands, anC
the Bay OF Chaleur are all more or les:
/ sv-.n-s.sI 49,.
The Bay Of Chaleur was explored by
Jacques Cartier in 1874. He called it thu
Bay of Heat" and on its shores art
some of the oldest settlements in NOrtl
America. Many of the fishermen ar,
Acadian French. The women, lik,
those of the ancient fisheries town Di
eppe. from which their ancestors came
wear calico caps over the head, short
petticoats of wooden stuff striped witt
/ red. white and blue. while the men wea
short jackets, scarlet waistcoats and blu
pants.
The fishing grounds off the coast o
Labrador are comparatively of recen
+ date, and but few cod were caught Their
previous to the revolution. In the Pill
/ grims' time the subject Of fishing ha'
become an important one. The Dutcl
| had at the time 1000 vessels engaged
in their herring fishery. In l61
British whalors went armed, ant
the British-Russia Company hat
received a monopoly of the whale fishery
The year following, Holland recei' ed tn
same privilege, and in 1GlS the contro
versy eliminated in a general war. L
1924 the Pilgrims sent a vessel to Englan'
laden with tish, cured with salt of thei
own manufacture, sud in 1926 opene'
n trade with the fishing vessels at Mon
hogan. Fifty years after the settlemen
/ of Plymouth the profits of the mackerel
bass and herring fisheries at Cape Coo
! were granted TO found free school
Name and New Hampshire were earl
engaged in fishing. deriving arge profit
from the industry. The settlement o
Massachusetts, can be traced directly t
the fisheries. In 1924 the Pilgrims
Plymouth and merchants in Englan'
built fishing stage and provided othe
accommodations at Cape Ann. Fls
were exported from Boston for the iirs
time in 1853. and Governor Ninthro
was interested in the voyage In u
the first schooner was built at Glouceste
bv Andrew Robinson. When she wa
launched bystander, looking on. eX
claimed. .sOh, how she schoonsH an
Robinson replied: "a schooner let he
be =" and thus the popular type of fishin
and coasting craft had its origin. a
the breaking out of the revolution ther
were more than six thousand men en-
gagged in the fisheries.