The Dickinson press. (Dickinson, Stark County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1927, 1888-02-11
SARDINE INDUSTRY.
HOW NIMBLE FINGERS FIX THE LIT
TILE FISH FOR MARKET.
A Secondary Industry Which Grew Out
of Herring Fishing - Scenes at the
Weirs-Thc Factories-Cutting, "Flak-
ing" Frying and Packing.

secondary Industry growing out of herring
fishing itself Years ago the millions of us
living away from this little reach of shore
but Si,cck upon the enormous distances of
American and Canadian coast line-had no
better notion of the hcrring's Importance to
the affairs of life than that gained from
| Sllmps''s into unSavory tubs of picked her.
ring. or the puilse!it aroma asserting tho
presence of the knottE pine box of smoked
herring. lii the wonderfully miscellaneous
corner groceries of our youthti,le. What
ever and however large that trade formerly
was, it has almost disappeared. In place of
1t has come one of tremendous Importance, of
which there is no general knowledge what
ever.
At Eastport, Lewis Cove, Robertson, LII
bee. Pembroke, Southwest Harhor, Jones'
port, Mill Bridge and Cutler are located be-
tween thirty and forty of these sartline fac
tories. They employ. or partially employ,
from 1000 to 1900 hands from the middle of
April to the middle of December Every fac
tor is located OF the Main" coastwise shore,
i'll Maine Oh the shores of Cobsrook, Penn
broke and Passanaauoldy bays, or upon the
Maine shore of the ST. Croix
SCENES AT THE wElRs
Here. then. is the herring fishers home,
t.lh !iiH IiEiIhci itt Ioltle. w ME the latter
gives an ever changing reward, it is never
changing itself, and the fisher, after all. reg,,-
la.rs his own compensation. If The catches
are h"untful he will sell cEeaply, but never
for less than profit. If they are light he
often secures exorbitant compensation. for
tn" competition is always brisk. aud the fac
tories must he kept running In tho wear all
this ms to fisher and factory, adjusts itself
fairly enough. Each factory has its boat
men. These men, who principally live at
Eastport and Iul,ec, a.e graduate ouoddy
fishers. They have their qy,oddy boats and
crews, and their duties ara to scurrv sbout
among the wcrs and keep their factories SUP
piled with herring at the lowest possible price
but always supplied.
Wherever factories are located old and
young arc employed without distinction in
the various processes Of the work Regular
employment 'hN the day is furnished to but
few EeaIii 'iil the labor being done "hy the
piece" The arrival of the herring sloops at
all hours of the day and night---for the
"ca,rhes and consequent buying Of the her.
ring are dependent on the ever changing tide
lis announced hv the shrill whistle of the
factory. Then the hamlet, which is at every
other hoHr an apparently deserted village,
seems sid 'cHlv repopulated. From every
quarter, and almost from miles away, sud-
denly a)ir,ar "!'s invisible hosts. The place
seems bHwitcird and as though all its folk
Were nl;"l. half dressed, frowsy women, bold,
bad b"E' Eils! The salcic>t. hantlsoucSt bare
legged ss.!' yosl ,,"rl lthcl, all join in wild
entst.v''r i'r precedence. AS if by magic
the old she'd OF II factory swarlns with pant
ing racers md rc>ounls with the hum of
Voices AID '." lncIly chatter and camor of
welcome toll From the sloops tho llcrrines
are ualoadr't 10y rope and tackle upon the
wharvcs, one basket at n time, tally" being
kept Ly both the boatman and the boss of
the cutting shed.
FILLING THE BoXhS.
Under the eating she'd are large number
of cutting table. around which are gathered
old and Young of all sorts. though smart
lads are ,! e majority, The herlings are
lula,'o' II 'a,' these tables pron,iscuously, and
the ;e'l's spring to their work with wonder
fui cola =. their Knives flashing savagelv,
and cTc!'.' r'!"s upon the raise edge of the
the :,.aln completing its work upon one fish
To tie III ;l!t of each j.: a box holding about
one-t;lirtl Of bushel, and to the left "A bar
rel L.i;c.'y time the knife drsccn'ls the tail
ei:d Of a ,ai'"!as flies into the box and the
head ,.'.i cA.:alls into the barrel Cutters
arr j:l!@i a!'o.!i five cents per box for this
WORK IT, speed attained by some is re-
1narkallc. end there is no cessation of effort
until the ! st herring is disposed Of As fast
as the cutters boxes are filled the fish are
sortcd There are two sizes, "oilsn and
''r,ustarls' The former arc the smaller.
dc!icltr fish. packed in oil, 100 boxes to the
case. ;sil1 th" latter comprise the large her
rim. preserved in preparations of French
and German mustard, fifty boxes to- the case.
Tho fish are now transferred to the .spick-
ling roo..l" and placed in half hossheads of
brine, where they remain nearly half hour.
aid gro thea ''flaked." "Flaking" consists of
PARTIAL, drying the fish. This is done bv
placing he herring in single layers upon
"h;tkcs. $ lh",.t f"ur feet square, made of tri-
angular white lse''l. Stats held together by
light wo'lon rims This is done either in
the sun or in gigantic ovens. After the flax
iil- comes the frying process. The fish are
ipi!'"s upon perforated iron OF wire screen
Ii. pans 'fvo or three tiers deep when about
- i.;''i' 'i',."n Vi tiu,e are lowered into great
ralro',s of boiling oil. Here they remain
for perhaps half m hour They arc then
drained thoroughly cooled and then con-
vcycd to the packing tables Beside each
packer are great piles Of shining boxes
WIN lp'tfled lbs. Small boys coli
stantlT pass from table to table .aucily
squirting a portion of oil from great cans
into each of the open boxes Pans of fish are
continually being set before these women
AID girls. who handle the delicate lnorsels
with marvellous dexterity and care. filing q
box end adjusting the lid-im ausenblick! or
the wink of all eye, as the Germans would
say. for which the average price paid is ten
cents per case of 100 boxes From this room
OF CHATTER laughter fnd toll they are passed
to Ike sealing room: 5000 to 10000 boxes at
4 tine are then subjected to a steam. OF boil
lll-; water bath of about three hours d,lra- /
ti~": thcH are again cooled! then '.tnsted.n
thea hoyclcd back and forth in great banks
of c'l.a.i H;e'lust until the boxe. shine like
polished Siiyer and AZ" then cnscd and ready
for the market. good enough for anybody for
what tho; really are. but under the more
ral,,table guise of superlatively superior and /
siipcrtine French" sardines-Edgar L.
Walieman in New York Mail and Express.
s.maica's Agricultural Text Book.
The government If Jamaica offers pre-
MUM of 800 for the pio'l.!ction Of the best
practical elementary text book nf tropical
In