, 1889-08-09
CATCHING GOLDFISH.
A GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THEIR
CAPTURE AND CURE.

Six Months of MISUNDERSTANDING the
Shining Beauties from the "KId" to the
Sailed Pile.
On the right and left of the fisherman
MS he stands at the rail are pegs driven
into and extending some two inches above
the rail. These are the pull bobbles' for
the lines TO run against. A small cleat is
attached to the bulwark, to which the
line is made fast, each man having two
lines, one at zach hand. A small pen or
"Hd" is built against the side OF the
vessel near each mans fishing berth into
which the fish are thrown when taken
from h hook and n larger one called the
CURRY kid is built amidships for the re-
ception of the offal from the dressing
down tables. Two large butts are dashed
to the bulwarks amidships into which the
cod livers are thrown and left to ''try
out" of their own accord, the oil being
drawn off now and then as occasion re-
quires from a spigot near tho bottom of
the butt. Everything is now ready and
L commence fishing.
BETTER THAN MEDICINE.
Two oil three partly picked CLAIMS are
placed on each hook and the leads are
then thrown over the side and soon /
feel them thump on the bottom. The
lines are then drawn in about three feet
and made fast to the cleats. Now |
stand with "nippers" on my hands and
arrayed in my barvil, or long oilcloth
apron, and grasping one line in each
hand say them back and forth alter
nately against the pull hobbies, thus
striving to entice the inny beauties to
take my bait.
Soon n dispatch is sent from the bot
tom of the Atlantic up along my hempen
telegraph that some poor victim has par
taken-of his last meal and, dropping the
other line, l quickly haul in hand over
hand und SOC have my first fish over
the rail and into the kid.
Batting my hook once more l throw
the lead overheard and while it is run
ming down, l grasp the other line and
find that this too has secured a prize.
Surely this is getting exciting, and as 1
pulled in our second line, its dripping
coils formed graceful circles on the little
platform at my feet. l forgot that l was
ever N invalid and our whole thought
was conferred on the one idea of dis
covering whether l nave one or two cod
fish Mt the end of that line. 1t surely
draws more steadily and with less furry
than did the first one, and as the lead
shoots up through the sparkling water l
discover that both hooks are treasure
laden, and with n loud and joyful hurrah
/ lean over the rail.
Talk about pills and boluses to quick
en- n sluggish circulation That last haul
really did me more good than all the
drugs l had taken for the past six
months.
LIKE A LARGE SLAUGHTER
The fish were all gathered from the
several kids and thrown into the one
amidships which adjoins the ''gurry
kid" The dressing table is Their set up
against the side of the latter, and, tax
ing u several positions, we are ready
for action.
Our throater, Lowell by name, stands
facing the dressing kid and, reaching
down, seizes n fish with his left hand,
the thumb grasping the under jaw and
lifting him, places the back of the fish's
neck across the edge of the kid, and with
a quick slash of his two edged, dagger
shaped knife, cuts n deep and wide cash
across the throat. A deft movement of
the knife then remove the tongue, which
Is thrown into n tub near by. He then
rips the fish down the belly far enough
TO expose the entrails and quickly Tipping
out the liver slides the fish across the
table TO the "header," who stands ready
upon the opposite side. During the re-
mainder of the voyage, l represented
that individual, and was indeed thankful
that our first catch was not a large one,
for l was certainly anything but an ex-
pert when l tackled my first fish.
The operation of heading is after this
manner: The header is provided with
wooden mittens having a thumb and fore
finger. As the fish is slid across the table
by the throater, the header seizes 1t by
placing the forefinger of the left hand
firmly in the fish's eye and the thumb
under the lower jaw. Then with the
forefinger of his right hand he grasps the
principal intestine where it is Joined to
the body and with n quick jerk tears it
loose; then with n forward ~scooping mo-
ton he removes the whole internal ma
chinery and slides it into the curry kid.
He then, with the left hand still retain
ing its position, draws the fish forward
until it lies upon its back, the back of the
neck resting over the edge of the table.
He now with his right hand extended
grasps the fish by the throat and with a
quick push against the napes with the
right hand and at the same instant a
sudden downward jerk of the fish's head
with the left, the head is broken off and
falls into n tub between his feet, while
h beheaded fish slides over to the
splitter, who stands at the front of the
table with the throater at his left and
Ii header at his right hand.
The splitter now seizes the fish by the
nape with the left hand and with a
quick slash with his long knife splits
him down to the root of the~tail. He
then places the lip of the knife under
the lower enc of the backbone and with
q sudden forward and 1t the same time
lifting motion, whirls the backbone into
the air and the fish Is thrown down into
the hold to the salter.
The fish are laid up in tiers like stove
wood IN a shed, the tiers running trans
versely across the vessels hold, each
layer being thoroughly covered with salt.