The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-09-28

~ associate them in our fancy
~ \ with sea-walls of supimity or
Il " shore reaches of barrenness
and desolation. Sea-gulls lowering near;
skeleton craft bleaching in wind and
weather; tide-swept c9ves, wind-whipped
and gruesome, vary the picture. But the
harvesters of the deep ever recall pictures
of sea rage wrath and wreck.
The most noted fsher-folk in the world,
these of Newhaven, are differently envir-
oned. Their sea hauptS, upon and at the
ocean-mouth of the transcendantly Firth of
Forth, are of surprising loveliness. Their
nome hauntS are not in dreary coast ham,
let, pounded and howled at increasingly by
the sea, but in their own quaint, quiet
city of 5000 souls. They are not
periodically subjects of starvation and
charity; but live in ample comfort both in
their sturdy fishing crafts and their clean,
picturesque habitations. They are neither
.sodden nor ignorant, but are bright, earnest
and healthy minded. Ony the romancer
can find a more hopeless element of pathos
among them than among ordinary folk 1t
would be difficult to paint them as extraor-
dinarily picturesque, if we except their wo-
men folk who are all that, save when in their
kirk brats " or fnery, of a Sun
favorably with any smart American wor-
shippers. They are never drunkards nor
any other manner Of swine. They do not
favor customers with Billingsgate Of the
~-ll Order at any time, and the other sort of
forgivanie objnrgatonS and explosives are
only ready for application TO those not pos
sessing their own excellent manners. They
speak too good English to have pride in a
Scottish dialect. Their SuperStitOns chiefly
mint at penalties for dishonesty. In truth,
there is not enough about them, save that
which is upright, sturdy and fine, to attract
those who travel for the thrill OF being
shocked; for they are nne and all sturdily
honest, humbly GOd-fearing, tenderly kind.
Because they have ever been represented
in the magazines and reviews as an odd,
rough and uncanny lot, and / have found
them upright sturdy and fine, ii is delight
10 let the world know something about
them and their environment as they really
are.
NEwHAVEN AS 4 FISHING VILLAGE
Is very ancient indeed. In the early part of
the fifteenth century 1t was designated Our
Lady's Port of Grace" from mite of
chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary and st.
James, and a bit of the ruin of this edifce
is still to be seen in the old deserted burial
ground in the center OF the place. But it
owes its later Importance to speculative
whim on the part Of James V, who, in 1906,
erected here rOpewalk, docks and a ship
building yard. In the latter was construct
ed that then most marvellous leviathan of
the sea, James war-ship Great Michael, the
largest ship the world had then known,
whose sides, amdshipS " were padded with
solid oak ten feet .hick." The Great Mich
y ael was 240 feet long and SO feet wide; was
b-<aA--d With many heavy guns and three
great basslls, with no less than 800 moy-
ennes. falcons, quarter-ialcons, sings,
pestilent seIpentines and double days,
with hacbuts, culverines, cross-bows
and hand-bows. She was manned with
800 mariners, 120 cannoniers and 1000 SOL
diers; and was in other respects so Wonder-
full that to this day the monster IS recalled
whenever a new hshIng-cTaft enters the
harbor, for such is always The bonnlest
Newhaven boat syne MichaePs time" The
ONLY other noted incident ever occurring at
NewhaYen was when, in September, 1850,
sixty stately galleys and other ships an
chored here, and the queen mother, with the
most brilliant company ever assembled In
Scotland, sailed out of the Forth on
her way TO visit her daughter Mary
in France. But the city Of Edin-
burgh, whose, great port was, and is, the
city Of Leith, fearing the growing OF
the "new haven" purchased the entire
place from James ", in 1910, at good
round sum; and for the last $50 years while
the little port has remained simply an eX-
tension Of old Edinburgh and Leith, up the
south side of the Forth, Newhayen has had
but a slumberous growth. To-day 1t COM
pFises 5000 souls. Over 45o0 of these are
fishermen, fsb-wives and fishers children.
1t is a little world by itself. Its reputation
are people by themselves. In SPITE OF the
tram-carS that come as FAR as they dare
e from the great city and halt by the
Village-sde; in spite of the railway
that brings and takes vast crowds OF curl
Gus visitors; i'll spite Of the tremendous
= steamship and vessel life and its splendid
Apanorama before their very eyes; in spite of
tie churches, missions and national schools,
<Wedged between their curious haDltatlons
ard III spite of the unceaslng friction OF
!. their daily contact with the hue activities
OF a splendid city, housing the brightest and
most cultivated people in Great Britain
they suffer no diminntion, no infringement,
no change As to dress, customs, Dialect
mannerisms, mode Of life, modern progress
stops aghast at the outskirts of Newhaven,
walks around it, and passes on as IL with
sigh of relief at having escaped
A BooTLEss STRUGGLE.
But no Gne who knows the Newhaven
fisher-fok at all will set them down as lack
ing in unusual intelligence. 1t would be
difficult TO find anywhere in our own coun-
try an insulated town Of 5000 people possess
ing so many self-sustainiug, alert, CHEEKY,
actye-miDded souls There are not simply
a few predOminating intellects bending all
other wills and wishes to their own.
Man. woman or child, one and all.
suddenly whisked TO anywhere else, would
thrive. Their activity is remarkable; their
perception, quick and true; their amiablity
winsome; their physical power and industry
are amazing, and their tranquility ana con-
tent are something good to see ana know.
They are the only characteristic community
comprising distinct class, all Of whom toll
. bravely in the same manner OF drudgery, L
ever came upon in all my wanderings who
were willing that the better favored should
enjoy their good fortune, and were them
selves cheerily glad to remain as, and what
they are.
A good deal of this was made clear in the
few trips | took with the Newhayen fisher
men 10 sea- The total fleet comprises five 80
ton boats, costing $3.50 each: twenty-seyen
cotton boats, costing ESQ each; and 120
5ten boats, costing ESQ each; giving total
capital of nearly 100000 invested in boats
aline, The entire gear" consisting of
perhaps 100 miles of nets, tons OF lines and
hooks for Longtime fishing with creels,
paraphernAlia, involves an original and
sum sum so that the Newhaven folk
alone, who comprise but a small proportion
of the whole ffheImen along the shores OF
the Firth of Forth and the near fishing
ports, have a no mean investment out OF
which. with the addition Of their labors, to
deserve an excellent livelihood. Cod, had
dock and herring are chiefly sought. The
fisbing-grounds for the cod are in the mid
de Of the North Sea, about 100 miles east
of the Isle of May, which stands at
lie mouth Of the Firth of Fourth.
TIE fleet are usually away from port from
Monday until Saturday during few
weeks in the early spring. mere are no
shaud-liners," as with our Gloucester fish
ermen. who frequently 90 out from their
schooners, anchored on the banks. IN yawls
and dories to take cod with single lines les
The Newl ven men, on arriving at tne
grounds. float AID anchor that is, they
sail laziIy at tie rate of about four or five
miles an hour, reefing their ..'lug " sails; ae-
cordng TO the wnd,away from the ,, an,
chored" end Of cOd-llne, which Is always ni,s
from FIVE to seven miles in length. Inc
hooks are p feet apart; and three buoys
only, one at each end, with center buoy,
each surmounted by a red or black nag, are
used for the entire line length. Inc work
is usually
BEGUN AFTER MIDNIGHT
At such lime as will enable the crew to
.'get her all in the water" before sunrise.
f'Joek" lights, 6amboyants and ordinary
flashlights are used; and the effect WIN
~ .sexl.A fs hmm