Telegram-herald., 1890-09-21

we're wilAag that tie betteI favored
sn9uld enjoy their good toEtuLes aad
we're themselves cleeflY glad 70 re-
main as. and = bat. they are,
4 good dezl Of tbs VAS made clear
IA ne few tEips | took With the New
haven fishermen 20 SEA The total 1set
eOuip pKises ne 30-t0n boats, costing $500
each tsenty -segen 2V-tOa boats, costing
t19O each and 10 3-tOn boats, costing
80 each giving = tot4l cspltzl 0f nearly
tlOo 600 Invested IA boats alone. Tie
entire gear" consisting Of perhaps
one hundred miles Of nets. tons OF hnes
and hooks for lOng-lin fishing, with
efeels, Grams, eressets, and various IN
nanlable parapherHalla, involves an
orig nal and repair outlay OF nearly an
equal sum; so that the Newhaven folk
alone, who comprise put small pro
portion OF the whole fishermen along
the SHORES Of the Firth OF Forth and
the near tishlng ports, have no mean
Investment out OF which, with the ad-
ditiOn OF their labors. 10 deserve an ex-
eellent livelihood Cod, haddOck aud
herring are chiefly sought. The fish
ing grounds for the cod are IN the
middle or the North sea, about one
hundred miles east Of the Isle OF May,
which stands at the mouth OF the Firth
of Forth. The feet are usually away
from port from Monday until Saturday,
during a few weeks of the early spring.
Thele are no "hand liners, as with our
Gloucester fishermen, who frequently
20 out from their schoOners, anchored
on the Banks, IN yawls and dOrles 10
take cod NTH single lines. The New
haven men, on arriving al the grounds,
float and anchor" that Is, they sail
lazily at the rate of about four or five
miles an hour, reefing their "lug" sails
according 10 the wind, away from the
anchored" end of a cod-ine, which IS
always from five 20 seven miles IN
length. The hooks are twenty-one feet
apart; aud three buoys only, one at
each end, with center buoy. each sur
mounted by red or black flag, are
used for the entire lne-length. The
work is usually begun after midnight
at such a time as Will enable the crew
10 "get her all in the water" before
sunrise. "Jock" lights, flamboyants,
and ordinary flashlights are used; and
the effect with large fleet, on q moon
less night, is as though innu0erable
SEA NOlC3nOGo NtIC cCDQAlk lOlktls III
regular pulsation, tiny flashes of flame.
-Four men are required TO shoot
the line. Three bait the nook with
herring, and one pays OUT the line.
In "haddockin' seven men COM
prise boats crew, and each man owns
a line 10 which is attached 81 score of
hooks, AZ inches apart, $3.50 feet long.
The Joined seven lines constitute a
fleet os lines, the total length of
which is more than seven and one-half
milesl As the haddock boats make
three trips week TO sea, and hadGock-
hooks are Daited with mussels, which
are gathered along the shores of the
Firth, "musSel- gathering" done by
the women and children, and chad
dock batting" add largely to the earn
iugs of the tishermens' wives. BY an
Interchangeable law the wives and daugh-
ters OF each ''haddockin' crew. bait
that crews lines. receiving three shil-
lings. sixpence per line, or twenty-four
shlllngs sixpence per "heet;" and if the
crew have in it unmarried men, these
cannot favor their sweethearts with the
labor, but must give 1t to the women
folk of their married companions. The
iI1AAOEh LAEtl VI lii4Co - cuOl luSl
rs the day Is breaking. As they snap
and fiyllke whip cordsinto thesea. many
a hook Is embedded in a fisherman 5
hand. But this does not "put them
sair about" as they cheerily answer
you, while drawing the savage barbs
from their flesh with their teeth. The
haddOck lines are not permitted TO re-
main under water but half an hour,
and are scarcely ever drawn" without
an excellent yield of fish.
All the herring taken by Newhaven
fishermen are sold for fresh consump-
ton in Edinburgh and It's suburbs. the
greater portion hswked as "Caller
fresh herringv' by the Newhaven fish
wives themselves. Quest for these de-
licious fish is made in ever-varyIng
portions Of the Forth, from opposite
Newhaven itself, to the open sea be-
yOnd the famous Bass Rock, the "sea-
son" continuing from July IS. TO the
7th of September. If the boats are
going a long distance. they depart at
day-break; If but fifty or sixty miles.
they leave at noon. In either case they
make beautiful picture against the
dark emerald background of the bold
Fifeshire hills 10 the north. Each boat
carries eject" of from fifty to sixty
nets. each net about sixty yards long
and eighteen yards IN width, and the
crew OF each boat as Il passes out to
sea- are engaged in "tishing down, f"
which means slowing away the nets IN
the hold ready for paying them out on
arrival at the fishing grounds. Here
they drift with the tide until the instant
the "sun ia Ks tn hill, that is the mo-
ment It begins 20 disappear behind the
horizon. The joined nets, which are
provided with bu0ys every forty yards,
are then "shot" in half hours time;
white lights are hOisted that the little
craft, winch continues 20 drift with the
tide. may not bC run down by passing
channel steamers; supper IS had; and
al, save one look out, turn into their
hunks for sleep until O'Clock IN the
morning.
All Of the Newhaven folk 1--we well.
X IS their boast that MT even the gen
iry excel them. The w0meu bring from
the city good many dsruties 20 give
variety - the C0arser food: they are
notcd for cooking FISH and always SO
cure the choicest for their own homes
aud the fishermen, either on short or
long cruises. provide bountiful locker.
a. I know from personsl experience
and enjoyment. AZ every breakfast We
we're furnished boiled or mashed pots
toes. ham and eggs, OF ish. salt or fresh
Nhite bread from the Edinburgh hsker-
-. and ocesns Of tea with condensed
mix. At dinner appeared that univer-
sal comfort Of the Scotch lowiv kali
hr0se or cabbage broth. great p.stters Of
fdnG" and srup. mountains of ho. led
beef and potatoes and more foods of
tea. Atsupper there we're fresh OF 81 L
herring. oat-csxns. cheese aud bread
and srup A. Al times there vas =
bomtiful supply u good butter. snd {