The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-09-27
LIFE DOWN CAPE COD WAY.
Failure OF THE FdMOrs FISHERIES
AND THE H4RDsHfPs IT ENTAILS

FIXTURE OF THE EaMOrs FISHERIES
AND THE HtRDsHfPs n ENTAILS
| The Ola Men or the sea Bewaii Their Lot
| aud Find Work In tn. Fnctories-The
| Profits or Weir Fishing also Gone
| Truck rarm,ns BEING Developed, ana
| city Folk Eagerly weicos,sd on the
SANDY stretches-The sSunN Industry.
On1e,Ss. Mass Sept. 25.-Ths famous Cape
Cod fisheries have fall cd. For several seasons
the catch. haa not been large enough to pay
| even small wages to those who ten years ago
| prospered at the business. Dozens Of men
| Who hal large sums OF money invested
In boats md tackle have been practically
| ruined. and their property Is valuable only Tor
what 1t will bring In open market. A man who
for wenty years was prominent and success
iul In the fishing business. bit who now. as
the sun Of his life Is setting, has been forced
to turn to other pursuits. told his story the
other day with a 1uaintness OF accent hcnrl
nowhoro else. and although It consisted main
| ly OF dry facts 1t was pathetic. He said:
| Yea, the failure Is com plste. Tho fish have
/ either deserted us or We have caught them all
| Il don't know which. Why. II was figured up
| the other day that forty yeara ago fishing ves-
| sells valued Mt $lSo0O0 wore owned III Wellneet
| alone. This summer $4,000. and I presume
good deal less. would buy every vessel and
wharf iu the place. One OF the wharves has
Just been sold for $l.50o. including 800 barrels
OF salt and It's complete OUTFIT At ono tlne
this rroporty would have been cheap ct $l0,.
900. There ara hundreds Of these fish wharvss
on the cape. but there are no fish to keep them
busy, and they are pretty nearly valusless. A
vast fortune IL locked up In property
which was highly profitable only a few years
ago. but which now lies idle and rottinR. One
man. whom know vol. failed this summer In
Provincetown and could not ray ton cents on
the dollar. In 1880 he owned ten sail OF fishing
vessels ana was worth any whore from 100000
III. He WAS considered ono OF tho most enter
prising and shrsvd mon iu tho business. too.
and nothing but sheer lack Of fish to catch
could have forced him under.
AT Orleans fifteen years ago ten vessels
were Owned: now there is not one Dennis
port. Harwichport and Chatbum fitted out
many bankers: now none sails from any o!
know bu. V she sot Sundred ms
sells ii her iiees this sum msr is.ume ,hsrs
are not as many as that Each ono Q: these
that sssu 's I'm srss
probably 1000. including those, on shore who
and w"rkea 1 In the shore e @ % Sssa
Obliged 10 change their voea!ion..
why. only hNe years ago landed soventy-
one week. A box holds about $50 nonnIs OF
fish. SO You SEQ TINT that was a pretty good
shing In lie winter most 81 US used 11 to pns
but now that. too has failed 10 o,"t.r iss are
port. ,o now IN ssnE vessels s1e.p.
eda he cSss Goa HS s
lug fleet vas as iine one ,ss ever sailed. But
W r. Md for than 4 NJ hA
are some Of the best fishing boats over, built
disaster shors isl erIes have AVE- f "a
Many weirs have been absndonsi. T6ore IRE
IN all about , sixty welrs on the cane and in the
last sst ev bsrsy lost
clear expenses and perhaps a little more. but
thu w9o return for hs
built T. Irks aayan Iss ., ths stupidity q Tie
panse Of sand lies uncovered. i os;s ars
put e where 1 there Is foot or two Of water at
iowest ebb. These posts are not close enough
t~ssn fn. but they occur ire luenty st enoa Ssi
Sis 4 R S !S
sssinst ming q this sort r. YIN rot pass il
e sS sssG d.sD sssf R Rsq"S
At @ er md re ds ssa ss'
placed closer together and the array finally
side aud between the upper curves OF . heart
shaped enclosure. high enough to roach above
closure Is not tightly built. It opon.' hoWeysr.
into O.; s r. n simarly Shaped but sur,ound
g me hs ee %bs
out until they enter tho first heart There they
swim around for a while. but never pass out
Tor their instinct is that safely lies in The diree.
ton OF the oren sea- and only In that dlrec:
heart. ,hsy = s0 az; He sS.
~, man waits for low =, tide and then drives out IN
eonstrlctei for tho work viii, which fbS b. aid y
are then losdeG into WAGONS taken to sbo 1,sh
packed. and shipped.
have w.r sGms 81 these ws
spt wa Il, weir oTuef i s.s
boxes q FISH have Isen released from a weir
at one 'm n siply hscaus The catch was too
time T1sn tie All Wa 70. c.sn taken Out for i
isss y sssb :THa 'siE' T Tss
Srssn ceSs Yielded Bass Sn shs
the same season OF the year 500 would have
boen small catch.
While II is improbable that the failure OF tho |
1sheriea has caused any actual suhering-the
Cape Codders are too thrifty and given to saw
great deal OF unharniness. Men who havs ie- |
voted forty years of their lives to bobbng about
parts OF tho ocean. do not relish being shut up |
IN factories and shops. One old man who has |
been il his time the CAPTAIN OF many q 'urIy |
ships OF pissing his last days at a factory |
bench, raised MS hands and his lace and ex- |
OH, how love tho air! After get OUT of the |
shop at night stand q moment befoi Q i start |
for home and lot tho breeze blow on me- It |
fairly seems TO lit me IN Its hard to be- shut
away from 1t; it's very hardp'
And YET the gri2ylSd old lshermen sevn to |
alapt themselves to the new conditions OF lie |