Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-07-10
SCENES IN PENZANCE.
Wakeman Describes Some Of the
Mysteries Of Pitcher Curing.
CURIOUS CORNISH SUSPICIOUS.
Wiping the Shoe, and How It ID Bone and
Looked Upon.
AROUND ST. MICHAEIs BAY AND MOUNT
rconRrspoNpENcE or rHr prsrArcH.l


fore leaving the ancient Cornish seaport of
St. Ives my friendship with the fsherfolk
Of the town led to the gaining Of much in
teresting information regarding the famous
pitcher fishery of the bay.
Brief reference is made in my preceding
article to the coming of the shoals, the char
acter of the fish, which is very similar to
the diminutive Eastport, Ne, herrings
packed as sardines and given. French labels
in that enterprising Yankee port. and the
genuine sardine Of Biscayan waters, while
mention was made Of the curious operations
of the "huers" or watchers and the univer-
sal excitement In St. Ives when . shoal Is
sighted.
Seines from !, 200 to 1000 feet long sre
used for impoundiug the shoals They are
carried in large boat called the seineboat,
worked by from eight to ten men with oars.
No sails are used. Tho seineboat is at
tended by two smaller boats called, stow
boats" which carry smaller nets called
thwart or stop nets, while these towboats
are followed by still another tender, rowed
by strong lads, and used for carrying men
between the larger boats or to and from the
shore, as circumstances may reouira
Shooting at Once on Order.
When the watchers upon the heights sig
nal the order to shoot, both the seineboat
and the thwartboat start from the same
point. From the former the seine is cast
around the fish on the outside, forming
large segment of circle. From the thwart.
boat this stop net is thrown, forming a sort
of continuation of the circle, but the fol-
lower remains at the point of departure to
prevent the fish from passing through the
opening between the ends of the two nets
AS soon as the seins is shot the work of
the 'blowsers" begins. Twenty to 40 of
these take the warp or line at its shore end,
attach it to huge capstan and begin draw
ing it inshore. At the same time another
line called the towrope is carried from the
opposite extremity, and with this the men
in the seineboat warp the net inward. The
nets with the fish inclosed or penned in are
now brought near enough to land to be out
Of tides way and are safely moored.
Gathering in or taking up the fish Is
called "tucking." When the tide is low
the seineboat is utilized within the moored
seine, and has on board what is called q
"tucknet" With this the fish are scooped
from the wriggling shoal and brought so near
the surface that they may be dipped out of the
sea in basket Boatload after boatload 10
thus taken, until enough are secured to be
handled in the curing process between one
low tide and another, and when the shoals
are large a week Of night and day work is
often required
An Interesting and Brilliant Scene.
fTucking" at night Is always an.interest-
ing and often brilliant scene in St. Ives
Bay; the boats fastening to and fro, the
oars sparkling with phosphorescence at
every sturdy stroke; the subdued yet eager
activity of the fishermen as they plunge
their baskets into the water to raise at each
dip a stream of quivering silver; the hustle
and excitement along the pier and the busy
streets where the labor never ceases 50 long
as the shoal holds out; and then old st.
Ives, hanging like ragged mistletoe from
the heights above, with the terrace lights
like flashing tiara, are all worth storing
away among the pleasant pictures Of the
memory.
From the boats the pilchards are taken to
the cellars and storehouse in "gurries"
These are square vessels like open boxes,
with handles at each end. The fish are
salted in bulk, that is, they are built into
huge piles, in alternate layers OF fish and
salt. All this work is done by women and
girls who are quite as powerful in all nee
essary handling and carrying as the men,
The fish are allowed to remain in bulk for
30 or 40 days. During this time vast
amount of "pickle" and oil drains away,
finding Its way into receptacles from which
the oil is skinned. Then the fish are
washed perfectly clean in huge troughs,
when they are put with great nicely and in
regular layers into .casks, locally called
"hogheads," of 81 gallons each. They are
then subjected to strong pressure for week,
causing another large flow of oil, after which
they are headed up and are ready for ex-
portation to Mediterranean ports
Toughest Of Larks and Play.
These st. Ives curers are the wives,
daughters and sweethearts of the st. Ives
fishermen. brawnv of arm, stout of frame,
among the cleanest of women at home, not
given to the unrepeatable Billingsgate of
the Thames-side fshwives; and they get
more pleasure out of their neighborly
''teas" and their Wesleyan prayer meetings
than is secured out of any manner OF diver
sion by any other lowly women I know.
their rough larks and play, which are usu-
ally the source of discontinue to some man
of their own kind who has been caught at
some unforgivable pecadillo, or some
"oopstart" stranger whom they dearly
love to 'hustle" for awhile and then
treat to bath in the harbor or
within some convenient vat of "pickle"
and oil Indeed, throughout all Cornwall
all women who work at mans labor in
gangs together, like these St. Ives fisher
wives and the 'bal girls" or mining pit
brow lasses, seem to have penchant for
treating any man who has secured their dis
upon brutality.
Among their inmemorial customs none Is
more rigidly adhered to or more likely to
make trouble to supercilious stranger !
than the one among the St. Ives flshwives
of "wiping the shoe" II you by chance
step into one of these huge fish curing cell
lars, where from 30 to 100 St. Ives fish
women are at work, their shrill clack aud
clatter of voices are instantly hushed Some
built middle-aged woman ad- |
vances to you and without a word gives the
toe of one of your shoes quick wipe with |
q bit Of old rag filled with oil.
Paying Ones Reckoning.
That is all there is to "wiping the shoe"
if you Immediately respond with . half |
crown, or even a shilling This is counted |
as "paying your reckoning" for satisfying |
your curiosity, and the proceeds 60 into
nsh the gratuity, you are suddenly sur
rounded and roughly "hustled," in the
meantime coming in contact with rough
knuckles and hard elbows, which these fish,
wives know how to savagely handle, and ,
you are certain to at last land in the bay or
the more disagreeable "pickle" and oil vat.
1t is not more than eight miles across
from St. Ives Bay on the north to Mounts
Bay on the south of the Cornish peninsula.
On the latter stands Penzance, and setting
forth in that direction found that just be-
L. s-I
Being in doubt as to the right 0he, APP