Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1893-06-17
WHERE NETS ARE MADE
AN ODD BALTIMORE INDUSTRY
DESCRIBED.
Am the Nets Used in ThIs Country Come
From One Faetory-Big Looms
That Weave Threads or
Ropes Into Meshes.

I4AtF rAntb tHat ustN NhGu thAH
found that fish were tit for food he
has sought ways and means to catch
them. Those who see only the
Jimmy tribe that arc exposed upon the
market stalls for sale. have the faint
est idea of the enormous amount OF
work needed to catch these willy i'm
habitants OF the deep, says the Balti-
more American.
The catching, Of course, calls for
experience, Judgment. and proper
conditions Of weather and water. but
the manufacture OF the nets that do
the catching requires vast sight
more labor, Judgment, experience and
capital.
ANY Of a. disciples Of Isaak Wal
ton, who are disposed to kick about
the cost Of their nets, should step i'm
to the old fashioned structure ON
Pratt, near Light street, in this city,
whore they make them. and note the
toll and provision and patience called
for in their manufacture.
The nets used by fishermen from
Baltimore south TO where the Gulf
stream strikes the Atlantic are made
al this place. The same firm sends
most If not all. OF the nets used in
the salmon fishing along the great
lakes and the Pacific coast
The twine in all its various grades,
as to weight and thickness or
strength. il made in the CaroIinas.
When received here il Is in huge
hanks. and from them unwound upon
bobbins or big spools. These twines
range from an almost imperceptible
but wonderfully strong linen thread
to the giant cord, with which the big
traps for fishing on the great lakes
are woven. After being wound upon
these bobbins they pass 10 the weav-
ing or knitting department.
1t Is wonderful sight to watch
the dizziness, the rapiditY ~ the great
knarled fingers Of fisherman while
weaving his net upon the sands or
before the humble cottage he calls
his home. but here are thousand
fingers Of steel clicking like an elec
trio flash fy back and forth. up aud
down, tying knots a. perfectly and
hAA1AHeAlA tAAAAEN AAApEG EAWtNLN EIWu
ever human iingers could weave.
Every form OF net Il woven here.
and these fingers 81 cold steel can a.
quickly take up a stitch or drop
stitch in order that different form
be made Crab nets. minnow nets.
turtle nets, minnow seines, drop nets.
hand nets, eel pots, gill nets. salmon
traps, salmon seines. fylSe nets. mack
erel and porgy netting. drag seines,
brook fykes, and trammei nets are
but few Of the forms
Besides these the net maker il
called upon TO make nets for trapping
partridge, quail and other birds,
poultry nets, nets for trapczo per-
formers, horse nets. barrel covers.
vat nets, pickle nets. nets FOR butch |
ers and lauhdrymen. netting for
theater scenery. netting for fruit dry
ing and hundred other purposes.
The smallest mesh woven on these |
big looms Is forty-twO mesh. and Il
will weave as high as 200 meshes.
A purse-seine machine will knit
about ten pounds 81 linen netting a |
day, while the loom upon which the
salmon nets arc woven will make /
twenty-five or thirty pounds As the
machines weave the netting it passes |
down over the looms and through an \
aperture in the door upon which the I
loom stands to the floor below. where |
any flaws are quickly detected aud |
repaired by the examiners. who are 1
all girls and young women. because I
the feminine eye and finger has been /
found more quick and accurate Ia the
work Of examination.
After this the netting which Il to
be ''barked'' Is passed over a gear
reel and through tube Of thin bark |
mixture. which gives 10 a slight
hue.
The nets that are ordered atarred"
are taken to the top floor Of the es-
Enlistment and are passed over rolls
TO the tubs Of hot tar Through
these they are literally saturated
with q resistant TO the rottinp action
Of lake water or any fresh water
salt water Is a preservative-and
then passed through a double set 81
rollers, which squeezcs any surplus
tar from the meshes
The netting now passes to the
hanging room, where the different
'orms Of netting are shaped or hung
N the manner Of shape they were
designed for. Corks and leads are
attached, lines fixed and the nets are
'eady for shipment.
All nets after being woven are
subjected to severe stretching
,train, which hauIs tight all the
knots and insures uniformity in the
nesheg.
The cedar corks or floats are made
way up in Canada and in the north
,rn tier Of states, where cedar il
plentiful. The leads for weighing
he seines are made right here in the
actory. and are cast upon great
ron press that forms the various
lies, from the tiniest TO the heaviest
slug" The cork floats are also
made here, and are stamped from the
l.. l.