Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-08-17

Lena schooner from Stonington, whose
boat was cleft by swOrdfishs wed
pom. which went through both its sides.
and the thrust barely missed trans
fixing the sailor. Such accidents are
not uncommon; the greater wonder is,
such is the wrathful fury of the sword
fish at the fearless temerity of the
hunters. that more men are not maim
ed or slain each season IN this most
perilous modern sport OF the Atlantic
seaboard. Indeed. Il wounded sword
fish not rarely attacks the schooner il
self, and only Il few seasons ago enc
big fellow drove heaIlong ilto al IS
land vessel, and his saber went through
its thick walls as if. they were of paper.
prouGding by several inches into the
vessels cabin, when the giant in his
furious Wrenchiug to free himself
broke the end of the blade. which fell
on the floor.
1t has been only within the past three
or four years that men began to hunt
the big ugly chaps for a steady and
profitable vocation. Before that time
the world fancied that the flesh of
Swordfish was unfit for food, and the
Atlantic fisherman hunted them only
for the sport ii afforded to the ilderS
at summer Seashore resorts. Then it
was learned that a swordtiSh steak is
about as fine and sayOry I mOrSel aS
may be garnered in the broad OCEAN
by far superior, in the opinion of
country epicureS, to halibut steaks.
since it is jucier, with a peculiar game
fiaVOr-and since then there has been
plenty of money in Swordtishing, but
on the New England coast alOne-and
more than a score of SwOrdtishermen
go forth weekly to the ocean hunting
grounds from ports aS far down east
as eastern Maine. SWordtiSh steaks,
juicy, thick white slabs of tender meat,
are sold everywhere in the New Eng
land markets at from II to is cents Il
pound, but BOSTON is pre-eminendy the
great market for them. Very singular
ly, New York, the great fish market
of the continent, either has never tested
or fails to be pleased with the fish,
and not Il pound, it is said, of swordfiSh
goes TO the Gotham markets. Most of
the big fish, from ten to forty in num-
! Der to each craft, that the fleet sailors
| from Block island and StoningtOn
bring to port twice and thrice q week,
are shipped directly to Boston, though
! a fair share of them are booked to
| Providence. There is steady demand
for the swords, which may be hand
somely polished, SO that they gleam
like ivory, on the part of summer
visitors to the seashorc or curio col
lectors at the uniform price of 30
cents each. They are beautiful unique
ornaments, Enthusiastically suggestive
of the sea. SwordfiSh range i'll size
| all the way from 80 to 600 pounds.
and a few have been taken twenty
| i've miles southeast of Block island
| that weighed 500 pounds. There is
very little waste about them. their
hide is fairly smooth, though tough
and thick and hairy. They cut up
| finely into steaks aD inch or so many
inches thick as you are pleased to
have them cut They are packed in
big boxes, iced, and sent fresh as a
smelt right to the tables of the New
| England consumers.
SWOrdiish have been taken in Won
derfully great numbers this season,
and Ill the sWOrdfishermen are max
| ing money hand over fist at the sport.
Then, too, the fishermen have learned
better how deftly and successfully to
hunt and land them, and almost every
h0me-returning craft now bears on her
deck the long fierce, powerful bodies
Of from fifteen to forty fish, weighing
all the way from $50 to 400 pounds
each. On one day this week sixty
four fish, averaging 300 pounds in
weight, were shipped to Boston from
this port alone. Success has stimulat-
ed the fishermen to devise superior
methods for taking them, and Captain
Frank Dodge Of Block island fitted up
a steam yacht this week, in which he
cruised for the game. With steam, Of
course, he is not so greatly handicapped
at times by the cruising vagaries of
the big game. His best record for q
single cruise in his new craft is q load
Of twenty-seI en- fish. In returning
from hunt, as he approaches the is
land, he signals to the people on shore
the number Of his catch with blasts
from his steam whistle.