Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-07-31

held correspondent OF the Baltimore
Sun, the most exciting and interesting
OF these methods OF capturing ffsh u
Turse-net fishing. the method employer
to supply the flsh-faotories The ooas
OF the elewife fishers start from tne
fish-factory Of l.. l.. +. Dennis & son. AT
Old Island. about a mile from Cfisneid'
before sunrise. This Is the only factory
In the State OF Maryland, although there
are nine In Virginia--one on the E1sterii
Shore and the others on the Wes'ern'
The odor Of the factory Is one he'er
tc be forgotten. and II was suggested 10
Mr. Dennis that one factory was all that
Maryland could stand. but he piously as
serted the odor was healthy, and hat
no better tonic could be found. The thir-
ty-hve stalwart. heaithy-looking men en-
ployed at the place were rcassurinS. AT
O'clock In the morning the fleet. In wh'ch
the sun correspondent sailed, started
aid were soon sailing over IAngier
81 und and the Chesapeake bay IN 9earcn
OF fish. In the feet were four lookout
boats so called because each has At the
asthead a man who is provided with field
glasses to search for fish. Each lookout
boat lows two purse-boats, which look
very much like lIfeboats. These purse
boats are loaded with nets and are USED
TO purse the fish. Moreover. two cara
way-b0ats accompany the lookout boats,
whose duty IL IS TO transport the iish 10
the factory.
FISH AHEAD,
The boats had not proceeded far on
Tangier sound when the cry OF 'Fish
ahead :" was heard from the masthead.
Far out on the water could be seeh sew
eral schools of fish, their fins cleav'ng the
water and flashing In the sunlight Inc
schOoners were sailed as near as pract-
cable. then the purse-bcats were manned.
and cast off boat goes OF one
side OF the school and one on the other.
while a third boat. called the striker
boat, drives the fish into the net and
helps hold up the corks. The purs@ seine
used Is 1880 feet long and - feet deep.
On the top are corks to keep the net
afioat and on the bottom are pieces or
lead To sink the lower part. on the
bottom OF the net are also a So les OF
rings through which runs IL lo-incn
rope, the ends of which pass through
tom. a piece of lead which weit hs ZV
pounds When the boats come together
the tom is thrown overheard, ana 10y
pulling on the ends of the rope TIE Dot
tom of the net is brought together.
forming a pocket This process is called
pursuing.
IN THE NET.
The fish now make frantic. Efforts 10
escape. and. hundreds of them making
dive at one part of the net often lit IL
eighteen inches out Of the water anc make
the water foam around. When tie fish
dive under the net before il can be pursed.
is often the case, II is called stab.
one man now pulls the coils and 'everal
pun the web and one man coils thV rings
into position to be ready for tn next
set. This is called webbing In this work
there must be- rapidlty and ac' uracy,
and there must be no Sinking OF duty.
About seventy men are employed On the
boats and life becomes int0leraile for
any one who is dereict in his duty. by
webbing portion of the large Let the
fish are driven into the strongest part OF
1t.
LOADING THE BOATS.
One Of the caraway-boats now comes
alongside. and prepares to take the FISH
on board. 4 rope is run through q block
at the masthead. and fastened 10 e large
sccop-net. which holds about two Llrrels
To the bow Of this net are attached pieces
Of lead to sink II among the fish, and
trip-line 10 upset 1t over the hold OF the
vessel. The net is guided by long
wooden handle. As Soon "a the metz Is
filed man ascends the rigging. grasps
the halyards. ana falls. His weight hoists
the net. Three men are employed TO
chase one another up the rigging and fall
down, which looks not unlike party
Of boys playing tag. on this day the
rope was somewhat defective. and broke,
which caused one man to descend dis
lance OF - feet with more than his usual
velocity. He escaped with a severe shaking
up. In one Of the other crews IN the
same day a clumsy fellow tumbl,d into
the net. IL was hshed out by the scoop
In an unconscious condition. twenty
minutes afterwar1, and resuscitatel
THE CATCH.
The catch OF fish varies Some weeks
they catch as high as 1,0oO,OO fish. or
about 800 barrels. but the average is
10000 per month. Very few fish besides
alewlvcs are taken-not enough to supply
the table OF single family. The fish are
plentiful mis- year, but poor. Mt one
half as much oil has been made tins year
as was made last year, AMI the
same report comes from other sections Of
the country.
PROCESS OF MANUFACTURE.
The caraway-boats take the fish to the
factory, where they are cooked in tanks
holding from sixty 10 seventy barrels.
The water and oil are here drained off.
They are then pitched out into curbs on
hydraulic cars, which are rolled under a
hydraulic press and there subjected 10
pressure of sixty tons. The fish are then
dumped from those cars and rolled out
upon large drying wharves. They are
then turned and worked By shovels and
harrows, taking about one fair day to
dry them down to y per cent. They
viii then run from 10 10 y per cent. am
monia, and 10 s per cent. Of phosphoric
acid. II all is not dried. it is treated with
sulphuric acid, which drives off the water
and fixes the ammonia These fish. after
being dried. are mixed with other for
filters and sold 10 manufacturers 10 am
moniate other goods The oil always
commands a good price in the market