The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-04-20
ON the Boston Herald.


From the Boston Herald.
When trout became legal fry for the
angler by virtue of statutory enactment
cane Codders go 'a-herrin'." Early in
Anril the clean-lined, silvery herring be-
Gins to dig its own grave, so to speak, by
seeking spawning places in the ponds that
snrty into salt water.
Where the herring hides during nine
months of the year has long been a mys-
tory Spring time finds the fish in enor-
Mons schools plying along the shores, nos
irc into creeks as if seeking some land
mark they had known in former years.
When an able coded herring has a mind
N Get into the pond where he was evolved
fr6rn spawn, his persistency is something
tpathumans might we'll emulate. The fish
breasts swift currents in tortous chan
neIs If he cannot swim around an obsta-
cIe he goes overland. much after the style
Of .ocomotion employed by a seal when
hard pressed to escape an enemy. The
herring is 4 natural contortlonlSt of great
gttrinMents, cartwheeling over rocks and
sand with surprising celebrity. They have
baan known to leap over a dam several
fest high at the end OF a headlong rush
AGAINST a swift mill race They bang
their heads against rocks till their shouts
bleed. and often gOuge out an eye against
g snag When tiSh ways were built by
law to urge the courageous fish to more
easily accomplish his annual pilgrimage
from the sea INTO fresh or brackish water,
the alewive, or herring as the species is
best known, found his pathway through
lire much less rocky.
Town on Cape Cod are some Of the best
known herring creeks in New England.
In fact, a month from now if pleasant
weather prevails, HERRING will encircle
the right arm of the old Bay State from
sandwich to Falmouth, and the fish will
he almost numberless. So eager and re-
sistless will be their annual onslaught
that the beaches will be plentifully
sprinkled with cripples MANNED in the
svarming mass of fish and left without
mower to escape from the clutches of che
iu-roling surf Cape Cod people are for
tunate IN that they have two never fail
ing sources of revenue. In the fall, all
hands harvest cranberries; in the
spring. the husbands, brothers and sweet
hearts net behring's and exchange the
bony fish TO GlOuchester shippers for
dollars.
Herriugs are pretty to look at, and the
smaller specimens, preserved in cotton
seed oil, tickle the palate of the sardine
eater who doesn't know the difference
between the domestic and imported
article. There are enough smoke-houses
on Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard to
build a splendid frame statehOUSe that
is if the quality of the lumber is not
taken into consideration SmOkehOuses
are neither large, nor are they put to-
gether of selected lumber, yet they serve
their purposes at recurring periods as
well as might edihces OF brick and sand
stone. When a herring comes out of his
ha &c Of
and color. When he energies from the
smOkehOuse with eleven others as IN
fortunate as himself suspended on a pine
silver thrust through gillS and eyes, the
silver gray Of the once handsome fish has
changed to q COppcry red. A smoked her
ring is put to two important uses. AS food
for the poorer class Of people his mission
IS partly filed. As a thirst producer for
the cOpper-lined topper who frequently
loses his taste for aromatic cocktails. the
smoked herring is invaluable. Hundreds
Of pounds of picked herring are con-
sumed at home and a large shipment of
the fish in brine annually finds its way
INTO the Boston and New York markets
10 properly partake of herring no mat
teriwhether the fish is fresh, smoked or
picked, requires that one have plenty of
time and patience to spare for the task.
ana 1t IS task to properly prepare
chances
Oelng chOked to death. No porcupine
ever Haunted more quilts than does her
rings bones The far-famed shad hasn't
half so formidable Dreastwork. There
are men who never stop to bone a herring
When they eat one, nor even remove
the head but such people are apt to die
young.
A veteran herring netter would boil
win Indignation were he told that, as IA
tennis player, he might make his mark in
the Held of athletic sports. He would
Iepudtate the charge, and pointing to his
battered, weather-Stained clothing, in
qulre what sort of figure ne would cut in
company with the roSebuds and barber
poIeu chaps he has seen about the hotels,
ana s.rdlghtWaE pltied for their, to him,
lulo.lc antics. Nevertheless, the herring
Aetjer at his work practices most of the
SIohes that have won tennis cups, mugs
and adulatiOn
-, Pe2haps 1t is hardly fair to compare
lAe fashionable pastime of tennis with the
WEI ana nshy surroundings of a herring
creek alter nightfall, when a dozen-yes.
nan hUndred-men are shoveliug water
NIlu SleNe-llke scoops, in frantic endeav-
ulS TO land their fish 1t requires
science to net herring, and to enum-
eidte the variety of passes, thrusts
ana parres employed by the netter is
oNV VI luc question In a newspaper ar
HCIe. linen, again, tennis racket looks
Is IL IL grew on the same tree with a
herring net. The net is a trifie larger
nan the racket, and more loosely strung,
anu q lrllle more oval in the bow. The
Eduule Is OF good, solid ash, and is four
~ long. The mesh is made Of lime or
I1WhIde. The ideal herring neUter can
s"ug one of these implements when a
-""iA pldNlng counter jumper would GER
r en- ihJure his spine in attempting to
HL'II.nIPulaIe it. Sometimes homemade
le'S nave the bark on the handle. 1t
- soou TO grip, but a winding of line is
when the herring have commenced to
run INTO the ponds by way of The salt
e-E:,AS' a bright, moonlight night is lust
Ecu Tor their destruction The tide
$50 80 oe al the proper stage, for herring
,-CltgI TO make journey with the least
.'9lae eNertion. If the tide is low there
--,.3 We insufficient water in the creek,
~uN Tvs miniature sand bars at the entrance
FUSED. Long before the current has
commenced to flow against the downward
5. .,a IN, ana thus back it up, the herring
ij' arrived off shore, and are awaiting
wy, NY report of tinny scouts sent up to recon
i'i'eF thousands of the fish congregate
g. lunches and slowly move back and
NJ, olgl past the mouth of the creek Their
,,.. ,euents are marked by the ruffled
- nat reflects the silver of theme s
iGiElto. Now and then the bunch darts
.',Hcr ana thither, and the erratic scurry
- lClS interesting TO the uninitiated The