The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-08-20

Brains and good judgment are more requisite than costly machinery. Some- times an engine and winch are install- ed in the schooner. but heavy tackles i'll the bill in ordinary work. A fish tackle Is the most powerful in use, and consists Of two heavy blocks. each with four sheaves or pulleys. The up- per block Is made fast to pennaut, or rope. aloft. and with the other block attached to several tons weight, One man can develop about one half horse power. .r
 By the accepted but unwritten law of the sea the captain who relinQuishcs an unbuoyed anchor on the bottom has no more claim 10 1t after he has left the locality than have the sweepers. The schooner is fitted with a good boat to assist her in groping about for sub merged Iron. and with crew Of per- haps five men the little craft sets out.
 When n likely spot is reached the sweeping line is made ready. It Is small. about the size and strength of q whale boats tow line. In its middle two weights are bent. about ten feet apart. One end Of the line Is fastened to the stern of the schooner. while the other IS taken Into the boat. Three men step into the boat and row some distance away from the schooner. Then they range the boat so she will drift with the tide with the weighted sweepiine on the bottom. Schooner and boat proceed at equal speed. and the line between the l w1tPhtq 0Q np thA 1,. A. catch on any protection, be 1t anchor, wreck or rock.
 | The man In the stern of the boat handles the sweep most gingerly He Is ever in readiness to pay out when 1t catches on an obstruction. Sometimes mile of water will be swept before the line brings up. Then comes sudden yank, and all hands are on the qui vive. The boat signals the schooner to stop, and the vessel is brought into the wind so as to lie practically motionless. The crew Of the boat back on the oars, while the man in the stern slowly hauls in the sweep line, being careful not to dislodge 1t. Foot by foot 1t comes into the boat as that frail craft gradually draws near the schooner Then one of the weibhts comes to the surface and few seconds later the sweep, between the sinkers, is examined for traces of rust. If the line exhibits the reddish | tinge the sweepers are confident that an anchor has been caught The ut most care is exercised so as not to dis lodge the line from the fluke or stock | of the anchor, for if that accident oc- | CUTS, the laborious work must be re- peated.
 The men in the schooner have at hand chain or heavy rope, in one end of which is thimbe or eye. The other or free end is bent to the sweep line and then carefully pulled down to the obstruction, under or around it. and to the surface by the boats crew When this work is performed chain occupies position formerly held by the sweep. The free end of the chain having been passed through the eye at it's other end, a sort of slip moose or running bight is thus formed. The | moose is worked down to the anchor. and when the sweepers are reasonabl sure it has fallen to the proper position, strain is brought to bear on it, and an effort is made to raise the anchor to the surface
 If the anchor weighs 60,OO0 pounds 1t is difficult matter to break it out of the sand, but by dint of backing and filling the schooner this Is usually accomplished, and the ungainly mud hook is raised to the surface and got aboard by means of purchases.
 If the anchor is in good condition 1t can be sold, according to the iron mar ket, at varying prices. There are to- day hundred tons of anchors thus secured by Vineyard Haven sweepers that should bring three cents pound.
 When a captain has lost an anchor and must obtain another, the agents of the sweepers can generally show him a good assortment. Of course there Is more or less of a quibble as to the price, but the agent never refuses a reasona- ble offer.
 Oftentimes many fathoms of cable are brought up by the sweepers. These chains, if old and rusty are seldom used in their former capacity, but are available as junk or ballast. Most of the schooners engaged in the business of sweeping are filled with divers ap- pliances, and when a wreck comes ashore do salvage duty.