St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-10-12
EARLY TIMES ON THE HUDSON.
The Flah BuaSaess Forty Years Ago, Dof0es
the Railroads Came.


the 1AilFnads Came.
Forty years ago the Hudson river
furnished all the shad for New York
city and for district included in two
strips thirty miles back from each
bank of the river - far north rs Troy.
Farmers drove in to the fishing grounds.
and bought shad to salt for winter use,
and in the height Of the season they
could be bought ut the nets for from
three dollars to five dollars per hum
dred. In Albany they retailed at two
for quarter OF dollar, and some
times for less Lobsters were retailed
At about FIVE cents per pound. ant were
seldom seen under four pounds weight,
oftener six TO eight pounds Before
the building OF the Boston 4 Albany
railroad teams came through tc
Albany from Boston. when sleigh
ing was good. loaded with boxe.
Of fresh Goldfish. haddoclS, pollock and
kegs Of opened oysters The latter
were in quart, two-quart and gallon
sizes. The Hudson river railroad was
not built. and the only source Of supply
of sea food in winter was Boston In
summer the steamboats, brought some
shell oysters to Albany, but the de
mand was light and the shipments
were not rs prompt rs now, and often
heard it said that We never got good
oysters in Albany! To-day they ear
be had in Omaha. owing to fast trains,
prompt express service and the use Of
ice. for it must be remembered that
there were NO express companies in
those days. and the great New York
Central railroad did not exist rs = con-
tinuous line. From Albany to Roches-
ter there were three railways-the Al
bany & Schenectady. The Schenec-
tady fa Syracuse, and the Syra-
cuse L Rochester, via Auburn
and gCauandaiguA These roads
did not sell tickets or check baggage
beyond their own lines. and il passen-
gers were delayed by stops to transfer
and recheck baggage. freight WAS sure
Of long delays No wonder, then. that
the inland towns Of the state Of New
York in those days never saw IN oyster
in the shell or shad. Ice was then q
luxury. and we only got few Holsters,
because4hey spoiled SO quickly that II
did not pay to risk large shipments.
Under those circumstances it is plain
that shad, Holsters and sea fish did not
get far beyond Albany and Troy, the
head of navigation on the Hudson.
In boyhood days. forty-five to fifty
years ago. did not see either hard OF
soft crabs in Albany, but my father
was part owner in and agent for the
Eckford line Of barges. engaged in
frcighting between Albany and New
York before canal boats were towed
down the river. and my main desire
for y trip to the great city was to buy
boiled hard crabs along the dock for .
cent apiece and go down the pier and
eat them. regardless of smeared face
and fingers. Now soft crabs are COM
mon in Chicago; packed in sea-weed
and keep cool, they are whirled through
in good shape
In the early days of which have
spoken, and mp to twenty years ago.
no shad came to New York from Flor
ida, nor even from North Caroline,
where some of the finest come from
to-day, and the citizens of the great
metropolis waited for the frst shad to
be taken in New York bay. This was
an event in the year that was heralded
far and wide, and hotels bid high for
the first fish. as much as twenty-five
dollars having frequently been paid
for the honor Of serving the first shad
Of the season by Astor house and other
hotels Now that Florida begins to
send shad in mid-winter. the strife for
the first North river" shad il ended
Fishing Gazette.