The St. Johns herald., 1895-04-04
A QUEER TRADE.
Vessels Engaged in Searching for
 Lost Anchors.
The Method Employed in Fishing Up the Planted Mud Hooas-A ComfoFta- bIe Revenue in the Odd
 Business.

 treat city, and one of the strangest of sheSe hereaboutS is fishing up lost an- 4hors and anchor chains from the bot toms of the bays and of the sea along the coast. It is not what might be called q fourislling industry, says the New York Evening Post, but is, in- deed, precarious dependence for the necessarias of life: yet it yields suste- nance enough to have created quite 8 number Of followers. Several sch oon- CTS and sloops are engaged almost ex- cI2siveiy in this trade" and each carries a crew Of from three to ten r1en.
 These odd fishermen seek their imam innate prey whenever the weather per mi1s, and, of course, are most active during the long summer days. Like the takers of living spells from the water, they know the field of their op- crations thoroughly, and expend their energies mostly where the fishing is best. Perhaps, of all the grounds" in this vicinity, they regard the stretch of sea eff the Delaware breakwater as VI among shippers and all seafaring men who visit these parts as a great ceme- tery for anchors. They are being con- stantly planted" there, to use the nautical phrase. The perpetual invol- untary sowing" os anchors there is due to the large number of vessels that are compelled by conditions of busi- T - 4< T ,4f breakwater, and to their getting ire quently caught in gale while doing SC. Then, the fcor Of the sea at that point appears to have a peculiar facil ity fer fouling anchors, and vessels are not seldom compelled-or prefer, as the less of two evils-to abandon them.
 Territory up and down the coast ranks next, iA the anchor fisherman's s esteem, as a fruitful anchor bed. The interior waters of the harbor are more barren, yet repay search. Even the North and East rivers, for some dis tarce up, are occasionally harvested, and usually not wholly in vain.
 The method of anchor fishing is sim pie to prinitiveness. 1t consists in let ting down chain in a loop from the sides of the vessel until the loop trails along the bottom. Then the boat sails along with all hands on board alert for bite" Plain as this tackle is, it is effective as any that could be devised.
 Planted" anchors almost invariably lie with one luke buried in the mud and the other sticking straight up. If the angling chain is dragging in the direction of the inner curve of the up standing luke, it is almost sure catch" Then the line wi the anchor attached carefully hoisted, some times by hand, or if the anchor is very heavy, by means of capstans If the spoil is a very weighty one-say four, five or six thousand pounds, Q driving engine is frequently employed. The instances arc few, however, where the fishermen fail to secure their booty. When nee cssary the crew of one anchor smack will lend hand to another. Boats often work in pairs. A cable is stretched between the vessels, and dragged on the bottom. When an an chor i5 caught one of tho vessels takes Q position above it and both crews assist in raising it. This method in sures wide sweep of the bottom. There are two purposes for which the catch" is disposed of. Usually tho anchors are sold to be used as an- chors again, for moderate, or even 8 considerable, degree of rust in no way impairs their efficiency as such. If they ere too much eaten up by rust, which seldom happens, they are sold as old iron. As they are of wrought iron the price brought is often considerable. There are also two ways by which the fishermen find a market value for their wares. They either sell them directly by hawking them about among the vessels in the harbor or they sell them to the ship chandlcrs. Sometimes they have per: mission from wharf-owners or lessees to stick the anchors up there with notice that they arc for sale, with the price stated. As rule they get very good prices. New anchors are sold for fivo cents Q pound now, and the re- covered old ores seldom suffer great CT depreciation in value than one cent a pound. Therefore, for every one thous2nd pouads of anchor they cap ture the Gshcrncn make about forty dollars, and ii the archcr is orc of the very heavicst-a six thoue2nd poundcr -tleir haul nets them about two hun dvedaud forty dollars. They seldom take g mcR3ter cf that sic, however; their usual capture is between fifteen hum fred and twenty-five hundred pounds. There are several reasons fer this. In the first place the lighter anchors arc more generally used; in the second place it is the sailing vessels which most often lcec their anchors, and, as a rule, they carry lighter anchors than steamers. and, ia thc third place, most large vessels-whether stoan CT sail ing-commonly carry both . light and heavy anchor. and seldom drop the latter ii the harbor or immediately eff the coast. using it fer deeper and rcucher ccas. The fact that steam vessels lose their anchors lees frequent