The Portland daily press., 1895-10-19
PoRPolslNG OFF HATTERAS.
The Big Fish are Driven Ashore and Then
Killed With Knives.
(From the Philadelphia Times.) }

The principal industry of the hardy
residents of Hatteras islands, off the
North Carolina coast, is pOrpoise fishing.
Isolated from the outside world, Drawing
the furious storms that sweep over the is-
land, the Inhabitants have become accus-
toned to the energetic winds and mad
dening pillows which occasionally sweep
away their fences, gates, and in unusual
ly severe weather. sometimes the lighter
articles of household furniture fall prey
to the seething, relentless waves, and are
strewn along the beach or carried far out
to sea. Still, they murmur not, but the
| industry goes on with unabated energy,
| Somewhere in the neighborhood of o6
rough, hardy fishermen are engaged III
catching porpoises. This force of men is
divided into three crews, or relays OF y
men EACH stationed on the Atlantic side
| of Hatteras, their field of operation COM
prising a stretch of ocean front of about
| five miles in length.
Each Of these stations is designated as
camps, and the boats, nets and other
parapernalia used in capturing the por-
poise, are kept in constant readiness and
can be run OUT with as much ease and
facility at moments notice, as can the
apparatus of the life saving crews. A man
is selected from each one of these crews
who is known as a spy" or watcher,
| whose duty it is to be ever on the alert
| fer tie appearance of the porpoise. Up
and down the beach with measured tread
| like the soldiers sentinel, at stated inter
yals he patrols his baa=," his vigilant
eye constantly turned seaward.
| a nigh pole is planted in each camp.
but instead of flag, however, bundle
of dead brush is utilized, and when this
'waif, /" as it is termed, is run up to the
top of the pole, it is the signal to the
crew at the extreme end of the camp
| limit that "a school of porpoises are
gyrating and frolicking i'll the surf, and
to keep a sharp lookout for them. The
watcher keeps this school in sight, and
follows them, walking along the shore,
noting every movement. Should the pilot
carry the school seaward the watcher re-
turns TO camp. he sigpal is hault d down,
and the commotion in the distant camps
quiets down. for they know that the
| school has disappeared in deep water.
In case, however, the school (number
| ing all the way from $50 to 200 fish, n
| tinu to advance on a line wi b the shore
| off goes the distant crew. with their boat,
soon an immense wall Of net is spread
| to cut off their further advance. In the
mean time the first crew, discovering the
| school, are following close i'll its wake,
widening the net as they advance, while
the middle crew has gone beyond the
surf and is now pulling energeticaly for
the shore. Finding their ad dvance dis
puted the school suddenly turns only to
find iteelf confronted by a similar OBJ
struction of net; now ensues scene of
| indescribable confusion. High out of the
water they leap, lashing the water into
! foam with their tails, and making frantic
efforts to escape. S ientiy the crews close
in upon them; they are surrounded by
great, strong wall of noting, and only
the mos agile succeed in overlapping the
boundary and make good their escape.
| Closer and closer the crews approach
| the beach, and once in shallow water the
most skilful manouveribg is required to
prevent the escape Of tho school. The
average catch at one haul is SO fish,
Each fisherman is Il me with long,
keen bladed knife, anu as soon as the
catch "strikes sand'' (the beaoh) q GER
tain number of mon detailed for the pur-
pose draw their knives and proceed to
stab the foundering fish in the neck
This operation is attended with extreme
hazard, for the tail of the porpoise wields
great power, and "whaok" sometimes
| breaks an arm or a leg.
| The catch over, the boats and apparatus
are made ready Tor another haul If the
| haul has not been made too late in the
| day, i'll the presence of a great crowd of
women and children, the skinning pro-
cess begins The fat on tho skins runs
from two to two ard one half inches in
| thickness The skins are taken to the
| factory, where they are soaked in large
reservoirs, from which, after a sufficient
length Of time, they are transferrd to the
splitting machine. Hero the blubber or
| fat is shaved evenly and smoothly to a
Gel tain thickness, usually requiring two
'runnings" to accomplish the desired re-
suit. The skins are next spread UpOnathe
floor and subjected to a thorough sailing.
After few days, when the salt has per
meated every pore. the skins are carefully
packed in large boxes and shipped North
to undergo the final process of tanning
| For days at time hog the proyerbial
| North Carolina razor back, is not visible
about Hatteras, but he knows from in
stinct when a catch of porpoises is made.
and like hungry wolves in Russian
| forest, these razor backs emerge in great
droves flom the dense woods, and feast
upon the ca-casses. that is, if they have
not been hastily gathered up and carried
off to the boiling house. Here they are
subjected to u long and thorough steam
| ing, until the bones leave the flesh. The
| flesh is tried out into ell. while the bones
mixed with other ingredients, are ground
up in the rolling mill, and so the porpois
eventually reaches the market in 200
| pound sacks of phosphate.
| A reat deal depends upon the condition
of the weather as to the number of catch
es during the week. Sometimes, in ex-
tremely rough weather. the crews must
content themselves with watching the
school disporting tantalizipg in the surf
but short distaree from tho shore In
favorable weather. however, from four
to five catches will be made i'll week.
Catches are made through the winter
months but the severity of the weather
off Hatteras renders the preparation ex-
tremely dangerous. Sometimes the over
turning Of boat precipitates the whole
crew into. the chilly, boiling surf, from
which With great difficultyAthey extricate
themselves.