Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1895-09-19
EARLY TIMES ON THE HUDSON.
The Fish Isusincss Forty Years Ago, Before
tho Railroads. Came.

tho Railroads. 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 as far north as 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 at the nets for from
three dollars to five dollars per hun
drcd. In Albany they retailed at two
for quarter of dollar, and some
times for less. Lobsters were retailed
at about five cents per pound, and were
seldom seen under four pounds weight,
oftener six to eight pounds. Before
the building OF the Boston & Albany
railroad teams came through to
Albany from Boston, when sleigh
ing was good, loaded with boxes
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 as prompt as now, and often
heard it said that we never got good
oysters in Albany! To-day they can
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 as con.
tinuous line, From Albany to Roches.
ter there were three railways-thc AL.
bany e. Schenectady, the Schenec'
tady fiji Syracuse, and the SYRIA.
cuse & Rochester, via Auburn
and Canandaigua These roads
did not sell tickets or check baggage
beyond their own lines, and if 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 an oyster
in the shell or shad. Ice was then a
luxury, and we only got few Holsters,
because they spoiled SO quickly that il
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-fve to fifty
years ago, did not see either hard or
soft crabs in Albany, but my father
was part owner in and agent for the
Eckford line of barges, engaged in
freighting between Albany and New
York before canal boats were towed
down the river, and my main desire
for a trip to the great city was to buy
boiled hard crabs along the dock for a
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 up to twenty years ago,
no shad came to New York from Flor
ida, nor even from North Carolina,
where some of the finest come from
to-day, and the citizens Of the great
metropolis waited for the first shad to
be taken in New York bay. This was
an event in the year that was heralded
e. j. 81 I'll. T.
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 is ended
Fishing Gazette.