Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-05-18
PoRPoIsE FISHING.
A Profitable Industry Pursued in Winter
Off Cape Hatteras.


During the summer porpoises are scat
tered all over the seas, and are ia
miliar sight to the steamship passenger,
but when cold weather comes the prey
upon which they feed, menhaden, herring
and other small fish that associate III
schools, go southwark, and assemble by
millions in the shadows lying between
| Ocracoke and Hatteras inlets. cape
| Hatteras affords a barrier against the
| fierce winds from the north and in the
waters below it these little fishes see a
| shelter. There, accordingly, thousands
of porpoises congregate. There, too, men
gather to fish for porpoises.
Usually there are about twenty men
/ in a pOrpoise fishing camp. There must
| be a sufficient number to manage four
! boats and as many seines. The boats
are distributed at three stations along
shore Two Of them are together IN one
spot, while the third is mile above, and
the fourth a mile below. Each boat has
ally stationed upon high bluffs to watch
for game, and they signal with nags
when school of porpoises is coming
| Suppose the porpoises are coming down
| the coast. Warned in time by the sig
nails, the men at the station furthest
| south rapidly row their boats out to sea,
| dropping their seine as they go. IL the
| have been in time with their net to nea0
| off the first of the animals. AS soon as
the school, or most of it, has got past the
station furthest north, the boat from
that point is run out, dropping its seine
on the way. Thus the SpOrpoises find
themselves hemmed in between< two
| fences of net, each stretching mile out
into the ocean.
They might easily escape by swimming
seward, save for the fact that mean
while the two boats from the middle sta
ton have put out a mile from land, not
dropping their seines on the way, but ex-
| tending them on line parallel with the
shore, and joining the two seward ex-
| tremitieS of the other seines. In this
way is made within q few minutes a
rectangular pen two miles long and one
mile broad, in which the luckless beasts
are confined They could easily get out,
of course, by breaking through the nets,
inasmuch as their strength is enormous.
but they do not think Of that.
The porpoises thus enclosed are sur
rounded with smaller seines and drawn
| inshore, where they are kept in pound
| until the fishermen wish to kill them.
/ Sometimes as many as 200 will he Sc
cured at-a- single haul. The fishery is
very profitable, because there are several
| products of the pOEpOise which are val
liable. The skin affords an excellent
| leather. Upon being STRIPPED from the
animal, the hides are sailed down,
tanned crudely, and shipped to Northern
markets, where they are used in the
manufacture of shoes, travelling bags,
and other goods. This leather has a
| particularly fine grain, and boots made
from il derive waterproof quality from
the natural oil of the skin. The highest
/ priced porpoise leather, which is very
| costly indeed, is obtained from the un-
born young. 1t is of a most delicate
texture and exquisitely notified in black
and white. For book covers it is an
| admirable material.
Every one has heard of porpoise oil,
which is used for watches and other
delicate machinery. 1t is one of the
most costly oils known, because only a
few ounces of it are got from each ami
i NAL. 1t is obtained from the jaws only,
being tried out from the bones after the
skin and flesh have been removed. There
! is another sort of oil, of very little value,
procured from the fat beneath the skin
and from the liver and other viscera.
| Hides are worth from rs cents to $3.50
apiece, the latter price being paid for
the best skins of unborn calves. A
school of 200 represents about $500 to
tempted to make any use of the skele-
tons, which are scattered by tens of
thousands along the shore below Cape
Hatteras.-New York Sun.
Capture by Hand of Big Fish.
James Gatewood of Coral Hill had a
thrilling experience a few days ago,
which came near costing him his life.
Just after the high rise in Beaver creek
| Mr.. Gatewood went down in his bottoms
J to ascertain how much damage had been
| done. In crossing small lagoon, which
the high water had left, he noticed what
he first supposed to be dead hog, but
which proved on closer examination to
be huge fish of the buffalo tribe Mr..
Gatewood quietly slipped his hands into
the fsh's gills and was in the act of
drawing it out when it gave a founce
and threw Mr.. Gatewood in the water
up to his chin At this moment Mr..
Gatewood would have gladly released his
hold on the fish. but his hand had be-
come fastened. Then the fun began, and
for one hour Mr.. Gatewood was COM
PEELED to follow his prize. Several times
he was strangled and on the point of Civ
ing up for gone, but he finally managed
to land the fish, which weighed 132
pounds This is one Of the largest fish
ever caught out of any creek in this coun-
| ty, and Mr.. Gatewood says if he has to
be the fisherman it will be the last one.
| A scale and one rib of the fish are on ex-
hibition in this Glasgow (Ky.) Re
public.
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