The Louisiana populist., 1897-05-21
LIFE ON THE "BANKS.' y
HARDSlilPS AND PER!LS OF THE
GLOUCESTER FISHERMEN.

ing TOT Sou-Sn AI1ectinS inc'uent'
Recently, writes Washington Star
correspondent, l spent several weeks
in the famous old fishing town Of Glou-
ceSter, and while there visited the
Gloucestermen on board their vessels,
talked with them for hours on the
wharves and watched them at work on
the Grand Banks and during their
leisure moments on the street or in
their homes.
This peculiar and quaint old Massa-
chusetts city has ever been the home of
fishermen, and its essential industry
fish and fishing. 0nsthe long and
rambling wharves one sees lit
tie but fish-fresh fish, salt
fish, smoked fsh-but always
fish Of some kind. Along the
entire water front such signs as Fresh
Fish Bought Here" Fresh Bait for
Sale" Fresh Tongues Bought Here, -
ETC., are everywhere standing out to
show the industry of the place. Skirt
ing the edges of the harbor are miles
and miles Of fish flakes shining out
white and bright with salt cod.
At the head of the wharves stand
large skimming lofts, and within easy
reach Of the water are those most
offensive of all buildings, the fish glue
factories.
Gloucester's fishermen are a mixed
lot. BY far the greater percentage of
them are foreigners-New Foundland-
ers and Nova Scotiamen. Prince Ed
ward and Cape Breton Islanders, Port
uguese and North Countrymen are to
be found in the crews. Many of them
have only temporary homes in Glouc-
ester and have, naturally, but little in
terest in the welfare and good name of
the city. 1t Is to them more or less
like foreign town, Their lives are
lives OF constant peril, continuous
hardship, and absolute slavery to dis
comfort.
Bank fishing, especially for cod, is
done nowadays almost exclusively with
travis. The old style of hand line
fishing Is still sometimes adhered to
in bad weather, but it is too slow and
tedious under ordinary circumstances.
1t is In trawling that the poor fisher
man meets the greatest dangers. The
man who goes "a bankin'" never sets
or hauls his travis without taking
risks. Except in settled weather, he
must be constantly on the qui vive
that he Is not caught in a fog, blown
on by some sudden squall or over
taken In a snow storm. And there
is little settled weather on the banks.
When the fishing vessel arrives at the
banks she is anchored and the little
dories in which the fishermen do the
trawling, are put overheard.
Each dory is manned by two men
and carries about eight travis, that
number constituting a string" The
travis are set on the bottom in from 81
to 150 fathoms of water, often as far
as three miles from the vessel. The
end of the string is anchored and
buoyed. In good weather the travis
are hauled twice day, early in the
morning and late in the evening, in
unssftled weather at the most oppor-
tune -.mes.
Dressed in their oil skins from head
to foot, the two men haul In the fol-
lowing manner: One stands in the
bow and with the assistance of a
small hand windlass, called "hurdy-
gurdy," pulls in the line. The other,
standing in the stern of the dory, kills
the fish, takes them off the line and
coils it down into a tub in which 1t
is kept to prevent tangling.
Around the feshy part Of the hand,
closely packed cloth grouments cover
ed with wool, and having an indenta-
tion around the circumference, into
which the line fits, are worn.
Hauling q trawl seems simple and
easy, bur under the best circumstances
1t is hard work, and often extremely
painful. Goldfish weigh from six to
one hundred pounds. The anchors
are not light, and the line is small.
With good catch it would be we'll
nigh impossible to haul the trawl with
out wearing nippers to prevent the
line from cutting into the hands.
Picture the dorymen hard at work,
eight lines out and heavy haul is
being landed. To windward it is dark
and threatening. The wind increases
and, as the sea gets higher and higher,
and the little boat pitches high in the
air and drops suddenly into the hol-
low Of the sea, the work gets harder
and slower. With the excitement the
time flies. There is plenty Of time,
they say. Why lose their lines and
the product Of their tolls? So they
labor on and on, and after hours Of
hard work, at great risks, succeed in
landing the catch, only to realize that
the tlory is overloaded, the sea very
rough and getting rougher. They must
row Tor their lives, and the burden Of
flsh, for which they have worked SO
hard, must be thrown overheard. Who