The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-13
MADE FAMOUS BY BLAINE.
MAINE SALMON AND THE ORIGIN
OF THEIR REPUTATION.

Highly E.tccmcd and Cou,l, since They We're
Boomed mt the Republican Convention
or 1850 In which tho Maine Man
Was n Candidate for the Presidency.
PROSPECT FERRY. Me-, June 1%l.-Thero arc
nearly 200 weirs between here and the foot of
Sears's Island, eight miles below. and though
some of tho woll.to-do fishermen indulge in tho
luxury of Il salmon dinner now and then. tnov
always buy canned fish, because Oregon and
Alaska salmon sell for 10 cents n pound. while
n pound of the same species OF fish taken from
Pcnobscot River will bring 30 cents as soon as
the fish is caught. For these reasons the local
fishermen sell all their catch in Boston and
cities further west. receiving large pay for
fish which arc no better than fish which swim in
Puget Sound.
Though several reasons have been assigned
for this difference in price, the late James q.
Blaine is said to have been the man who brought
Maine salmon into high rcputc. In the summer
OF 1880. a short time before tho Republican Ma
tional Convention was to assemble In Chicago,
a hotel keeper OF tho Windy City, knowing that
Mr.. Blaine was tn be a leading candidate, wrote
TO an Augusta fish dealer an order for a ton Of
Kcnnebcc River salmon. believing that fish that
were caught from this river, which flowed by
Mr.. Blaine = home, would be n popular dish with
the supporters OF the Maine candidate. Though
the Kcnnebcc River has not yielded a ton OF SAL
mon in fifty years, the Augusta market man did
not SEQ fit to mention the fact, but came to
Bucksport, bought his fish, put them on ice and
sent them on to the hotel, where they were
served and billed on the menus as "Kcnnebeo
salmon Il Ia Blaine"
Senator Conkling OF New York and n few
other mcmbcrs of tho famous "306' refused to
eat of the dish. but most of the gucsts ate it
and liked 1t, and the reputation OF kennebco
salmon became national. Every year since then
the Augusta market men have received orders
for salmon from all parts OF the country, and
have had them filled in Bangor and other places
on tho Pcnobscot; and though Oregon salmon
is equally good. the Maine fish always brings
Sixty years ago salmon were so plenty In tho
rgnp by the . eaE, 'a Ioaa and dG nsed them them for 1n dpcs saflr
for potatoes and corn. There was no need Of
weirs then. for "a hedge built out into tidcRater
from the shore would capture more in one tide
than all the present weirs take in a season. Mr..
Pierce, an old citizen OF this town, says that he
has seen an acre OF mud flats covered from five
to ten fish deep with salmon caught below ono
hedge. and when the water got low on the cbb
all the teams in The Se'S hheishborhood, Were
stop to the work. In lS45 Alvah Page OF Bucks
port hauled fourteen cart loads of salmon from
many more dead ones which he could not get for
the coming tide. Though he did not weigh them.
he believes that he took more than thirty tons OF
salmon at that time. Besides salmon. there were
thousands OF great fat shad and tons and tons of
aleWlVpka ana DOrRleS.
At present the business is at so low an ebb
that able,hodied men cannot afford TO follow it,
The average catch of a Pcnobscot River weiriis
two or three fifteen-pOund salmon a week.
Though a few shad are caught now and then.
and though a dozen or more alewivcs drop in
nearly every tide, the labor of keeping night
watch. the expense of repairing weirs and boats,
and mendins marlin: and the general watchfnl-
ness which are required in order to make the
business a success do not yield sufficient re-
turns TO warrant the erection of new wcirs-
The man who has been longer at the business
than anybody else on the river is Capt. Eliakim
D. Hartman. a retired ~shipmaster. who owns a
Like" who is 81 years old and one OF the two
surviving sons OF Revolutionary soldiers now
living in Maine. has built and tended a weir on
his shore every summer for ffty-two years. In
that time he has caught 1000 tons OF salmon.
nearly as much shad, and has smoked and sold
enough alewivcs 10 load an ocean liner. Tho
make a small mountain; he has shipped more
than 2oo barrels of sailed cells to the Boston
scaIpins toni ,o his sf far nnT so a ldnns that atAd the eoIl snd p pne
duces four tons of hay to the acre.
havoc among the weirs. coming in the night and
frequently destroying the whole structure be-
fore m9rn nn@ no If the or FISH Iels Was y, xoa,s small lraxG 0R ne.
tween the jambs of the weir. and, getting into
the foored pound, it would thrash about until
s snSle mss III II the &c f RsinS Sa %! big ttni II would Il ' get T huns
up between the door po.es and remain there
ants rowed out TO learn what they had
caught. Finding q great fish blocking
| w lIt luS lhtN NahltN ~ tIltiS
the fisherman would strike it with an axe or a
top maui. infictiny, what they believed, was a
mortal wound. As soon as the apparently dead
fish felt the shocks it would become very much
alive. and would swing its tail 50 vigorously
that il generally would dcmoish the weir and
the boat, and not infrequently cripple or kill the
men. Shotguns, rifles, and dynamite were used,
but the surgeons generally wrecked n lot of
properly before they died. Finally. they were
left to hang where they were caught and to die
without making struggles worth mentioning.
No sooner had the surgeons ceased to annoy
than the seals came in, eating, the latest fish
until they were satisfied. and then biting their
way out through the marlin and letting the con-
fined fish escape. Two seasons ago the seals
were so plentiful that they kept the fishermen
mcndinE marlin all summer. Wire netting was
bought and pm; OH to replace the tarrcd rig
ging. but the seals chewed OF the steel strands
as easily as il these had been strRws. Finally
tho State put "a bounty on seals, and the boys
who wanted spending money thinned them out,
and there has been little trouble OF late. Further
down river. Holsters make havoc when they get
into II pound. They 10 not eat up many fish.
but they manglc nearly every one they can
reach. and break or the netting as if it was
made OF pipe stems.
The best customer for the Pcnobscot salmon
fishermen is the United States fish hatchery at
Orlaud, which buys 1000 10 loo salmon a
year. paying a few cents above market price for
live fish. These sllmon are kept in tanks until
November. when they are stripped % their eggs
tag. ami turned loose into the sea. Many fishes
have been caught four and five times. though
none % them comes back TO the river until the
second season atlcr being liberated. The young
FRY which hatch in the winter are Kept until tho
next fall. when they are shipped 10 all parts OF
the country. Many are sent abroad in exchange
for fish of other species.