The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1897-09-11
KETCHUM, IDAHO, SATURDAY. SEPTEMBER H. 1879

SATURDAY, Sci
A QUEER TRADE.
Vessels Engaged in Searching for
Lost Anchors.
The Method Employed In Fishing Up the
Planted Mud Hooks-A Comforta-
ble Revenue In the Odd
Business.
Many strange ways Of making live
lihood are to be found in and near q
great city, and one of the strangest of
these hereabouts is fishing up lost on
chors and anchor chains from the bot
toms of the bays and of the sea along
the coast. 1t is not what might be
called a fourishing industry, says the
New York Evening Post, but is, in
deed, a precarious dependence for the
necessaries of life; yet it yields susie
nance enough to have created quite q
number of followers. Several schoon-
ers and sloops arc engaged almost ex-
clusively in this trade" and each
carries . crew of from three to ten
rnen.
These odd fishermen seek their imam
innate prey whenever the weather per-
mits, and, of course, are most active
during the long summer days. Like
the takers of living spoils from the
water, they know the field Of their op-
erations thoroughly, and expend their
energies mostly where the Fishing" is
best. Perhaps, of all the grounds" in
this vicinity, they regard the stretch
Of sea off the Delaware breakwater as
the most profitable. It is widely known
lmong shippers and all seafaring men
who visit these parts as a great cemc-
terry for anchors. They are being con-
stantly planted" there. to use the
nautical phrase. The perpetual invol-
untary sowing" of anchors there is
due to the large number of vessels that
are compelled by conditions of busi-
ness or of wind and tide to ride off the
breakwater, and to their getting fre-
quently caught in gale while doing
SC. Then, the floor of the sea at that
point appears to have a peculiar facil-
ity for fouling anchors. and vessels are
not seldom compelled-or prefer, as the
less of two evils-to abandon them.
Territory up and down the coast
ranks next, in the anchor fsherman's
esteem, as a fruitful anchor bed. The
Interior waters of the harb Dor arc more
barren, yet repay search. Even the
North and East rivers, for some dis
lance up, are occasionally harvested,
and usually not wholly in vain.
The method of anchor fishing is SIM
pie to primitivcness. 1t consists in let
ting down chain in q loop from the
sides of the vessel until the loop trails
Ilong the bottom. Then the boat sails
along with all hands on board alert for
4 ''bite." Plain as this tackle is. it is
effective as any that could be devised.
PLANTED" anchors almost invariably
lie with one huke buried in the mud
and the other sticking straight up. If
the angling chain is dragging in the
direction of the inner curve Of the up
standing fluke, it is almost sure
''catch." Then the line wiz h the anchor
attached is carefully hoisted, some times
by hand, or if the anchor is very heavy,
by means of capstans. If the spoil is
a very we.ghty one-say four, five or
six thousand pounds, a driving engine
is frequently employed. The instances
are few, however, where the fishermen
fail to secure their booty. When nec-
assary the crew of one anchor smack
will lend hand to another. Boats
often work in pairs. A cable is
stretched between the vessels, and
dragged on the bottom. When an an
chor is caught one of the vessels takes
a position above it and both crews
assist in raising it. This method in
sures q wide sweep OF the bottom.
There are two purposes for which the
''catch" is disposed OF. Usually the
anchors are sold to be used as an
chors again, for moderate, or even
a considerable, degree of rust In
no way impairs their efficiency as
such. If they are too much eaten up
by rust, which seldom happens, they
are sold as old iron. AS they are of
wrought iron the price brought is often
considerable. There are also two ways
by which the fishermen find market
value for their wares They either
sell them directly by hawking
them about among the vessels in the
harbor or they sell them to the ship
chambers. Sometimes they have per-
mission from wharf-owners or lessees
t, stick the anchors up there with a
notice that they are for sale, with the
price stated. AS a rule they get very
GOOD prices. New anchors are sold for
i've cents pound now, and the re-
covered old ones seldom suffer great
er depreciation in value than one cent
a pound Therefore, for every one
thousand pounds Of anchor they cap
ture the fishermen make about forty
dollars, and if the anchor is one Of the
very heaviest-a six thousand FOUNDER
their haul nets them about two hum
dred and forty dollars. They seldom take
a monster of that size, however; their
usual capture is between fifteen hun
dred and twenty-five hundred pounds.
There are several reasons for this In
the first place the lighter anchors are
more generally used; in the second
place it is the sailing vessels which
most often lose their anchors, and, as
a rule, they carry lighter anchors than
steamers, and, in the third place, most
large vessels-whether steam or sail
inx-commonly carry both light and
heavy anchor, and seldom drop the
latter in the harbor or Immediately
of the coast, using it. for deeper and
rourher seas. The fact that steam
& lSacc fron11Qnf-