The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1897-04-28
LIFE ON THE "BANKS."
4hRpShlHS AND PERlLS or IHt
GLOUCESTER FlSHe RMEN.
BATTLES with Wind and Weather-A Rough
Set Of Men, but Good at Heart-Trawl'

, ING IoF SoQ-Nn NllSSHH6 ''N'"N"'
Recently, writes q Washington sta
!. correspondent | spent several week.
, N the famous old fishing town OF Glou
cester, and while there visited the
Gl0ueestermon on board their vessels
l talked with them for hours on lh'
wharyes and watched them at work OF
r tne Grand Banks and during then
l .cisure moments on the street or II
I heir homes.
This peculiar and quaint old Massa
,husetts city has ever been the home o.
fishermen, and its essential industry
fish and fishing. On the long and
rambling wharyes one sees IT.
lie but fish-fresh fish, salt
ish, smoked fsh-but Away.
ish of some kind. Along the
entire water front such signs as Fresh
Fish Bought Here Fresh Bait fol-
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 cut
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.
Gloueester'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 CountTymen are to
be found in the crews. Many Of them
have only temporary homes in CLIQUE
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 a 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 TRAVELLING 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 viye,
that he is not caught in fog, blown
off 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 IS
to $50 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
unsettled weather at the most oppor-
tune ines.
Dressed in their Gil skins from head
to foot, the two men haul in the fol-
lowing manner: One stands in the
bow and with the assistance of
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 it
is kept to prevent tangling.
Around the fleshy part of the hand,
closely packed cloth grouments cover
ed with wool, and having an indenta-
ton around the circumference, into
which the line fits, are worn.
Hauling a trawl seems simple and
easy, bpt under the best circumstances
it 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 a good catch it would be well
nigh impossible to haul the trawl with
line from cutting into the hands.
Picture the dorymen hard at work, |
eight lines out and a 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 dory is overloaded, the sea very
'ough and getting rougher. They must
row for their lives, and the burden Of
fish, for which they have worked 80
lard, must be thrown overheard. Who
,ould wonder if the poor fishermen be-
came profane and cruel? But this is
his life, and usually the situation Is,
HAS, more serious
In summer there is the danger that
ne may be enyeloped in a heavy fog
IN winter he is liable to be caught in
violent snow storm. When finally
orced to abandon their task, the dory-
men make run, they suppose for
heir vessel After hours of hard pull
ng they realize that they have been
going in the wrong direction, and
Without food or water in their tiny
raft, are lost upon the now tempestu-
Jus sea.
A few weeks ago q hurricane sweDt
ver the North Atlantic ocean. ASH
TODD on the fish wharves. the hurri-