Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-08-07

SPA SSShtCo al investment OF SZ,Jub,UU.
AT that time the menhaden fisheries swept
the whole Atlantic seaboard from Maine
to the Carolinas and the results of their
iabors permeated more different lines OF
| business than perhaps any single industry.
| The guano obtained from the fish refuse
| was spread over every one of the different
states. the fish oil was Invaluable to the
tanner In preparing the leather which he
| shipped to every port of the world, to the
| rope maker and in half dozen other kinds
OF work that occupied many thousands OF
! men and millions OF dollars of capital.
Fish Oil then sold fer $3.50 per gallon,
and the refuse for s25 per ton. At present
! the oil is worth only % cents per gallon
| and the guano from SIS to SIT per ton This
| remarkable decline in the price of oil.
| coupled with small catches for the past
few seasons has driven many of the old
established firms out of the business while
others have continued to run at almost no
profit.
The Japnnese Compete.
In the japanese fisheries oil is a bypro-
duct There is Nd demand for it in Japan,
and, therefore, it could be sold at almost
any price In the American and European
| markets. For this reason the menhaden
| hsher1es sought and obtained from the COM
| mittee that planned the Dingley bill a duty
OF cents per gallon on all fish oil i'm
| ported into the United States 1t is antici-
pated that this will cause an increase of
| ABOUT 70 per cent in the price of OIL and
| Will give the fishermen and reffners suff1-
cient relief SO that they can continue their
business at fair profit
The story Of the menhaden industry is an
| interesting one because the threads that
! go to make w the account stretch clear
| across the world. 1t is by no means an
! infant industry. When Roger Williams
! settled Rhode Island he found that the
NIyoC h scr1,l
that locality. and the very name menhaden
Is one that was used by the Narragansett
Indians. 1t took the white man a long
Tune to find out the value of the menhaden,
| however, and the industry it stands at
| present was practically started by Henry
| .. Wells of Greenpoint, Long Island. Mr.
| Wells. who was known in the business as
| Daddy" Wells, began to catch menhaden
and TO sell them to the Long Island farm
ers for use as fertilizer in the late fifties
In 1851 the first fish oil factory was started
at Narragansett. r. l. 1t was primitive
| AFFAIR, in which the oil was separated from
| the fish by process of fermentation Dur
| Ing the war the business gained but little
In Importance but directly after it's close
| the wide demand for fish oil and fish
| products and the high prices that prevailed,
CAV. the industry great impetus
In the Pnlmy Days.
Those were the palmy days of the busi-
| ness. when the menhaden steamers came
| into port with 10000 barrels of fish in their
| holds, a cargo worth $40 900 or more
1T beat cod takin' and even whalin' all
| hollow In them days. as an old coast cap
| tain regretfully said a few days ago, in
| speaking of the decline in the industry
| The discovery of petroleum was the first
serious blow to the menhaden industry 1t
was found that the coal oil could be used in
compound for many of the purposes for
which fish oil had formerly been exclusive
| ~ used, and, OF course, 1T was much
cheaper The supply Of fish oil was too
great for the American market and the
producers turned their attention to Europe.
To establish themselves there, they put
| down the price of Oil In the European mar
ket, but this brought protest from Ameri-
can leather manufacturers and others on
| this side who used fish OIL and who claimed
that their business was injured by such dis
elimination.
Yankees of the Orient.
Then the willy Japanese, just beginning
their industrial awakening, and anxious
perhaps to prove their right to the title
Yankees Of the orient" stepped into the
American market and became a factor in
| the situation. AS 1t cost them almost
nothing to extract the Oil from the thou
sands Of tons Of herring caught Off the jap
anese coast every season, aud there was no
demand for 1t there. they could afford to
undersell the Americans in their own mar
ket. They promptly proceeded to do this,
ana almost ruined the oil producers.
About the only branch Of the business
left IN the undisputed possession of the
Americans was the canning of small men
baden for sale In Europe as American
sardines." This is an enterprise about on a
par with the manufacture of wooden nut
megs. and perhaps the less said about 1t
the better. It has attained considerable
proportions Of recent years. however and
many thousands Of "sardines'' are sent
abro.d from menhaden factories every year
under alluring labels and in attractive
boxes that seem to satisfy the foreigners
what ever the effect OF their contents may
be.
A Fish Of Many Nanes.
Menhaden are known by different name
on almost every strip OF the Atlantic coast
where they are found. They are moss
bun<ers on Long Island and pogies further
north. and alewives in New England and
sinners In other places. They are blush
gray In color with stlvery sides, and grow
to length Of twelve to sixteen inches
They are found along the mud bottoms
close to shore. and travel in schools, which
may be traced by the slick of grease
upon the surface It - not a difficult mat
ter to capture them, but there 10 plenty Of
excitement and plenty OF risk In menhaden