The Lamar register., 1897-04-03


termine their location by simply SMELL
ing of the lead as it comes from the
bottom. This beats even the old yarn
which is told in rhyme Of Obadiah
Folger. the Nantucket whaler, whose
mate tried to puzzle him by dipping
the tallowed end OF the sounding lead
into b1x of earth brought from home.
The grizzled captain was not to be
fooled that way. however. for he sang
out in great alarm:
Nantuckets sunk, / know. ! know.
Marin Starbuck's squash beds just be-
low
Heaye no the leadl Heave no!
At any rate. they are the most skill
full OF navigators and. what is more 10
the purpose, they know the banks bet
ter than the streets of their native
town and are more familiar with the
habits Of the cod than of their next
door neighbor Once the anchor is
down the dories are sent out to set the
travis. The dories are slight, frail-
looking little boats, sharp at each end,
with straight sides and fat bottoms,
but they will ride like ducks over seas
that make big steamships stagger.
Even the French fishing briggs send TO
Gloucester after their dories. Two men
are sent out in boat. One man rows
while the other pays out the trawl. a
long rope. buoyed at each end. to which
the lines and hooks are attached. Each
boat carries several OF these travis
and as soon as the last one Is set and
anchored It Is time to row back to the
frst one. Beginning at one end the
fisherman pulls In the trawl On his
hands he wears heavy mittens. re-en-
forced by cloth and sometimes by
leather. In spite OF this protection,
however. his hands ara generally cut
and swollen. for a small cod line with
a fish on the end OF 1t weighing from
ten to seventy-hve pounds is not an
easy thing to handle. The second man
stands in the stern and as the trawl is
pulled in he takes on the fish. kills It
with blow of his club and coils the
trawl in tub at his feet. Perhaps
you car imagine what an unpleasant
Job this is in the summer. but unless
you have had similar experience you
cannot conceive the hardship of It In
winter. There is peril. too. No one
but banker" could stand in pitch
Ing. tossing dory and do any sort of
work Besides this. you must remem-
Der that he Is out there on the ocean,
perhaps two or three miles away from
his schooner with nothing to guide
him back but his instinct. When the
fog shuts down suddenly he Is in great
danger Of missing the little craft al
together. even though the fog bell is
rung steadily on such occasions.
Then. when he has six or eight
travis cut and sees storm coming up,
he must get them in again IL possible
before he seeks safety. When he does
return, with dory loaded to the gum
wales with fish. he is given only a brief
space of time TO swallow his supper be-
fore he has to go on deck and help
dress down" the days catch. In this
work each man has a particular part
which he performs. The fish first go
to a man who cuts on the heads with
one swing of the cleaver and jerks
out the entrails with another move
ment. The next man splits the cod
lengthwise and takes out the backbone.
Then the fish are washed and passed
down into the hold, where the packers
and salters are at work by lantern
light. An expert salter Is almost in
as much demand as good skipper.
The fish are piled in layers as com
pactly as possible and are sprinkled
with salt. so that they win keep until