The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1898-03-24
In 0ldtiNhcrnan himself, Ne Appreciates
the Possibilities oi Astoria, Deep
Se Fisheries.
SSsiill,.A,,

day from Gloucester. Mass. vita san Fran.
cisco on tho way To tho Yukon She Is ono
" the trimmcst vessels W her class ever
In this harbor Formerly she was one ~
the crack hshing syhoonrrs out or Giou-
ycster Her skipper. captain n black.
burn. and fifteen men were fishermen. aud
determined TO seek the golden nuggets In
Alaska, They formed a cooperative com
pany purchased the Phillips and started
out on their voyage ot discovery Each
and every man is st1lwart American
citizen and thoroughly experienced sra-
man. The list OF the ship, company In.
cludcs.
Captain n. Blackburn
First mate John l. Harris
Second mate. Peter Rice.
Steward, James Nelson
/. l.. Berry.
+. H. Story
r. T.. Head.
William Murray
EldrIdgc Wolfe
: 5. spouaglr.
otis Z. Rowcn
Charles r. Clarke.
Charles Straudhcrg
CLARENCE ToWlr
G. l.. Pclly
Leslie Cavanaugh
The Phillips Is dshing schooner OF
% tons burden All the men aboard ot
her are equal owners and will equally al.
vide the profits OF their Alaskan adycn.
turc, They len Gloucester. October Is.
isg7. Ponta Ar,naus. ln the Straits NJ
Magellan, was reached December y
Here the party spent Chrstmns They
arrived at San Francisco. February .,
and discharged % tons u coal which they
took on at Gloucester. and sold Tor u good
price Finding that il was too curly 20 go
TO St Mlchaels which win be their route
TO the Yukon, and whrra the icc does Not
break up until June. after consultation
they decided 70 come TO Astoria for car.
go OF lumber.
The Phillips viii be dockcd al the cht-
sop MIL wharf today and commence
taking on cargo. The lumber will be- DE-.
liyered in san Francisco and there the
vessel will be- fitted out with provisions
and supplies Tor the trip to and residence
In the Yukon NJ the gold hunters
Captain Blackburn says that they have
not determined to just what portion ~
Alaska they will CO. but viii prospect
and investigate as they 90 up the river
Since arriving here they have become
much impressed with the prospects N the
Copper and Tananwa rivers. No dcpar-
ture will be- made from the plans of the
company 10 go up the Yukon from It's
mouth. They have on board now In the
hold Of the schooner a steam launch which
will be used In the voyage up the Yukon
The launch Is capable of comfortably ac-
commodating the entire party, Is 70 feet
In length over all, lG feet beam, 70 feet
wide on the bottom. and was built In
Gloucester Tor the special service In
which she will be- engaged. The schooner
will be- sold. as the party will have no
further use for It, and In view Of the fact
that vessels on this coast are In great de-
mand, they will probably get more than
the cost Of their transportation and sup
plies out Of her.
In speaking Of his experiences as a hsh-
orman, Captain Blackburn said to an As
torIan representative yesterday afternoon
that the cod and hGllbut fisheries on the
Massachusetts banks were rapidly playing
out Il am satisfied that in a short time
we viii not be able TO supnIy the home de-
mand for these fish.
"It Is an astounding fact to US that the
rich hallbut and cod banks within twelve
hours sail from Astoria have not long
ago been developed can understand
how every precedence should be given to
your Royal Chinook Salmon, but am at n
loss 10 understand why the almost equally
rich fields In decp-sea fishing are neglect
cd Experiments have been tried with not
over much success on the Sound. but the
halibut, cod, and mackerel banks arc
much further away from Seattle than
Astoria. By the time FISH are landed in
Seattle and transferred 10 refrigerator
ears, and arrive on the New York or
Boston markets, they can not help but
bc somewhat dcteri1ratcd. At Astoria the
fish could be put into the cars practically
fish could be put into the cars practically
right out Of the water, and besides that,
from what I can learn, you have here
every facility of curing the fish In the
most approved manner Your climate r.
exceptionally well adapted to tine pur-
pose and the miles Of nctracks furnish the
drying places am surprised that this
matter has not been taken up long ago.
However, with your railroad now about
to be- completed which will afford quick
transportation TO every part Of the United
States, no doubt some wldeawake man or
company will lnaugurate this industry.
Really, ! am almost tempted to influence
our men to put the Phillips into this trade
and all Of us go into business which for
some years to come will be a Klondike in
Itself There is a large opening for some
body in this field, as fish Of this class on
the eastern coast are dying out"