The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-24

cient to disprove any such claim. At any
rate, they are not good enough TO become
O faVorlte table delicacy. Their sole value
Is as a source of Oil, and after that has
been pressed out of them they are used
for fertilizers.
The bluensh are ravenous for them, and
destroy them in enormous quantities.
Bluehsh are the most wasteful of fsh,
and after they have cut up q school or
bunkers the ocean sometimes 10 covered
for miles with dead fish. The bluehsh
bite a single piece out Of bunker and
then tackle another Therefore, few
hundred big blues" wiz kill thousands
of menhaden before their appetites are
glutted.
A school of menhaden looks unlike n
school of any other fish. They swim so
near the surface that their dorsal fms
and their tales stick out Of the water,
and as the fins have a yellow tinge, the
water seems 10 be of that color as far
as one can see when a big school ap-
proaches. They do not swim steadily
ahead as other fish do. Individuals in
the school are working up and down con-
stantly with a curious bibratory motion
so that the water over the school is kept
In a ripple like the water In shallow
stream where 1t puris over little OBJ
struction.
They do not break" from the surface,
nor is there the flashing of silvery sides
that one sees when a big school of food
fish swims near the surface. The bunkers
indulge in no antics Of that kind till the
bluefsh get after them, Then the sight
Is grand The big deep-water bluefsh
hunt the menhaden as dogs would. They
surround them IN wide circle and then
close n on them with fierce PUSHES As
soon as the savage fish dart in the men,
baden leap desperately In all directions.
!
hammered into foam For acres the wa
ter is white with the dashing and splash
ing of the hunted fish. Among the jump
ing bunkers there fash the little piratical
bodies OF the murderous hunters. They
leap straight into the air with the agility
of athletes, and often seize a menhaden
five or six feet above the surface. Then
they turn a somersault and hurtle back
into the water to begin over again. In
all directions they wiz through the ter
rihed school. Sometimes they rise un-
der a mass of bunkers and drive them
out of the sea tin that part of the ocean
looks Ike a fountain.
Bunkers will not take a hook, and the
fishing for them is done altogether with
nets from vessels built especially for the
purpose. They are long, powerful boats
with q deep hold. Their superstructure
is placed as far aft as possible, and
stout mast with a derrick IS near the
bows. AT the top or ine mast IS place
for a lookout, whose duty Il Is TO locate
the schools and determine the direction IN
which they are travelling. When a large
body OF FISH Is located the fishing steam
er moves to windward and large boats are
lowered. These take. the ends Of an m-
mense purse sein whichs.is paid out from
the deep hold and the men row quietly
out till they have the school well sur
rounded.
Often half-mile of net goes out before
this is accomplished. Then the boats
pull slowly back 10 the SHIP and the dom
key engine and derrick begin their work.
Up TO this time there Is nothing to pre-
vent the fish from escaping by sinking be-
low the surface and swimming deep
enough to clear the lower ends of the
net, for the latter is open at the bottom.
But the menhaden rarely escape that
way. They crowd together til they can
crowd no more, and then they begia TO