The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1898-04-14


Into tie ocean. - proverbially . dam
gerQ,sa one. -
r This beeakwater b largely . neutral
territory. whose .ownership In matter.
Of dispute. Some maintain that It be-
longs to the Federal government. but
when the latter wishes to erect thereon
= life saving station or lighthouse a
convenient owner. or one who purports
to be such. never fails to put in an
appearance and howls Justify for his
pound Of flesh. Among those. however.
who reside upon the mainland. and
who frequent this strip Of beach. II Is
looked upon as entirely neutral ground.
where neither man nor government:
possesses any right other than that Of
might, and locality where the minor
canons Of morality may be stretched
without breakage to an almost unlim-
tied tension.
Wrecks, and there are many. which
occur on these sand domes, are strip
ped with q bewildering celebrity. The
coast Is wreck strewn, and how gladly
wrecks and their rich freight are well
coined bv the rude people who live
along its sands. They regard the tenn
pest as q friendly fairy, and all that
happens to come within their range Is
considered theirs bv right. unless in
terfered with by government life saw
ers. Under any circumstances wreck
throws these people into spasms Of re-
munerative activity. The money cir
| culated by the Merritt Wrecking COM
pany, OF Norfolk. seems to be Of great
er value than that distributed through
other channels.
These natives of the sand reefs are
chiefly fishermen, and the statistical
review OF the work OF the 5000 employ
ed represent that they take $4,000. 900
pounds of fish yearly. It Is, Of course,
impossible for me. in the limits Of this
article, to enter into detail In regard
to the fisheries. The design of this
chapter Is to speak more specifically OF
the porpoise fishing grounds at Cape
Hatteras, the only one on the Atlantic
coast
The porpoise, contrary to general be-
lief. Is not a fish but an air breathing
mammal, warm blOoded, viviparous
| and sucking it's young. Though shaped
like fishes and living in water exclu
| sively, and moving in the same manner
| with them, II must come to the surface
for air. During the summer these ami
and are familiar sights to the steam
ship passengers, but when cold weather
comes the prey upon which they feed.
menhaden. herring and other small
fish that associate in schools, go south
ward and assemble by millions In the
shadows lying between Ocracoke and
Hatteras inlet. Cape Hatteras affords
barrier against the fierce winds from
the north. and in the waters below 1t
these little fishes seek a shelter. There,
accordingly, thousands of porpoises
congregate.
Usually there are about 20 men In u
porpoise fishing camp. There must be
| q sufficient number to manage four
boats and as many seines. The boats
are distributed at three stations along
| shore. Two of them are together In
one spot. while the third is mile
| above. and the fourth a mile below
Each boat has seine on board. Look
| outs are continually stationed upon
high bluffs to watch for game, and
they signal with flags when a school
of porpoises Is coming.
SuDDOSe tle DOIDolStS are
| down coast. Warned in time by the
| signals, the men at the station farthest
south row their boat rapidly out to sea,
dropping their seine as they go. If the
| thing is properly managed they have
been in time with their net to head off
| the first of the animals. As soon as
the school, or most of 1t, has got past
the station farthest north the boat
from that point Is run out in like fash
ion, dropping its seine on the way.
Thus the porpoises find themselves
hemmed in between two fences of net,
each stretching a mile out in the
| ocean They might easily escape by
| swimming seaward save for the fact
| that meanwhile the two boats from
the middle station have put out a mile
from land, not dropping their seines on
the way, but extending them on a line
parallel with the shore and joining the
two extremities of the other seines. In
| this way Is made within few mo-
ments rectangular pen two miles long
| and one mile broad, in which the luck
less beasts are confined. They could
| easily get out, of course. by breaking
through the nets, inasmuch as their
strength Is enormous, but they do not
think of that.
The porpoises thus enclosed are sur
| rounded with smaller seines and drawn
In shore. where they are kept thus In
| a little room until the fishermen wish to
kill them. Sometimes as many as 200
will be secured at single haul. The
| fishery Is very profitable, because there
/, are several products OF the porpoise
which are valuable. The skin affords
an excellent leather. Upon being
-; stripped from the animal the hides are
I salted down, tanned crudely and ship
ped to northern markets, where they
are used In the manufacture Of shoes.
/ travelling bags and other goods. This
leather has a particularly fine grain,
and boots made from 1t are given a
waterproof quality by the natural oil
Of the skin. However. the highest
priced porpoise leather. which is very
costly indeed. Is obtained from the un-
born young. 1t is Of q most delicate
texture and exqulsitely mottled In
black and white. For book covers 1t
Is a most admirable material
Every one has heard Of porpoise oil.
which In used for watches and Othar