St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1900-04-28

IL. XXV-NO. IS.
.SrRA1cs ATLANTIC r1sH
Assneas s1Geesnsss, 4Aaa wers ssDs
I6oeA 10 De Rxtinet Again Mall..
ing TAeir ADDearanee.
sA
Nearly n years ago. in Nay. 1877.
Capt kirby. of Gloucester, Mass, in
command Of the schooner William v.
HutchfnS, was almost dr. Dlw south
of nantucket seeking halke and cod.
whe2 his crew commenced to take
great numbers okssa strange and
colored fish" With the
consersatism that marks fishermen.
most Of thsne strihgers were thzaNp
overheard, b6t Capt. Kirby. kept few
and cooked them for his owh table.
Hc found L one of the finest fiabes
he had ever eaten, and dctermined
to lpep al thaf were faken there
after, 10 when the schooner came in
at Gloucester ! brought some 1000
pounds of the new fish. essrs.
FriendG I Som bought the lot al dis
pdsed Of their spu6chase~tn various
ways. Cnpt. Kirby. lent one Of Ahe
Aakt T. the National nuseum. where
DR.. G. Brown 0ood6 a. DR. Tarlc-
ton II. Bean examined it and pro-
noimced lit . tile fish, but > new
genus and species. The fine appear
ance of the new. hsh, its delicious
taste and bountiful abundance seemed
to promise . valuable addition to our
food products, and Prof. Baird. then
United States commissioner OF fish
and nsherics, was. much interested in
this new factor in the resources OF
the sea.
In 1880 the Ash commission steamer
Fish Hawk was completed, and the
scientific cxploestion e the bottom
6fe OF our coasts was hgun with
4acilities unattainable before It was
found that the coast fell away gradu-
ally u1til the W11e w1a About 100
fathoms deep, and then declined very
suddenly. To use Prot. Verrill's words,
the slope beyond the 1op,tAthom line
II usually a. steep ~ ethe sife OF =
great mountain chain and about AZ
hieA sas Mt Warrington" On the
southern coast Of Massachusetts, this
slope is very near the gulf stream.
and - has . fauna unsurpassed in the
world Ii scientific interest. The gulf
stream brings strao Hers from the
tropics and the cold srctic currents
bring beings whose NORMAL habitat
lies in the polar region. and the re
splt II . naturalist's paradise. Tho
tile fishes belong In warm water, and
the gulf stream was NO doubt re-
sponsible for their being 20 far north.
For three years the tile hsh was =
sourc4 of weaith - the hshermen
and then sDdden catastfJPhe BE-
fell the industry, the exact nature Of
which may never be known. During
March and April. 1852, vesselA enter
ing New York and other Atlantic
ports reported passing great number.
Of dead fish on the northern edge Of
the gulf stream 1he4 proved to be
l1ile ash, and investigation showed
that they covered an area ITO miles
long and % miles wide. The fish COM
mission chartered the schooner Josie
Reeves for = investigating tour. but
the vessel returned without having
taken . single specimen. This unpre-
cedented destruction Of animal HE
attracted wide attention among the
newspapers and scientific journals,
and from the data collected Capt. ].
w. Collins of the fish commission esti-
mated the number of dead fish at
1,43s, ,720, 900, q number that would be
sufficient to give every man, woman
and child in the country 2Ss pounds
of fish, allowing ten pounds to each
fish. Prof.Verrill attributed this de-
struction to . very severe storm that
prevailed at that time and probably
drove the icy cold water near shore
into the area usually covered by the
wsrm water of the outer margin OF
the gulf stream. Not . single indi-
vidual seemed to have escaped, and
the tile fish was placed provisionally
In the list Of extinct animals.
On FEBRUARY 9, 1897, the 7s-tOn
schooner Mabel Kenniston was over
taken by . gale while on Georges
bank and was blown about 120
miles 70 the westward. The exact
position il not known, but 1t was
about 14O miles southwest OF No
MARYLAND, when haddock travis were
let down in IS fathoms Of water.
When these were brought in. 30 tile
fish, weighing from. dve TO fifteen
pounds each, were taken and were
landed in Gloucester few days later.
In 1898 the fish were taken in con-
siderable numbers, and In 1899 they
were almost AZ abundant as ever,
many young specimens being found
This latter point is important, - in
dicating that the fish are breeding
on their old ground and are not mere
stragglers.
The determination and re-establish-
ment of the tile fish il Of more than
scientific interest. The hsheries are
4 source of great wealth to our coun-
try, and everything that can throw
li9ht ON them should be welcomed.
The mysterious destruction a these
f,sh points to : line Of 1hvestigation
that should be encouraged, in the
hope that such catastrophe may be
ayerted in the future-Hosto0 Tran
script.
WOnen's Rale.
So - xh~ w~sxxw