The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-05-06

tngton he found these eldest inhabitant'
so numerous that they sometimes blocked
the passage OF his boat, and far beyond
the time of the Virginia warrior the race
of fishes extends. When in the geological
cons Of which Prof MCGEE has told US, tn
Potomac ran on bed amid the Potomac
formation higher than the dome of the
CAPITOL. the fishes lived, but man was not.
The fish IS still with us for our oomfor
and the best behoof of the Fish Commits
sion.
At first appliances for taking fish WERE
needless The fish, in the season, couit
be taken by any impromptu device. iheA
seemed to be anxious to make the white
mans acquaintance, for the new countr,
in the matter. of food was almost as pro-
ductive as the tabled land TO which the
British recruiting sergeant once invited re-
cruits: you will go TO place, SAID ne
where the cottages are thatched WIZ
papcakes the streets are paved with bar
lev loayes chickens fly through the air
and pigs run through the streets WIN
knife and fork ready stuck in their oacks'
CRYING, Who'll come eat me
Forest and stream furnished food until
the needs Of man and the lessenlng bounty
OF nature called on men to cease TO be
savage and become civilized by working.
The Indians taught the early white men
to catch fish in the spring by waiting for
high tide and then making wattlings OF
willow across the mouths OF the lit
streams that ran into the river, so mat
the water and the small fry Of fish could
pass out, but the large fish be confined.
In this way when the waters went down
rock. shad herring. and sometimes even
sturgeon would be left in a natural rs
box or coop. After as many had been
scooped up as was needed the willow wat
ties were taken away and the fish that
were left permitted TO go untouched. This
was a better way than spearing ish as
they came through the shadows at the
Little Falls above Georgetown. There is
no small creek near Washington that has
not beer Waited in olden days.
The Tribe Decreasing.
As time ran on, however. the supply
lessened and the seine came into use.
The farmers on the banks Of the Potomac
selecting the best places on the river
to catch shad and herring in the season,
sailed them away as desirable food for
winter Many of the large farmers on the
riverside sold fish. Gen. George Washing
ington was busy in the fishing season,
having several shores on the Mount Yer
mon estate The produce of one of his
shores was used for consumption on his
plantation. The catch at the others was
sold. The following is a copy of con-
tract among washingtons papers:
February Bird. 1870 Agreed with Mr..
Robert Adam for the fish catch'd at the
Fishing Landing l bought of Posey on the
terms:-to wit: He is obliged
to take all / catch at that place provided
the quantity does not exceed 800 Bar'ls-
and will take more than that this qty il
he can get Casks to put them in. He is
to take them as fast as they are catch'd
without giving any interruption TO my
people; and is to have the use Of the Fish
House for his Salt fish &c, taking care
to have the House clear at least before
the next Fishing Season. In consideration
OF witch he is to pay me Ten pounds
for the use Of the House; give SIS
thou'd Cor the Herring (virg. Money and
3-4 hundred maryland curry for the
white fish. Mr.. Piper and Lund Washing
ton present"
As early as 1853 Rev. DIR. Barnaby. vicar
Of Greenwich England, who visited this
section OF country and afterward publish
ed a book OF travels. gives the following
as the names of the fish to be found in
the Potomac: "Grampus, porpers. Abe
cor, boneta flying fish, sheepshead. rock
fish, drums. shad, black fish, sea bass. and
sturgeon" Warden, in 1916. in his "Chro-
graphical and Statistical Description of the
District of Columbia" says; For a dis
lance of about one hundred miles above
and below Washington City, 400, 900 bar
rels OF herring are caught annually" Jo-
nathan Elliott, in his Historical Sketches
of the Ten Miles Square" does not speak
of herring, but he gives the number of
ehad taken in 1880 at each of the twenty
great landings as from 150, 900 to 300. 900
per annum, or a maximum of 600, 600, 600
shad
An evidently very much exaggerated ac-
count in an article in the National Intel
ligencer'' of April, 1892. gives the herring
yield OF the Potomac in 1881 at $4,000 GOO
The nearest approximation to the number
Of herring caught is believed to be as fol-
lows: 1916. 2Oo.Ooo.ooO: 1880, IS ooO. 900;
1910, $1,000, 900; 1850. 10000. 600; 1879, T.,
600, 600; 1880. 100000.
Farmers as Fisbermen.
Warden, in his "Chorography, already
referred to. gives the varieties Of fish
caught in the Potomac, near the city Of
Washington, in. 1916, as follows: Sturgeon,
rock fish, shad, herring, eel, carp, gar,
white and yellow perch, starhsh, mullet,
and smelt.
The plantation fisheries were continued
up to the abolition of slavery, and as late
as 1896 there were forty shores fished upon
the river, from which shad and herring
we're sent to the markets Of Washington.
Alexandria, and Georgetown. Gill nets
began to be extensively employed about
1884. Pound nets or traps have been in
use In this neighborhood since about 1870,
but a few years ago Congress passed an
act forbidding fishing by irregular nets in
the waters of the District of Columbia.
and the stake nets that had increased IN
I'll they covered almost the entire flats
from Georgetown TO Alexandria, have been
cleared away and under the vigilance OF
Harbormaster Sutton and Captain Dean,
of the police launch, Illegal fishing has be-
come a thing OF the past In the District.
Very soon in the history OF the fish
trade IL was shown that public health and
the general use Of the sense of smell
would not allow fish TO be landed indis-
eriminately at the wharyes of the cities,
SO that almost as soon as Washington be-
gan to make police arrangements, IL was
found necessary TO follow the example
Alexandria and Georgetown had set before
the eighteenth century closed. and to fix
a specific location for the Washington fish
wharf.
In 1929. by an ordinance OF March 10,
the corporation of Washington established