The Wilmington daily Republican., 1901-12-16
G. NJ. MURDEN'S
EXPERIENCE


Editor Virginiao Pilot:-I have
always been very dubious Of 13 ul
to this time. but have made ul
my mind that there 10 nothing ia
lit in the future l arrived here
with a party vt l3 on the - ol the
month. The first thing we did was
to sec Capt. Winiore S. Price, the
oldest fieherm an on this beach. He
has been fishing at this place since
1882. We asked him what the
prospects for fishing or getting
some fish at sea. He remarked that
it had been blowing very hard from
the northeast for l3 days and
nigh,s. but as 1t had dicaimed dow n
very nicely now he would not be
; surprised if we would not have very
good luck il we were to try our
hand 10 the briny deep. lie did
everything in mis- power 10 help US
along III our undertaking, aud
tired 10 assist us in securing some
fish. So out Of the party ol l3 we
could only get five TO volunteer their
services TO take the risk ia this
deep sea fishing. Rev. Richard e.
Carroll. ANDY J. Phelps. Professor
Henry Gcl;suer. Capt. Win!ord $.
Price and myself. exerted every ef.
for, 10 make the expedition the beat
thatbas,sYsr been in the way OF a
success.
We were soon off the beach and
secured that afternoon what We
called a tremendous lot OF the finest
fish that we most ever saw. Mr..
Price gave us the use ol his pack
ing.house and SAID that he would
sell US ice to take care OF the fish.
When we went into the ice house
We Iound l3 large large cakes We
began TO opened and pack tn fish
and soon had l3 barrels packed
and ready tor shipment. We
weie he'd the whole lot, what we
had on the floor and what we had
packed, and we had e. 1913 pounds.
consisting OF sea trout, butterhsh.
founders. hickory shad, besides a
lot ol little stuff that We did not
count. such as spots. fatbacks,
little blue fish, setc. The next day
not being so favorable 10 fish at
sea, we agreed 10 try our luck in
Lake Holley. The guide, long,
lantern jawed, giant looking fellow.
agreed to take us around and show
us all the good fishing grounds in
the lake Tor $l3 per "eek. We
went fishing and had Every good
luck. When ecame back We were
counting the different kinds 0! fish
that We had caught and found that
we had IS kinds. black bass. white
perch. German carp blacn mullets.
green pike, yellow neds, catfish.
cells. plckerel, sun perch, straw
berry bass shlners and chub rob-
bins. We inquired where we could
get some nice Lvnnhaven oysters:
we were referred TO an oyster res
taurant near the Princess Anne
Hotel. We were soon there and
asked the price. and strange to say
we were told that he sold them for
l3 CENTS per dozen. We bought
and Iound them delicious. On our
way We stopped at a store and
asked for some nice eating apples.
The proprietor did not care very
much to sell HIS apples bv the meas
ure as they were very scarce aud
high: he agreed TO sell IS ior 20
cents. We all repaired to the
Emerald Cottage. a" u2-to-date i'm
posing structure situated in the
he art of all the fishing camps. near
the beath We found the owner a
good hearted. whole .sou!ed. good.
natured fellow. but extr mely high.
as he stands about six feet eight
and a quarter inches in his boots,
and wears No. lbs. He is an Irish
man and he set us an elegant sup
per; we had everything we could
wish for.
We made some inquiries about the
freight on our fish to Norfolk, Va.
We were told that the price used to
800 pounds estimated to the sugar
barrel. IL cents per hundred pounds.
or 30 cents per barrel, but now the
company has raised the rate
to so cents per barrel for a distance
Of 1S miles. Our proprietor would
not rest until he had shown us what
A nice lot of cats that he had: he
blow a little whistle. and here
they came from every quarter: he
told us that he had l3 and that he
lad no trouble to tell his and to keep
them together for he cut little
,iecc of the tail as soon as he got
hem We had an order to fill some
medium and small fish. and as we did
not wish to use those that we had
.aught to fill the order, We asked Mr.
Price what was the best that he
'ould do for two barrels. He told us
hat So. so was as low as he could sell
hem, making $l3 for the two. We
lad SO many thirteenS that had hap
,encd we could not but tell him about
,llr experience in this matter: SO,
lfter we had related the whole story.
lc too, like us, shook off the old
,otion that l3 was unluckly, and de-
'idcd to 60 and fish his pound net
lbout three miles south of here: SO he
lid and made a splendid catch, while
most all of the other fishermen did
comparatively nothing. We want to
ry and remain here until December
3th, if the fishing and sporting will
Keep good, but that will depend
,reat deal on the weather. ! weigh
ID on the 18th. when first came
lerc, l76 pounds, but to-day. since
laye partaken of SO much of our pro-
,rietor's wild fowl and good things, |
eel hat | have gained already about
81 dnds, If not more. Our hostess
y .stcd that he shall give us the
names of his thirteen cats. but as he !
,as them named 50 funny and queer
We will not undertake to give them
It this writing.
Yours respectfully,
G. NJ. Ml'RDEN, |
Virginia Beach, Va, Nov. Ii, 1901.