The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1901-04-08
laps Take the AbaIOns Without
Either Bait or Line.
THEY USE MEAT FOR FOOL.
Crustatsans Have 4 Deadly Grip and III.
Dangerous Work Is Only Very
Poorly Paid.

rev persons VINO treasure The beautiful
abalone shells brought from southern
California have any idea of The difficulty
with which these iish are caught or of the
extent OF the trade In them. without
hook or line with neither net nor bait the
fisherman wades into The wafer with =
small hatchet as a weapon
lie must have muscle, for IL requires
strong Blow 10 1crach the crustacean
from its intrenchment deep under the sur
face of the water
As the abalone has certain means OF de-
fence not TO be despiscd. and as he Is
capable OF maintaining himself quite "A
long time against foe. II Is no wonder
that he Is not popular with sportsmen.
The work OF iishing Tor the abalo,y is
These people and their kipsmen. the
Chinese, are rrodigious fishers. They are
70 DC found ali along the California
coast, and excel In many respects all 9th.
er fishermen.
They have great patience. they labor
of hard work Abaione fishing has been
neglected by the Caucasians as means
OF livelihood. not because IL lacks the ele-
mentS OF danger necessary 10 make IL
ageeable, but because II has i'm addition
10 this factor that other and deterrent
factor OF hard and uncleanly labor.
Near the Weii-knowfl harbOr OF San
Pedro, on the coast OF California about
i've miles To the southwest and In sight
1Iace ri sne caIied rSp wb,n Fbmin lighthouse Ydn, at
fisheries are carried on by "A company of
Japs In the employment OF three Amer
leans.
The boats rest there I'm a small shelter
ed cove when not I'm use and run OUT 10
the fisheries through narrow channel
that would hardly serve for duck boat
The men are. however. skilled oarsmen
out where the water Is about nfty feet
deep they anchor and get ready for their
work. This Is done by placing over the
eyes celluoid contrivance TO which are
attached rubber bags nlled with air.
with this apparatus the fisherman can
remain under water I'm depth OF % feet
about three minutes. This seems almost
mcreditable To one who has never ac-
Quired the practice Of diving,
SMALL PAY FOR FISHERMEN.
For their perilous work the laps re-
ceive but scanty remuneration. The men
month. and the divers only $50. Hardly
any one else would go down for tina,
amount OF money. let alone taking the
IN, addition 70 all the generally known
perils of the diver, there Is a considerable
risk in securing the nsh. There Is moth
hope of anything good TO eat.
He is simply attacked by his enemy,
eS y' the ess ree.r e h% hacSe a IL the Sru5 a5
alone Is engaged I'm feeding himself, -his
shell. OF course, which is generally about
should the hand OF the fisherman get
caught therein his danger Is great
The hold on good.sise9 abaione Il
it is almost impossible to escape from
him.
Men who have been fishing alone on
the beach have been caught In this trap
and held until the tide came up and
drowned them. The only hope that such
Al one could possibly have, In the event
OF not being able 10 strike the abalone
hard enough with his free hand 10 force
the fish to let go, wouistJ9e To sever the
hand from the arm by repeated, blows VI
the hatchet.
Notwithstanding the difficulties OF their
labors,i these men at Whites Point are
fish every day. When they get the re-
quired amount of material I'm hand. they
rise from below the surface of the water
and rop their burden.into bag floating
there.
This is kept in SIS place by means Of
small bladders fastened TO e. which act
as buoys. The bags made of rope.
knotted 10y hand, with hoop for the
opening.
ties OF abalone. determined by their color
Some are red, others are almost blue
while those of third class are a. dark
brown. with shades that vary 10 yellow.
Along the beach near Whites Point there
are two shades Of yellow. with few
other colorings.
The shells present a most distinct diff
ference in their color markings, some be-
ing deep Prussian blue. while In strik-
lion hues mingled with beautiful rain
bow marking OF pearly whiteness.
MEAT HARD TO COOK.
For many years the manner Of making
the meat palitable TO the civilized taste
remained secret. a party of campers
secured some OF these luscious looking
shell fish and tried to prepare them as
they did others of "a similar character.
They cooked them longeN because of
the greater size. When removed 20 tfie
table for eating. they were found To be
very tough. They were put back In the
pot and cooked longer. This time they
came out tougher than ever.
Determined not 10 be discouraged the
persistent, epicureans put them back for
many hours, boiling and were rewarded
at last by material suitable for wagon
tires To their camping wagon. The longer
these abalones were cooked the tougher
they became. and the experiment was at
last abandoned.
The process OF cooking described by
these fishermen az Whites Point. IL.
however, rather different from that tried
by the campers After the meat has been I
removed from the shell. 10 IS thrown into |
q salt pickle. where IL IL left for two days.
IN is then taken out and boiled I'm water |
for four minutes only, after which Il is |
smoked over charcoal
There are yet four more boilings neces-
sary before IL is ready for the drying |
rays II is now subjected to long term |
OF drying. Every day for six weeks IL |
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