Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1901-07-17
MAINE LOBSTERS. !
SOME BIG FELLOWS THAT HAVE
BEEN CAUGHT.
SOME LoBsrERs ARE OF RAINBOW
HuEs-How THEY ARE PACKED
FOR SHIPMENT.

h5n COtBAhi5blOn on lnU iOUotcL h5uoIy
Of Maine, shows that the poet who wrote:
"Till, like lobster boiled. the morn
From black to red began to turn-"
made smile almost as imperfect as his
rhyme. By no means are ali holsters
black originally or red only after boiling.
A female lobster caught on Hurricane
island in 1874 was colored rich indigo
along the middle of the upper part Of the
body, shading off into brighter and
clearer tint on the sides and extremities.
The upper surface OF the large claws was
blue and purple, family notified with
darker shades, while underneath YVES a
delicate cream tint. The under parts OF
the body, tended also to melt into a
cream color, and this was also true Of the
spines and tubercles Of the shell and
appendages. In 1892 Peaks Island fish,
erman caught lobster about eleven
inches In length whose back was of an in
digo blue, and which towards the extremi-
ties and under parts shaded off into pure
white. The under part of the claw was
also pure white. Lewis Mcdonald, of
Portland, has pure white lobster pre-
served in alcohol; it was caught in 1887.
I A lobster about six inches long, caught
at Beal island, was almost a jet black. A
few bright red Holsters, looking as though
they had been boiled, have also been taken
along the Maine coast at various times.
A lobster was caught near Long Island,
in Casco bay, about the year 1885, OF
which half of the body was light yellow
up to the middle Of the back, while the
other half was bright red; there were no
spots on the tail. In September, 1898, r.
T. Carver, of Vinalhaven, had in his pos
session female lobster about eleven
inches long, of a bright red color all over
| except the forward half of the right side
of the carapace and the feeler on this
side, which were OF the usual color.
SOME BIG ONES.
The popular notion, also, of the sizes of
Holsters appears to fall somewhat short
OF the truth. On May 6, 1891, a male lob
ster weighing slig more than twenty
three pounds was taken in Penohscot bay,
southeast OF Moose Point. 1t had tried
| to back into the trap, but after getting
| its tail through the funnel was unable to
get either in or out and was thus cap
tured. According to F. w. Collins, a
dealer of Rockland, in August, 1891, a
lobster weighing eighteen and one half
| pounds was taken at Bluehill Falls, in
upper Bluehill bay; while in November,
1892, a female lobster weighing eighteen
pounds was taken at Green island. In
January, 1898, N. F. Trefethen, OF Port
land, received lobster from Vlnalhaven
that weighed eighteen pounds.
According to Il. F. erie d Sons, of
Criehaven, on Sept. 7, 1898, a male lobster
weig hing twenty five pounds and meas
uring twenty i've inches from the end of
the nose to the tip OF the tail, and forty
| FIVE inches across, including the claws,
was caught on bake trawl off Matinicus
| Rock light station. III August, 1885, a
| live male lobster was exhibited at Peaks
Island which measured forty four inches
in length and weighed twenty-five
pounds. 1t had been caught, near Mon
hogan island, and the owner was carrying
it from town to town in small car,
which he had built for it, and charging a
fee to look at it.
! GOING TO MARKET.
| The same report gives an interesting
account of the mode of shipping Holsters
to market. AS they cannot be preserved
in frozen state they must be shipped
cit her alive or boiled. About nineteenth
of the Holsters csueht in Maine waters
were shipped in h live state. The prin-
| cipal shipping stations are Portland,
Rockland and Esstport, which have good
railroad and steamboat facilities to point $
outside OF the State.
AS soon as a smack arrives it is moored
| directly alongside one of the cars. The
| Holsters are then dipped out OF the well
by means of Il long handled scoop net
| and thrown on the deck Of the vessel.
The doors of the car are opened and the
men on the deck OF the vessel pick over the
lobster lying on the deck and toss them
| two by two into the different compart-
ments, those dead and badly mutilated
! being thrown to one side for the time
being. ALI vigorous Holsters above a
certain size are placed in compartments
OF the car by themselves, while the weak
and small ones are put into separate COM
partments. The dead Holsters, or those
which have had their shells broken or
have been SO injured that they are sure to
die, are either thrown overheard or upon
the dump. 4 lobster which has lost one
or even both claws is not thrown away,
as such an injury would have very little
effect upon its health.
SHIPPING LIVE LoBsTERs.
When an order is received for live
Holsters, those that have been longest in
the cars are usually shipped. Flour bar
rels, holding about 140 pounds, or sugar
barrels, holding about 1856 pounds, with
small holes bored in the bottom for drain
age, are used for the shipment. Former
ly the Holsters were packed close together
in the barrel, and large piece OF ice was
put in at the top. But this was found to
kill number of them. The present
method is to split off about one-third OF a
| 100 Mound cake of ice the long way, and