The San Francisco call., 1901-10-06

4 the morning. If you can get
v around that early 1 will write you
out permit" said the manager
of one of the large fishing COM
panies Of the bay. Two O'Clock in the
Inorning-ye gods! what an unearthly
hour TO begin ones daily work Get
around that early? Well, yes. and con-
graduated myself for the opportunity,
for it is something like winning a prize
IN church fair TO be honored with a
permit to 90 out with the fisherfolk
At the appointed hour. o'clock one
morning, the cabman left a sleepy trio
down at the old seawall where the good
sized fishing tug was already putting out
a column of black smoke that curled up
and mingled with the veil of fog that
hung over the water.
We were ushered aboard by the hospit-
able captain and found seating places
where We were least in the way, shifting
occasionally to let the bundle of nets
be slowed, or to get out of the way of
q coil Of rope that dripped tiny streams
of salt water on deck and then listened.
Have you ever heard orders given in
hurried patois of Observation-Disclosures
CAM If not you have missed a treat,
for those sons of the sea all have musical
voices, strange to say. 1t may be the
salty air, or it may be the diet of garlic.
for I have heard somewhere that the
latter is excellent for the voice, should
one have the courage to use it, At any
rate these folks have no nasal twang,
nor have they gruff1y throaty tones.
Clear, reverberant and musical through
the fog came the mingled chatter, livened
by an occasional laugh, for evidently the
presence Of strangers is a novelty and
therefore somewhat conducive to good
nature. Then, perhaps, we looked so like
''greenhorns." using nautical term, that
they anticipated seeing our cOmplexions
turn color when We neared the choppy
water out beyond the heads ANY way
their chatter and laughter was their
secret and We enjoyed it just the same.
At last "All aboard and off we went,
cutting through the water AT good speed.
past Alcatraz v hich looked like the huge
giant with an eye in the middle Of his
forehead Of our childhood's fairy tales,
fcr the lamp in the lighthouse winked
and blinled through the mist. which
velors everything in a sort OF phantasm.
Through the Golden Gate, and the cap
tain showed us where the iIl-fated Rio
Ge S&Aeiro was supposed TO lie, and set
rs to thinking Of things not cheerful,
Until Cur attention was attracted by the
seemingly hundreds Of small crab boats
circling around the Cliff House and off
Point Bonita. for right here is one Of
the richest grabbing fields of the coast.
1t may be the fashion in boats. but more
likely the change is due to prosperous
times with those salad catchers for the
old-time skin with the little brown sail,
which 90 cause Of many a capsize in
the treacherOus winds and cross currents
of the coast, is supplanted by the thor
oughly up-to-date little gasoline launch.
which chugs, chugs through the water
with a great deal more speed and, judg-
ing from the falling off of bay accidents,
more safety.
From these boats, suspended over the
sides, are the large round nets with a
smaller circular net containing the bait
of fresh beef liver or sardines. These are
lowered sometimes six or eight to one
boat When raised the greenish creatures
seemingly all legs are dumped into the
boat and the process of lowering the nets
is repeated.
The water IS never quite calm out here
and many q time a wave slips smoothly
over the decks Of the brave little
launches, but the fishermen heed them
not Perhaps they exert the mental
science power and say, 'I will not catch
cold; only came TO catch crabs" If
they DO the scheme works beautifully, for
we never hear of q fisherman with a cold
We tried the same idea to ward off sea-
sickness, and it proved most satisfactory,
although the boat was rocking in the
most undignified manner-in fact, it was
SO rough that the fishermen despaired of
a good days catch, but we knew that If
we were i'll we should not see all those
queer looking fish and things, possibly
sea serpent that would come 10 surface
when the drag was raised.
When not far from the FaraIIones,
which for fishing ground shares popular
ity with Greggs Bay, Bolinas and the
waters off Point Reyes. the head fisher
man gave orders TO cast the net Now
this throwing out Of the net with the up
to-date tug fishing is one of the most i'm
pOruant parts OF the fsherman's duty. for
If IL is not cast ont exactly straight il will