Evening journal., 1901-03-18
PREPARING FOR
FESTIVE SHAD
Fishermen Will Drop NetS
Next Month
MAKING READY FOR WORK
Along River CillerS and Seine Men
Are Actively on The Move for
approaching Season

HIFAVaNhAh1 NNs-'NH
Along the banks OF the Delaware,
from Camden as far down as the bay,
yellow nets are here and there spread
over the course. stiff grass. Weather
beaten men in boots-broad breasted,
well set up-move slowly to and fio,l
stopping TO mend the nets with twine.
A strong and steady wind uhlcs the
river; the waters are gilded by a sun
that blazes like a conhagration IN sky
unimaginably blue; in the mud OF the
marshes crows stand solemnly, and
through the clear air gulls circle, their
breasts and the inside of their wings
shining like white cotton in the great
light. The air Is cool, yet IL Is soft
There is something joyous, something
intoxicating in the air. IL is the breath
Of the approaching Spring.
In anticipation OF the Spring and Of
the shad that Will then swim up the
river all those healthy-loOklng men
are getting their nets ready. They win
not begin to catch the shad until ab1ut
April no. but they think Il wen 10 have
everything prepared Ia good time. They
are cal.ed "giners." after their nots,
which are GIN nets. and there are
some 500 OF them dwelling in huts or
boai-houses along the stream, and de-
pending mainly on the two months
ahad fishing for their livelihood
Though the year.
Then there is a colony OF about forty
ether men, just summoned to Washing
ton Park to get ready the gigantic.
mile-long seine. Albert Rice-Capain
ALBERT ltice-owns the seine, and The
forty men viii work under him at a
salary, living in his houses below
Washington Park. and eating at his
table, which is renowned along the
river for its excellence.
THE GIIl.ERS WHEN AT WORK.
The gillers FISH on their own account.
and what they catch is their. Their
nets are made of cord as fine, pretty
nearly. as silk. The delicate meshes
catch the shad by the gills. and at the
end of a good seasons fishing a gilCr
win have some $3.50 or $400 to The good
He works day and night. setting out
his net at each OF the three tides, ped
ding shad about the waterside streets
between times. A healthy. calm-mnd-
ed man. blessed with an incredible ap-
petite and few ambitions of a worldly
or sordid kind the glller takes life
easy after the shad season though he
will occasionally then spread net
over some sewers outlet In the river
and draw it mp freighted with about a
ton OF carp
The mile-long seine net owned by
Captain Albert Rice is so old that no
one can remember when II was made.
lt probably dates back, they say at
Washington Park, to the old Howell
fishery which General Joseph Howell
started at Gloucester in 1850. Il was
not made in any factory, but By FISH
ermen themselves. All the shad nets,
for that matter, are the handiwork Of
the men who use them.
SEINE LAYING A RARE SIGHT.
The laying out OF the huge seine az
Washington Park during the shad sea-
son Is a sight worth seeing II Is wound
on q roller In the stern OF thirty-ioot
boat. pulled by sixteen men, eight oars
ON a side The boat moves in a semi
circle across the river. and the net is
carefully let fall. Being forty feet wide,
Il walls the stream from top to bottom,
and no fish that happens to be within
the area OF its great circle can escape.
In one haul # viii sometimes gather
In 5000 shad. and then again II Will
gather IN but twenty.
Then men. in two lines. haul Il in
slowly They have hooks fastened 10
their belts to help them. Whether full
OF empty the net is tremendously
heavy. so that Il IS impossible to tell
until the last minute the size Of the
catch. At the turn of the tide the casi
Is made Captain Rice having little
machine. called an indicator, by which
he knows precisely when the It'd,
changes. There are three casts daily
az food. az ebb and at low tide. Tn,
season Is open until June 10. but th'
fishing practically ceases by Decora
iion day. as the shad begins after tha
TO get soft.
NIGHT FISHING PICTURESQUE
The night fishing causes the Della
ware 10 be Illuminated with iewel-nk
Sights. The floating nets of the siller
are marked with lanterns. and lantern
hob and flash in hundreds of little fish
ing boats Afterward the capture
shad n quivering mounds. CLEAN ik
pearl in the yellow light. throug
which the men move In their hip-bo0ls
while around them Is the calm an
mysterious n glit. the murmurng rive
and the sky with its host of stars
Whether a shad season is good or no