Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1901-12-05

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seine is drawn in, While The boat :
crew enjoy smoke IN The bunk
room until the whistle brings all
hands on the platform Twensy men
ut either end, with leather shoulder
braces. put their weight aEa'nst the
seine. The caps'nns ssarf on the
quarter lines which are run out 70
the quarter posts. one after another,
for without the help Of steam the
work Of pulling through he water
the 5000 feet Of sei~s ~
lossal.
The whole process nzoxes like
eiockwork-a class Of vel organized
and quiet laborers work'nq under a
system so well planned that the cap
tain can Of any mosnent furn to chat
with visitors and The work still go
on. Nearly all signals are given by
the steam whistle - the seine
reaches the apron, should the strain
upon the quarter lines become to
tense and the hauling r heavy for
the crew, signal brings oil to o
standstill. Get the Niger, " calls
the captain, and q small seine is
brought out and put aboard a row.
boat, all this meaning that a very
large catch is in tie seine and must
be handled in sections.
The largest hanp ever made and
handled, was zoe, eo0 fish, and it took
all day to land and get them away.
Large numbers have been surround
ed by seine, but rather than have the
fish spoil on their hands the fisher
men push the seine down with an
oar, letting the captives escape, until
the number remaining can be sue
cessfully handled But twoo three
trips OF the niger are necessary
as a rule, aud the seine empties upon
the float silyery mass OF squirming,
white bodies. Cosrsesand Is throws
upon them as they founder and the
scales are whipped OF. The fish are
then pushed into boxes built under
trapdoors. ThruiRh thesethe water
runs and the fisls%sre quickly wash
ID, then scooped into baskets and
emptieS into the scow. Fifty thou
sand fish are cleared away in twenty
Eve minutes by the land crew, the
boat crew resting in the meantime.
Occasionally herring is thrown
aside. It is because it has been
smothered under water, and there
fore would bloatup after being cured.
A shad keeps as well after dying
under water as in theair Whenall
the fish are landed the boats crew
reioads the seine upon the boat, coil
ing it symmetrically, layer upon lay
er, while the land crew rests. And
so each day isspent, beginning Mon
day morning, sometimes atmidnight,
never later than T. and lasting until
y at night no stop being made for
regular meals. The alternate hours
OF leisure are used for that. The
tides, two ebb and two Hood each
uaS' are careiuny "a'cneu' as upon
'uel uope"os 'ue eAaos u'e''oh ~
WHICH "Ao ee'ne - 'aAen ous' anu tue
.nie ior peinnins eacn horh'ng.
Oonee - 10 DC nau ior 'ne asking al
any 'iou' anu peep o. 'neir cum
nary aepar'nen' Is nies' interesting.
Ahe s'iree coohs WIZ zen you 'nat
TWO WASH Do''ers iuii Oh conee, 20
ioaves OIL Dread' one ana q naif
Dusneis Oh posasoes ana iio pounds
W hsn are - Ior one meal; ~
barrels Oh llf ~ POUNDS Oh conee
ana TWO t bacon during the
season. Inc men are aiioWed no
iquof' Du. plen'y % suDssahtiaiio od
ana are paio aoout eignty cents per
DAY a WINDY oay, when the water
Is rough becomes Q holiday Then
the one vice OF the fishermen, thatof
gambling Tor chewing tobacco, IS
ireeiy inouiged In.
Most Of these men work year after
year upon the same float, coming
from oyster fisheries down the bay,
some few from their winter quarters
the almshouse-and others from
nowhere. The last, professional