Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1902-04-12
ON THE GRAND BANKS.
Drudgery and Peril the Burd an o
Mems Lives Every Day
Of the Year.

The dories radiate from the schooner
Ike spokes from the hub of a wheel.
The fishing gear consists of travis
ropes several hundred feet long, to which
at Intervals of a yard, hooks are at
tached By smaller lines about two feet
long. The trawl is submerged by an
chors almost to the bottom, and there
buoyed, the hooks having been previous
II baited with the smaller fishes which
the greedy cod or yoracious halibut. nuz-
zlIng for food III the sandy bottoms, will
promptly bolt. The travis are set in the
Dight.
Once begun, the toll is incessant. and
when the fishing is good, the men rarely
ever steep. Awakened at Il. III. to fill
their bait kids or tubs, they start at
caybreak to lift these travis and remove
tue overnight catch, rebaiting the hooks
AGAIN. There are about $500 hooks to
handle, and this often occupies until
eYentIde, when the boats row back. Aft
er unloading, the deck is piled high with
the glittering mass of fish. To eviscerate
TINS and stow it i'll the hold keeps them
until midnight, when they snatch an
hour or two of sleep. Some can go with
out sleep for week, others will rub wet
tobacco III their eyes, so that the pain
may keep them wakeful few hours
longer Others again will work till they
drop from sheer exhaustion, and sleep as
they lie, until aroused by comrades. \
chinese torture is to keep men without
sleep, and banking does this to an ex-
tent TO satisfy even the most eXacting
celestial. The men sleep In their under
clothing; when above decks, they can
never leave off their oilskins, for on the
banks it is rarely fine; mist and murk
prevail, and the rigging and sails drip
water always.
The process of preserving the catch
varies with the season. In winter cod
and hahbut are large tish running from
100 to 300 and sometimes 500 pounds.
The entralls are removed and replaced
with powdered ice, the fish being then
stored in ice-packed pounds in summer,
hallbut are Quilted and sailed or iced.
God are packed in ice in winter: Quilted
and salted in summer. Halibut are very
difficult to catch, owing to their size and
strength. When fishing in the deepest
water the process is easiest. as the fish
are drowned from their struggles ere
reaching the surface. In shOal water,
where they are gamey, they often upset
a dory and the occupants meet Il watery
grave. II fishing is good Il dOry is soon
hlled. Overlooking the boats is a fire.
quent cause Of disaster. Men pile them
to the gunwale, and they ship a sea and
swamp The occupants, if they can so
contrive, turn the skiff bottom up and
Chamber to it, where they remain until
reset ed or washed off by the seas to
perish miserably. Henry Forestal was
last year i'll this plight with Il comrade.
The latter was weakening, and cried:
Don't let my body De lost When he
died and dropped off, Forestal followed,
caught the sinking body and tied it to
the sternfast. Then, much exhausted.
he carefully worked his way back on the
precariOuS raft, where he spent the night.
reasoned 10 tnG4t
to the body, calculated, / didn't lose
him. and dropped in faint on the YES
sells deck.
''Trawling is continued until the ship
is well fished. A halibut catch on the
Grand Banks lasts about a month, and
10000 to 100000 pounds is a good fare.
To take and salt 100000 to 300 900
pounds of cod i'll Il two months trip is
equally good work Sometimes i'll luck
prolongS the venture indefinitely. The
banker that was out one year from Feb
ruary : till October 81 was an eXcep
ton, but n four months trip is not rare.
The men share half the proceeds, some
times making $1,000 apiece in Il season.
The personal interest they thus have in
the vessels success IS great incentive,
and they will stand by her under all cir
cumStanceS, almost until 1t Is too late to
escape from the yawning vortex she
makes as she goes TO the bottom, carry
ing with her the proceeds of 4 seasons
toll. They live we'll, as they need to,
seeing the work they do and the hard
ships they face. Tire owners never stint
their fare, knowing it poor policy; and
the men would not stand it if it were
tried. Tntoxicants are tab0Oed, and the
labor and endurance which can be gem
Grated on tea and coffee Is n text for
temperance orators. The French carry
liquors with them, and sometimes. when
fishing Is poor, boats from other vessels
VIII board ii French ship for n spree
THE rheH will fail to, return, and an upses
dory WIFI be the only clue to their fate,
y Y NE1.ixr-rrh In EnslnAn.