The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-03-31
ON THE NBwFoUNDLAND BANKS.
The Daily Drudgery sad Peril of the
 Fishermen.

The dories radiate from the schooner
 like spokes from the hub of wheel
 The fishing gear consists of travis
 ropes several hundred feet long, tc
 which, at intervals of yard, hooks are
 attached 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 pre- Yiously baited with the smaller fishes
 which the greedy cod or voracious hali@ but, nuzzling for food in the sandy bot
 toms, will promptly bait. The travis
 are set in the afternoon and remain un-
 disturbed all night.
 Once begun the toll is incessant and
 when the fishing is good, the men rarely ever sleep. Awakened at 2 a. m. to i'll
 their bait kids or tubs, they start at
 daybreak to lift these travis and re-
 move the overnight catch, rebaiting | the hooks again. There are about 5000 | hooks to handle, and this often occu- | pies until eventide, when the boats row
 back. After unloading, the deck is pill
 ed high with the gIittering mass of fish. | To eviscerate this and stow it in the | hold keeps them until midnight, when | they snatch an hour or two of sleep.
 Some can go without sleep for week, others will rub wet tobacco in their l eyes, so that the pain may keep them wakeful a few hours longer. Others again will work till they drop from i sheer exhaustion, and sleep as they lie, until aroused by comrades. A Chinese torture is to keep men without sleep. and banking" does this to an extent | to satisfy even the most exacting Celes | tial. The men sleep in their undercloth- ing; 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 all ways.
 The process of preserving the catch varies with the season. In winter cod
 and halibut are large fish, running from
 100 to 300 and sometimes 800 pounds.
 The entrails are removed and replaced
 with powdered ice, the fish being then
 stored in ice-packed 'pounds"; in sum-
 mer halibut are gutted and salted or iced. Cod are packed in ice in winter, gutted and salted in summer Halibut are very difficult to catch, owing to their size and strength When fishing III lllG uGEpESI NdlSl tllC pIcISSS 10 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 occu- pants meet Watery grave. If fishing is good a dory is soon filled. Overload l ing the boats is a frequent cause of dis aster. Men pile them to the gunwale, | and they ship a sea and swamp. The l occupants if they can so contrive, turn l the skiff bottom up and chamber to it, where they remain until rescued or washed off by the seas to perish mis- 1 erably. Henry Forrestal was last year | in this plight with a, comrade. The lat | ter was weakening, and cried, Don't l let my body be lost" When he died | and dropped off, Forrestal followed, | caught the sinking body and tied it to the sternfast. Then, much exhausted he carefully worked his way back on the precarious craft, where he spent the night. When rescued next morning, he pointed to the body, ejaculated, T didn't lose him. and dropped in a faint on the vessels deck.
 Trawltng is continued until the ship is we'll fished A halibut catch on the
 
 50, 900 to 100000 pounds is a good fare. To take and salt 100000 to 100000 of cod in two-months' trip is equally good work Sometimes i'll luck prolongs the venture indefinitely. The banker that was out one year from February 3 till October 21 was an excap- ton, but four months trip is not rare. i The men share half the proceeds some times making $1,200 apiece in season. The personal interest they thus have in the vessels success is a great incentive, and they will stand by her under all circumstances, almost until it is too late 70 escape from the yawning vortex she makes as she goes to the bottom, car 'ying with her the proceeds of sea- sons toil They live we'll as they need Q, seeing the work they do and the lardships they face. The owners never ;tnt their fare knowing it poor policy; md the men would not stand it If it we're tried Intoxicants are tabooed, md the labor and endurance which can 1e generated on tea an dcoffee is text or temperance orators The French arry liquors with them and sometimes, when fishing is poor, boats from other -essels will board French ship for a pree The men will fail to return, and nd upset dory will be the only clew to heir fate.
 Their heroism is no less remarkable. is the characteristic of the individual nd of the aggregation These men will ace any danger and sacrifice their hips and their own lives to save com ade. Three years ago a banker sighted mother, water-logged and dismasted, a aw wretched survivors on the deck. A urricane was blowing, but the ship un- CT control made toward the dere1ict A ory was launched, two men volunteer lg to attempt a rescue, Scarcely had ne left the side when she was engulfed, -ith her rowers. Two others, undis- layed by this tragedy launched anoth- 2 dory, only to meet a like fate. A lird pair, whose courage overbGre the orror witnessed by both ships per ,nnel, bravely faced the elements in q esh endeavor. They were fortunate lough to escape the voracious nav of Ii le angry ocean, but only to see derelict va allowed I1o tbav Dna rod bnY with