The Washington herald., 1907-07-07
BULLY SHAD FISHING

Up the line. The negroes plunged, half
stripped, into the cold stream; some
stood in knee deep, some up 70 their
waists Swish, swash, swish, swash,
broke the waves as the net was drawn
/ in by the lines Of brown, wet arms.
| The Groom rose to a song that kept time
with the beat Of the waves between each
pull on the seine. The net was heavy
and the water cold. Whisky was passed
down the line A long haul, and the net
was in and emptied. Again its length
was stretched across the water for the
next run Of fish. on shore herring and
shad lay IN big glstening heaps.
An Annual FrOIie.
Going 20 the fishing was a sort Of an
nual frolic with us, and the lively COM
petition among the "help" on the various
places TO be taken along ended I'm a liberal
supply Of men to look alter teams and
do heavy work as well as the large num-
Der Of negroes necessary 10 set and haul
IN the seines.
First come. first served" was the
motto Of the fishermen. and when several
farmers went 10 the fishing together each
waited his turn" TIL his neighbor. who
had been foremost IN getting up, had all
the shad and herring he wanted for him
self. There were usually two or three
haus a day Sometimes the runs" were
not very good, in which case there was
delay.
When farmers found themselves in for
a wait of two or three days they pro-
ceeded TO make themselves comfortable
in bivouaC. and calculated TO nicely how
many herring and shad they would store
for fall and winter use.
\ farmer usually salted down from 500
TO 5000 herring and 20 10 100 shad, ac-
COTding to the number Of laborers on his
farm. Some of the fish were dried. and
the herring often smoked. None knew
better than an early fisherman how ap-
petizing herring and hot Maryland corn
bread can be on a frosty morning.
At the Fish Landing.
At the fish landing we put In our time
In such amusements as spinning yarns,
pitching quoits, foot-racing, and. some
times, horse-racins. Flasks OF amber fluid
circulated freely, and with happy impair
TALLY served TO keep off cold and feveTs
that lurked in dew-wet grass and Susque-
hanna water-in fishing. generally-fOr
unwaTy men. The preventive of colds
was often rather TOO plentiful, and when
this happened about the time that sew
eral wagons were making the homeward
start together, it has been known that
the rivalry between their owners. as to
the speed of various teams. has exceeded
the bounds Of prudence, and the earth has
fairly shaken under the rapidly whrling
wheels Of numbering vehicles and the
hoof- beats Of hard-pushed horses. Some
times, on such occasions, the tailbOgrd
dropped out, and fish, that a few hours
before were plaCidly gliding down the
Susquehanna's S tranquil waters. were seen
flying through the air.
Spring breezes have blown and spring
sunshine flung seine nets Of gold over the
river and the velvet green Of the hills
many times since then. II has drifted
through the blossomlng branches Of the
trees and traced arboTeal pictures on the
hillsides. ! remember how, when dusk
settled down In the valley stars glm-
mered in SKY and water, the breeze from
the Chesapeake toyed with a small camp
fire. and all the apple blooms faded into
soft. dark fringes against the sky The
evening hlHl was in. Swish swash,
broke the waves; and grandly echoing
among the hills rang from thousand
throats the melody of Maryland, My
Maryland"