The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1909-10-30

which used to help the ascent, or 1t
may be due to mans action in alb
stracting water by surface drainage or
for use in his houses. In such a case
as this the salmon never will sur
mount the fall, and It Is evident that
must be the gradual depletion of the
river of its fish. Meantime such fish
as may survive will continue their
brave efforts with perseverance
which wins our admiration, though
true understanding of their psychology
must, perhaps, convince us that it Is
without moral value, being merely
blind obedience to the inherited in
stinct of their race.
The great product Of Labrador Is its
fisheries. Strip If of it's marine prod
ucts and you have left nothing but
mosquitoes and barren waste. In Its
fisheries, which amount annually to
many hundreds of thousands Of dol
lars. 1t is easy to see what has been
the bone Of contention In the past
years between England, France and
the United States. The business of
catching fish Is carried on for the
most part by the large and enterprs.
ing houses OF England, with their
branch Offices in Newfoundland, Each
house has its dependents whom 1t fur
nishes In the spring with food. ap.
paratus and boats necessary to OBJ
tain catch In the fall the accounts
are settled. If the season has been
a remunerative one the house obtains
an ample return for its investment;
but If. as often 1t happens, the season
has been for some reason an unprofit-
able one, the house stands its loss, pa
tiently looking to another year to re-
imburse it for its previous unprOfta-
BILE outlay. Little money ever passes
into the hands of the catchers of cod
Ii is a matter of barter wholly, and
the balance of credit Is always on the
side of the house. Yet, with its mani
fest disadvantages, the system Is a
great practical help to the fisherman
himself, since it frees him from direct
competition in the open markets and
guarantees him a home and means of
support, which If left to himself he
might often lack
The method of catching fish differs
from that employed by any other peo-
pie except the SCandinavians. 1t was
introduced from the Norwegian coast
over 90 years ago and first put into
operation off the shores of Newfound-
land near St Johns. There II was
so successful that trap fshing IS now
employed along the whole Labrador
coast. The trap consists of an i'm
mense we'll built in the form of a
square. measuring eight fathoms to
a side. These sides. which are made
Of strong netting. are connected at the
| bottom by a flooring OF netting the
whole extending from the buOys at the
surface to very near the bottom From
the square inclosure thus made a net
| ia sprung to the shore, where It is
! fastened generally at the foot OF some
narpendicular cliff. to serve the pur-
pose OF a leader
The method Of pulling the trap Is
interesting a large boat, capable o.
carving 40 qulntaIs OF fish and
manned hy six hands, IS moored TO
ono corner Of the trap and the work
~ undermining begun, the object be.
inp 10 force the fish into one corner
that hey may the more easily be
transferred 10 the boat by the dipnet
! Reginning at this corner, the bottom
| and sides OF the net are pulled gradu.
aIly to the SIDES OF the boat, as each
now hold reaches the gunwale tue
nroceding one being let go In this
wav the fish are gradually forced into
the corner. from which they are trans
ferred 10 the boat Oftenumes the sag
of the net becomes caught on the bot.
tom Of the boat. which is then literally
aground on the shoa Of Goldfish.
| When the catch ls too large for the
boat to carry to the cleaning house a
bag is fastened TO the top lie Of tte
net and the fish forced in-o =, "here
they remain till the next tlJ "h n
| they are taken at specil. zip