The Washington herald., 1909-08-25

Although the officials Of the Depart
ment Of Commerce and Labor do not ap-
prove Of disbursing funds by guess. yet
this year. as for many previous years.
from 5000 to $500 will be paid 10 the
fishermen OF the Lower Penobscot River
salmon region. ell on the guessing a5.i-
ity OF a single down-Esst farmer-fsher-
man. the government guesser." and a
typical Yankee at that, says the Phila-
delphia Public Ledger.
There's no other way. Every year the
government buys from 500 70 1900 live
PenobscOt River or, more properly At
lanuc sea-salmOn, for breeding purposes.
The compensation is based upon the rul-
ing market price and so cents a fish ad-
ditional bonus for keeping the FISH alive.
The salmon vary from 10 pounds TO q
pounds in weight. but the average Is
from Is to IS pounds. The price scale
slides with the supply. but the govern
ment rarely buys fish until the price
which rules in fabulous figures early in
the season drops 10 % cents and some
times Is cents a pound. with q cents
a pound about the average price. SO
that when a fisherman finds a salmon
swimming about IN the falling waters
Of the trap OF weir there's from s. 10
$40 as good as cash added 10 his wealth.
Must Be Carefully Handled.
There's no way to weigh Eve salmon
and keep him alive. IN the spring the
fish. although they will fight for hours
at the end OF 100 yards OF line. viii sue
cumb 70 the slightest tap on the nose.
They must be carefully dipped from the
weir with a net lined with the sOftest
cotton flannel ard are kept IA cars
also lined with flannel and covered with
tarpaulins 70 keep out the sun. The fish
must be kept in a calm ard cOntented
state. for II disturbed they will become
excited and dash themselves TO death
In spite OF all precautions. The tempera-
ture Of the water in the car-which x
nothing more than a superannuated dOTy
kept half full Of water and covered with
netting-must not vary many degrees
from that Of the river. and IN the warm
est weather IL is often necessary 10 add
a piece Of ice for the comfort Of the cap
tives
AS anything Ike accurate weighing Of
a live fish Of such a delicate nature is
| impossible. the next best and only plan
is 10 guess at the weight Of the fish and
J II IS here that the Government guesser''
! Is called IA. He Is a man who has caught
and sold salmon for over forty years and
| can glance at the black back Of a fish
swimming about IT the darkened depths
OF a car and guess within half a pound.
II not exactly, the weight or the hsh-
Satisfied All Around.
At any rate. the great United states
government believes in HIS judgment as
accurate enough for all practical pur-
poses. and the people who sell the salmon
/ are satisfied They have 10 be. for when
Avery II. Whitmore. OF Verona. Ne, puts
down a figure in his record book as the
weight Of live salmon 70 be credited
! to M SO-and-SO that figure goes as
much as if'fT were the weight OF the FISH
| ascertained after profound and scientific
calculations OF Smithsonian savauts. Mr.
/ Whitmore has held the job for years
! He goes with the motor boat that cruises
among the weirs Of the Lower Penobscot
/ River collecting the salmon catch Of his
own weirs. which are on the extreme tip
/ Of the Island Of Verona. so situated that
the tides swing the floating ice clear
early in the spring. allowing Mr.. Whit
more to build his traps before his neigh
/ DOrs. and often he gets the first FISH OF
| the season. which brings from 81 TO S125
( a pound. and go 10 private orders in
New York.
The live salmon are released in a
pound. a section Of a brackish stream
running into tldewater on the Orland
River. An odd fact Is that while the sal
mon are very tender in the spring they
viii stand all kinds Of rough handling in
/ the fall. and will live at least twenty
minutes out OF water.