The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-12-14
PORPOISE Fishermen ARE NOW BUSY

the waters of that part Of the coast Of the
Garolinas.
Because of the risks run and the skin
required In this occupation the crews are
recruited from local fishermen who are
perfecsly familiar with the coast and are
cutie at home in the surf They must
have clear heads, steady nerves ana the
ability to act quickly. The surfuen are
ever ready for their work when a school
OF porpoises draws near, provided the sez.
gives them half a chance, and IL taxes
but little imagination to grasp something
Of the excitement and the peril Of their
occupation.
Taking on Porpoises DincuIt.
The habit Of the porpoise is to swim
In schools close in shore and probably
100 or 800 yards seward from the beach.
This makes 1t possible to intercept their
course and to drag them ashore after
they have stranded in the shallow
water, the seines preventing their escape
seward and frightening them shore
ward. The operation of capturing them
is simple to describe. but its proper exc
cution Is quite another matter
Sometimes the sea is so smooth that
the fish detect the presence of their foe
soon enough to go scurrying of at great
speed. Again. the waters NAV be 50
/ troublous that prompt handling of the
nets and the interrogation Of the approach
ing school becomes impossible. Perhaps
one or more of the boats NAV be
swamped before getting clear of the
breakers, making further successful ef-
forts at the time out of the question. or
the PROPOSES may be swimming too far
on shore to be reached with a fair
chance of drawing them to shallow water
before they can get away.
There are many times when the EFFORTS
OF the fishermen are fruitless, and DAYS
may pass without single porpoise put
ting in an appearance. Sometimes a haul
will net less than a dozen; perhaps the
surfmen may land half a hundred: and
there have been occasions when more
than double this number have been
beached at a single try. As several
thousand must be caught during the sea
son to supply the annual CONSUMPTION of
oil for this country II is easy to under
stand why there are stations for this
work located along the Atlantic seaboard
from New Jersey to Florida
Porpoises vary from six to twelve feet
in length. and the biggest Of them weigh
fully quarter Of a ton. Their speed in
frightened flight and their beautiful
leaps above the waters surface tell of
their great strength: and one can easily
picture the task involved in drawing the
heavy seines with the added burden of a
goodly number of these excited mammals
making their utmost efforts to break
their way to freedom.
Plenty of Excitement.
The porpoise is the largest denizen of
the deep caught by seins within the wat
ers of the United States. and for excite
ment the nearest approach is the taking
Of the funny in the waters of Europe As
shallow water, the fishermen run i'm
among them, taking good care to avoid
the slashing sweep Of their powerful
tails, and hook them so that they may
be dragged high and dry upon the beach.
Strange as il may seem. the fish are not
infrequenuy drowned or suffocated be-
fore they can be pulled ashore This is
because they cannot breathe properly
when resting on their sides or their
bellies.
No time is lost after these graceful
creatures Of the sea have been landed
in stripping them Of their fat. The head
is severed from the body and the precious
tissue of the lower jaw and cheeks is
tried out separately from the body blub-
Der. The reason for this is that the two
oils are quite unlike as lubricants, and
haste is needful in order to prevent the
fatty tissue from becoming rancid be-
lore rendering RANCID TAT seriously al
fects the final product. and seemingly
trifiing conditions bear importantlysupon
the ultimate suitability of the lubricant.
At the fishing stations the oil produced
is essentially raw or crude by COMPARE
son with the finished article and con-
tains good deal of foreign substance
which must be removed before the stun
is Mt for the market.
AS soon as the oil is received by the
refiner IL is heated gently in order to
the cooking process begun by
the fishermen at the SEEMING stations. Up
TO this point man has done his work, and
now time and nature take up the task.
The oil is allowed to rest for eight
and is exposed during that time
TO the clarifying effects of the sun and
also to the influences of climatic heat and
sold. Then it is strained or filtered
suitable fabrics further to
cleanse II.