Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-11-07
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING

| further in this case and is actually con-
| Quoting fishing operations on a COM
mercial scale. Arrangements were
made with the owner Of a fishing vessel
| to make the catches on the grounds
discovered by the government far from
the usual fishing areas, and every few
| days thousands of pounds of the prac-
| tica1ly unknown fish are taken to the
| New York markets. There the bureau
of fisheries is advertising the new sea
food by colored posters bearing it's
! official Endorsement, which have been
| distributed to the dealers. At the same
time the new fish is being recommend
ed to the fishermen as product that
| can be taken the year round: while the
| final link in the chain, the consumer.
| is being apprised of the excellent all
year food value of the fish. To make
| acquaintance with the new product
easy, the bureau has even collected
| and distributed group of choice
recipes for preparing the new delicacy.
| Seldom have greater romance and mys-
terry been found in connection with ami
mai life than in the case of the tile
| fish. The capture of a specimen In deep
| water in the edge of the gulf stream
| off the middle Atlantic coast was made
in 1879 and was complete surprise to
| the scientific world, being the first
| specimen so far as Is known that had
| ever been seen by man. The fish was
christened Lopholatilus Chameleon
| ticeps by scientists, but some practical
titus" and even. shortened this SO that
! it has since been known popularity as
! ''tilefish"
| The bureau Of fisheries found the new
marine product to be an excellent food
fish and began at that early date to
popularize it. Little progress had been
made, however, when a shift such as
had never before been known occurred
in the course of the gulf stream. The
| fish lived not over shallow banks as
most fish caught commercially. but in
the narrow zone where the warm wa
tiers of the gulf stream come in con-
tact with the steep slopes of the foun-
dation Of the North American CONT
nent, The swinging out of the warm
stream left the fish to be enveloped by
cold water, with the result that up
ward of a billion and a half were
| killed
The fishing industry for the new
product was wholly destroyed in the
space of a few weeks. and IT was
thought for years that the tilefish had
been exterminated. In recent years,
its former position. has restored con
ditions that made 1t possible for the.
tilefsh to thrive, and they have become
re-esta blished In as large NUMBERS ap
parently, as formerly.
Dr. H. N Smith, chief of the bureau
| of fisheries. Is taking keen interest IN
placing the tilef1sh on soild pass
among American sea FOODS. ana peleVes
that the new fishing industry tha1 Is
| sure to he built up will place nun
dreds of thousands of additional dollars
| in the pockets of American fishermen
as well as give another economical
housewife. One of the valuable fea-
lures in connection with the new in
dustry DR.. Smith points out, is the Iact
that the fishing grounds are wlthln
| a
close to Boston. DR.. Smith points to
/ the fact that the gulf stream has never
| been known to shift from its course
| but once, and feels that the PROBABILITY
is strong that the tilefish grounds will
be permanent.
| While dredging forces are working
at top speed seeking to clear obstruct-
| ing slides out of the Pana-
| Canal Zone ma canal, practically all
other government en-
hallioau. ployes in the Canal Zone
are also working under special STRESS
for the tying up Of traffic has reVoiu-
| tionized most of the activities on the
isthmus that were beginning to settle
| into known channels.
| First and most noticeable of the eff
| fects were the increased demands on
! the Panama railroad, which. in the days
before the opening of the canal, carried
| the heaviest per mile traffic of the
| world, but which lately had come to be
supplies. The road, which is controlled
| by the United States government, I'M
,, mediately put a special rate-practl-
| cally a cost-of-service rate-into erect,
and largely increased It's crews.
Wherever 1t has been possible for
| vessels waiting at the two ends of the
canal to effect exchange agreements
| their cargoes have been transferred.
| The road is now carrying between 1000
| and 5000 tons of transisthmian freight
a day.
| In the matter of demand for supplies,
the closing of the canal made another
planning to run through the canal in
less than day with practically no ex-
penditure of their own power found
that they would have to put back to
sea and spend from twenty to forty
| days of steady steaming to reach their
ports.
| The tie-up came when the supply of
fuel oil was low, but enough has been
spared to get ships to the next supply
port. The chief embarrassment has
been to supply sufficient ice and per-
| ishable foods The staple foods were
| at hand in sufficient quantities to meet
cry, though taxed, has met all calls
| for bread.
X
| Because the postal system has agen-
cies in every city and town and many
villages, besides net
Utilizing the work of routes in the
nLon country, and so comes
1oSt oIlces' intimately into the
lives of most of the people, 1t Is being
called on more and more by Congress
to perform additional services and by
the various other federal departments
to lend hand in the transaction of
| their business.
! Originally the postal system was
merely the carrier of written commune
/ cations Now it carries as well articles
| of all sorts, and transports money,
| banks the peoples savings, helps them
! invest in government bonds and issues
| travellers checks for them when they
| go on a journey.
The federal land Office, the War De-
| partment, the Navy and other govern
ment agencies are constantly using the
post office buildings as places in which
| to post their advertisements. and re-
| Gently the postal system has been made
| one of the links in the federal en-
| ployment bureau that has been estab-
lished by the Department of Labor. The