davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1919-04-20
The Finny
Harvest Starts

1t was soon after noon on Saturday
that short blast Of the whistle an
nounced that the Abatross was ready for
the harvest. The net which was dashed
along the rail the starboard side was
cleared of its wrappings and each wing
made fast to one of the "doors' on that
side Of the vessel and the wire cables from
the winch were made fast each to a door"
Fishermen in oilskins along the rail
were dumping the net overheard as the
winch began to CRATE like a huge coffee
mill and by the time the doors" had been
lifted clear of the rail the net was in tho
water. At signal the spools CT the winch
began to spin backward and the doors"
splashed into the water as the cables paid
out.
The length Of the cables IS regulated by
the depth OF the water and the speed OF
the boat. The trawlng speed is about
four knots and the depth Of the Georges
As about forty-fve fifty fathoms. The
travis drag along the very bottom.
When enough cable has been paid out
great Iron hook is slipped over the outer
most of the two cables and travels down
to the stern OF the vessel carrying with
1t wire cable. The slack of this cable
lies doubled along the deck from winch
to stern, paying out through the hands of
man stationed beside block on the rail
near the stern When the hook has reached
point opposite him he slips its cable
into the block and yells to the man at
the winch to start his engine.
The winch tghtens the cable bearing tho
hook and grapples tho outer "door" cable
close in to the side Of the trawler, where it
meets the inner or after cable. The man
at the block in the stern slips them both
into an iron clasp, which he locks with u
pin and then shouts to the man at the winch
TO loosen the tnut hook-cablc.
New-York tribune., 1919-04-20
One of the heavyweights

air above darkened by their NUMBERS
Always they flew into the wind across the
wake Of the Albatross and then swooped or
drifted back, with keen eye out at all
times for the ofal which ran from the
waist.
They were pert little fellows, white be-
meath, with their wings bordered with black
above from shoulder to tip, then a scroll
of Quaker gray and white edges to the after
side of their wings. These birds were
decorated also with three crescents of gray
behind each eye like war paint and were tho
most pugnacious of any Of the raucous,
rollicking, swooping crew. Their tail
feathers also were pointed with black
Another gull had wings of Quaker gray,
but had no black markings and was a larger
and moro inofensve bird, readily giving
way to tho attacks of his smaller relative.
Those with tho black markings had black
feet and the other gray-wings pink feet
Then there were the ugly, brown -mottlcd
gulls and another striking looking bird Of
wide wing spread whose body was white and
whose wings were jet black. Ganncts ap-
peared later, large yellow headed birds
white elsewhere except for q tip Of their
wings which was black. The gannets did
not feed close to the boat. They got their
food by diving and would seize it far be-
meath tho water
Wheeling suddenly in mid flight they
would dive from height of ffty feet or
moro with wings outstrctchcd, closing up
like an umbrella just before entering the
water. which they hit with tho impact Of a
projectile. sending spray high into tho air.
New-York tribune., 1919-04-20

engine began to throb its regular cadence.
Every one had been working six hours on
and six hours otf-sometimes more on and
less of-except John McGnnis, the coolc
since fishing began. The prospect of an
other week at it was not a welcome one
The cook had been working about fifteen
hours g day until the fishing started; then
he apparently worked twenty four. He
cooked and washed dishes for twenty-eight
men. Breakfast for the men going on watch
at $50, and for those going off watch at
6 o'clock. Six hours later came dinner, and
six hours later supper But that was not
all. McGinnis and his "shipmate" galley
range were busy not only all day but all
night. This came from the "muggn' up"
that was done by tho watch on deck.
To mug up is to dodge into the galley
for snack while on duty. The Alba
trossers, hearty trenchermen all, "mugged
up" with a regularity that must at times
have penetrated even the bcnignant, long
suffering philosophy of John McGinnis But
John, gaunt, gray mustached, bcspectacled,
mid-eyed John McGinnis, never complained.
AT times he would opine that craft Of
the size of the Albatross ought to boast of
a mess boy at least, but it was AS one who
voices ideal With John McGinnis in
mind the conviction is irresistible that
cooks for steam trawlers must be born to
the profession, even as fishermen are
1t was n bountiful table that old John set.
Always there were cereal and eggs for
breakfast hardb boiled eggs forward, soft
boiled eggs aft-coree and tea, sometimes
cocoa, bread and butter, potatoes. meat Of
New-York tribune., 1919-04-20

troubled water the fishermen haul its very
rim to the rail Of tho boat and whip n
sling about it, which is fastened to tackle
running through a block on the derrick
mast. Then the winch hauls the net up
ward and inward like an inverted balloon,
the fish shining slvery with the sheen of
silk through its meshes.
Bins, called "checkers," each about 10 by
feet, put together in the waist Of
the boat on both sides of the hatches
couple of lines bring the hoisted bag of
fish to a halt just over tho forward bin
next to the rail. Then Bill Murray or jim
King another master of the craft reaches
under the bulging bag and it's tons of fish
and deftly loosens a couple of half bitches
which hold its bottom fast
Then he lodges back to escape the shin
ing cascade of fish which descends Some
times he isn't quick enough. Bill wasn't
the night before the Albatross turned her
bow toward Boston, and in jiny he was
pinned to the deck beneath a shining pyra-
mid. Only his head stuck out, and every
time fish slipped off the pile it sithered
its final, leisurely way across Bills face
Bill was vexcd and showed it in his
language.
But that first set of the Albatross was
almost q fiat failure. Moreover, the net
torn in score Of places, apparently
having dragged across a rock outcropping
on the bottom. The trawl the port side
Immediately was prepared and let go, and
the fishermen lined up at tho rail mend
ing the net where necessary.
Tho set mado on the mort sjde hOiataJ
four or five thousand pounds of fish, mostly
cod and haddock, aboard The trawl was set
again, and then the splitting and cleaning
began. Standing hip-dccp in the bin Of fish,
fisherman would seize the handiest by the
gills, throw 1T over his knee, back upper
most, and rap it sharply at the base of the
skull with tho handle Of his knife
Almost in the same motion the fish was
whirled bclly-up and the keen knife slit it
from gills to vent. A hcavo and it went
hurting across to bin whcro n cleaner
squattcd His arm plunged into the top Of
the slit and emerged at the bottom. Tho
| entire contents Of the cavity came with it
and wero flung ono way while the fish went
another. Cod and haddock wero sorted ont
az they were thrown and landed finally in II
crate just aft of the open hatch There
two men stood with short rt-handled, three
tined ptchforks and tossed the fish into
the hold as fast they camo.
In the hold they wcro packed in broken
ice, layer OF ice and layor of fish and
then another layer Of Ice. II the trawlinr
was good and the torn nets few fish piled
up in the checkers" faster than they could
be got rid of.
The luck of tho Albatross held good that
New-York tribune., 1919-04-20

appear From the time the first sets are
made until the boat leaves the banks the
guls are never far away, though sometimes
whole regiments and divisions wheel9off on
other errands.
When the boat loses way to haul the nets
and falls off, into the trough Of the sea,
rolling from side to SIDE, the scuppers
sluice offal and the guls hold high carni-
val. clamor breaks Loose like the sud-
den frenzy of shrill cries that come when
a clear field opens to runner on the foot
ball field. Gulls from the afterguard come
hurting up to the boat and hover with
tapping wings above the frst-comers, seek
ing in vain to drop down to where the sea
boils an appetizng red, just in the wake
of the screw.
Those in the upper strata find it i'm
possible tn reach the feast. They are buff
feted upward by the beating wings of
those below. The din is prodigous and
the closely packed mass Of feathcred bodies
and failing wings almost inconceivable.
Behind them the eannets are swooping and
diving, sending u fountain jets in quick
succession and close proximity as the
heavier tidbits are washed astern.
Fair weather increases the number of
guls on the Georges, fishermen say, and
that bright Sunday morning there were
hosts and hosts of them A bag Of 10000
New-York tribune., 1919-04-20
the Banks to the Breakfast Table With Your Fish

cable and driving home the pin that holds
the clasp fast is dangerous one, for some
timeo the hook cable snaps under the tre
nlenIous strain, and when half-inch wire
cable snaps it's about as irresponsible as
a shrapnel burst.
For an hour and half tho Albatross
trawled on her first set. Then Tho pin in
the clap was knocked out witL blow of
the slfdge, the clasp popped open and the
door" cables sNrang apart, separated by
two-thirds the length of the boat and each
running freely through the block in the top
OF its U-shaped support.
The "doors' were left hanging In the
blocks and the net cables carried to
the winch, which then drew thcm up until
the ends of the wing nets themselves came
up over the sides, one opposite the winch
and the other just aft of the forecastle The
rest had to be done by hand, just as fisher
men have hauled from time immemorial.
Clad in oilskins, tho fishermen reached
far over the rail, each with hook like a
truckman's balehook in one hand, and as
the Albatross dipped to n sea hauled the
net inboard. SO they work day and night
the Banks, for the trawling never ceases.
At night electric lights illuminate the decks
and brief stretch of the slick, black,
tumbling sea and the night watch, their
oiskins glistening, heave and haul.
When full bag heaves up through the
New-York tribune., 1919-04-20

drove past the oil-burning trawler Pioneer,
out of Gloucester. riding the seas head-on
and 1t was patent that the Banks had been
reached. The lead showed forty-seven faith
oms, and presently the watch on deck
busy oiing the blocks through which passes
the gear that trails the trawl astern
The trawl is huge net which is dragged
V-shaped behind the boat, with bag the
size of a balloon at its apex to receive the
fish that are swept into it. On the other
side Of the bag are the wings Of the net and
these in turn are attached by cables to the
"doors," which are the distinguishing marks
of the trawler.
While steaming the doors" slung be-
tween the rail and the braced, inverted US
Of steel, from the topmost curve Of which
hang the blocks from which the doors are
dropped into the sea. Each door is about
New-York tribune., 1919-04-20
War Stories
On the Banks

when the ship actually sailed for dan.
gerous waters, however, tho boisterous
spirits Of the cattlemen were damuened. A
sudden religious fervor seized them They
made a pulpit out of bales Of hav. placed
planks across other bales for pews and
started in to hold services II was largely
a song service, and many of .he singers
were weak on the words of even the most
familiar hymns. That did not daunt them,
however, and they roared as Justify as the
rest.
Overhead were the mates quarters. With
a revolver in his hand he started down the
companionway to disperse the meeting.
Services were adjourned at once. The wor-
shippers seized pitchforks, posted them
selves at the foot of the ladder and dared
the mate to proceed. He thought better
of his project.
Since then Sparks" has sailed in many
seas, slept il, the cemetery outside AntO-
fagasta, Chile, tramped the jungles bor-
dering the Canal Zone and held a commits
sion in the Tank Corps. Now ne is chief
wireless operator for the East Coast Fish
erleS company lie IS youth VINO is plo"V
to take a chance. 1t was to be noticed
that when he left the table that morning
in the galley Of the Albatross there was
only one eggshell on his plate, and tha'
bore no writing.
The Albatross drove on, straight INTO
the eye of a molten, crimson sun tha'
suddenly had slipped to the horizon through
a rift in a cloud bank like penny through
a slot. The engine chanted its mono'o
nous measure which would cease only WIFE
morning, when the tsherfolk of the Al
batross, worthy descendants of tAe sons
of Gloucester and Marblehead who rnaos
Trenton possible and saved Washington .
the Battle of Long Island, would wake "
find the great fish pier of Boston toweF'"S
alongside.
Americas great fisheries arc to-day XIV
indeed to tho fsherfolk who delvo in'o wv
wealth that lies buried there. and q go'us'
revenue. it is said, is the reward that Ains'
lean enterprise enjoys for its laoors =
Uncle Sans ocean food domains, 81 "h''H
the hardy trswlcr fisherman receives "''
respective share. -
New-York tribune., 1919-04-20
Sunday on TraWIer Is
"AU Work and No Play"

Generally the night trawlng is consid
cred to be the best. The fish are said to lie
deeper then, with not many seeking food
near the surface. That Saturday night
proved an exception, however. The bags
ran light and by daylight the "checkers"
were fairly clear again.
Sunday dawned with a blue sky and soft
wind. Feathery cloud banks still edged the
horizon, but they were sluggish and remote.
The sea, which had been a wartime gray
or an ugly black since the start from New
York, sparkled blue in the sunshine and rose
lazly in casygraded waves. Astcrn of the
Albatross regiments of gulls had gathered
There were thousands upon thousands of
them. They filled the air like blizzard
for half mile or more astern, and other
flocks which had settled upon the shining
waters rose to join them.
The surface of the exploded with
them like the bottom of a corn pepper. The
New-York tribune., 1919-04-20
A pull of a rope and the net is emptied

pounds more was hauled aboard soon
after breakfast and Captain Tobn staked
out that bit of the Atlantic forthwith for
his own, dropping overheard a buoy whose
staff bore a white flag and lantern 1t
was anchored in fifty fathoms, and back
and forth the Albatross quartered the sea
about it, as methodcaly as q reaper
shears an oat field.
No other vessel was close, although there
seldom is lack Of company on the Banks
All day the sails of five or six fishing
schooners notched the horizon. Most of
them were loafing under foresail and jb,
their dorics out after cod. One was un-
der full sail, evidently homeward bound.
Monday tho schooners edged up closer, one
of them so near that two or three of its
dories could be made out when they lifted
on wave.
Early that day tho buoy was taken up
and the Albatross sought other grounds.
1t was a day Of speculation, surmse and
rumor. There wero about 10000 pounds
of fish in the hold. Tho question was,
would tho skipper start for market with
that days catch and. If so, what market?
To make" the market a boat must be at
it's pier by daylight Thursday at tho latest.
Wednesday Ia tho best day.
The Albatross WAS two hundred miles Off
1npe Cod. New York was two days run
wny and Boston ono days run. Most of
he men aboard were Gloucester men like
Bill Murray, East Boston men like Mike
durphy. or Roxhury men like Frank Doyle
The wscacres were certain that the orders
New-York tribune., 1919-04-20
Off in
The Fog

March 81 was gray, dour day when the
gray trawler backed neatly out of her berth
around the hreboat George B. Mcclellan,
coming within few yards OF slatternly
lighter that was coaling the Sound steamer
Georgia the opposite side of the slip,
but never so much as shutting her sleek
side.
Down in the Narrows the trawler met the
Great Northern, coming in with a shipload
of troops whose weight canted her sharply
20 port they mustered along the rail gaz-
ing at the Statue Of Liberty. The fishermen
who were deck set up lusty cheering.
There was no leader, no call for cheers, but
they just broke out wherever man hap
pened to be standing, and until The Great
Northern slid out of sight in the haze the
men on the Albatross stood waving their
caps-one, in fact, lost his in the exuber-
Of his welcome.
The lights on the Ambrose Channel buov.
were CLEANING in an early and threatening
dusk as the Albatross wallowed seaward and
the dory built lghtship was swinging high
AZ her anchor. Past the pilot boats and the
patrol vessel the Albatross slipped and pres
emily lifting to the heave of the Allan
TIC, already responding to the first puffs Of
d gaze IHaN S"cpt inc coast Tor the next
TWO days.
Thursday night and Friday the Albatross
was in the fringe Of the gale.
"A patch Of crooked water, that" said
Fred Farnham, tho second engineer. I'VE
couldn't fshed il we'd been on the Banks
And it Is crooked water indeed when a
frawler can't fish. All day Friday the sea
sweled into huge hummocks, each traversed
by valleys and ridges Of water in which the
Albatross pitched while she climbed the
sollcrs themselves and subsided as they
rolled past.
Between the waves tho horizon was
-carcely 200 yarQs away. From their sum
snits the view was wide and the skyline
iurnpy. Some Of the biggest waves at a
distance looked precisely Ike "A landscape of
winter hills, their SUBMITS white and their
tanks black with forest
That night IL gnowcd
The sun was shining when the men about
- 20 on watch had their breakfast at $3.50
Saturday morning. but ali along the horizon
was rim of clouds Hero and there the
clouds were drapcd perpendieular TO the sca
ike curtains. and when one Of these cur
tasus swept up 10 the Albatross 10 brought
With IL fierce snow EquAll.
IL VAS In such weather that the Albatross
New-York tribune., 1919-04-20
Food Is Plentiful and
GOOD on the AIbafross

Sunday there was chicken dinner u..,
enough left over, both white meat and a..,
to feed several families. a'h
The chicken dinner led to the storr =.
Sne Grlmesby egg. a tale which evdo,4,,
was a standby the Albatross. for {.
greeted as an old friend Two or tbro. -,
the fishermen on the Albatross vo-o y
hshmen, shippers of their own craf.
OF Grimesby, who had been driven ~. W
the North Sea fisheries by the U-boats
Not much like those Grimcsby trawlor..
said Richard Ford, Boston man. tbron~.
drumstick as he glanced at John Hui, >,
Grimesby, England
hu1r was waiting for the bait. With A..
twang of his native town in evcrv svl,.N.
ne told the story of the Grimeshv ecc =,
was lurld picturesque yarn as be
lated it, scorching hot with nonorr
snoregolng language it was to tho oeoo,
'nat 1rlmesby trawler captains did no,
mess with their crews, but carried sncc;,l
delicacles for their own tables Fvor,
trawler leaving the port carried nc
special tdbit an egg which would he sof,
boiled for the shippers breakfast so,..
lconoclastlc fisherman, doubtless g.
elgner, once swiped the skipper's ego on
thursday and ate it. The skinner wo.
put out that the offender whom tha eor
ners of his mouth betrayed, got M n.n
for the trip. Pay
Then he talked Of the merits ~ -.
Yorkshire hard coal of m;roc,,,o,~
steamng power, which is used on English
trawlers He is going back to Grimeshv :,
the fall if his luck holds
At breakfast one morning Walter pav
the wireless operator of the Albatross -.
an egg on which something had been. VIII
ten with a pencil. 1t was the nama -
girl in Huntsville, Ky. She nroh.b~
would be surprised to know that nearlv
month after she wrote her name on +ho.
egg it turned up among the "soft-boiledsp
hundreds Of miles at sea in tho bora. -
twenty-year-old youth with Robinson
Crusoe tendencies.
Sparks" was the living proof that uoon
the post of wireless operator has ds
scended the glamour with which you.h
formerly surrounded that of cabin how U.
o1
De Witt Clinton High School studen,
who was studying radio telegraphy in the
evening.
with war on, the boy decided that
seafarlng life would be moro adventurous
than career in De Witt Clinton High
School He got the post Of junior wireless
operator on the Nevadan, one of the first
ships to sail from this country for bel.
hgerent port When he had the lob he told
his father, packed his suitcase and went
aboard.
1t was cattle ship which was taking
horses to France. The horses were wild,
but the men who came aboard with them
were wilder. One of them arrived wearing
nothing save pair of shoes He had got
rain soaked unloading the horses and had
hung his clothes on the boiler of loco
motive to dry. When he returned to the
spot the locomotive had gone, wearing his
clothes
New-York tribune., 1919-04-20
The Modern Methods of the Catch
and the Life of the Fishermen
Graphically Pictured

would come to steam for Boston by 2 o'clock
Tuesday morning or to remain on the Banks
until the following Monday and then head
for New York.
For once the wiseacres were right. When
the whining whisper Of the wireless began
to sound Monday night the word came from
the office of the East Coast Fisheries Com
pany to start for Boston. At 2:30 a. m.
Tuesday the doors" were fshed up for the
last time and the Albatross turned definite
ly southwest. Clocks aboard the Albatross
were moved ahead to Summer time" the
preceding midnight.
New-York tribune., 1919-04-20
G PHOTOGRAPHS by Underwood ludertcood Ne,o York
AS the catch comes alongside

fourteen feet long and four and half feet
wide. They are made of two-nch planks,
bound with iron, and are dark from many
immersions. Two carried on each side,
one just aft of the forecastle and one amid
ships, so that the trawl may be set from
either side of the vessel
New-York tribune., 1919-04-20
When the First
Catch Is Lifted

Then both the forward and after cables,
attached to tho doors. pass through this iron
clasp, which a chain holds close TO tho side
OF the boat. Passing in Mt an angle and out
Mt reciprocal angle, the cables hold tho
doors" njar as it were. and keep the net
open. Tho Job Of graphing In tho outer
New-York tribune., 1919-04-20

Saturday afternoon and by dark 10000
pounds of fish heaped the "checkers' high,
while the cleaning figures in oilskins
worked feverishly, now concentrated on the
fish deck, now hauling nightly at the
nets and again repairing rent nets where
necessary with flying fingers
New-York tribune., 1919-04-20

one sort or another, and numerous
dentals. Dinner and supper were con.1,-
liberal. The bread John baked bimSa,.
huge foaves, cut in thick slices the Ike -
which no summer resort guest has
since before the war. When John GO. y:
bread he had to lash the pans to tho 49, 80
OF the coal bin so that they wouldn,t W.,
off when the boat rolled 'ue
New-York tribune., 1919-04-20
When GuIiS Hold
HiOh EeaSfS

These are tho cleaners OF tho harvest field
OF tho Georges. They or their twins arc
Always thcre, 200 miles or more from the
nearest land, ready to pounce upon and fol
low IN the wake OF tho first fishing boat to
New-York tribune., 1919-04-20
Hardest Worker
Aboard

The relief of every aboard, the re-
lease of the tension under which they had
been working, was noticeable as soon as the
New-York tribune., 1919-04-20
Following New York's Fish Supply
From Its Source to the
Market
BY Robert B. Peck

pe"ee" o"keo COO drove
Of Gloucester,
n horde that that
The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1919-10-07
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD
CHANGE IN SCHEDULE

Effective October 9Th. Train Mum.
Der 81. The Mississippi Valley Lin.
tied. for Kansas City. St Louis and
way points. leaves at 400 +. NJ. in
stead OF 40 II. NJ.