The Alaska daily empire., 1919-12-11
AN INVENTION IS
 EXPECTED TO MAKE GREAT FISHING CHANGE
Thomas Running Invents Device For Pulling Purse Seines By Power and Thereby
 Saving Much Work


 A test of tho Running Automatic Purse Seiner" was made on full sized working model last week under actual working conditions and the device was found 10 be a complete success.
 This invention Is the product of tho brain of Thomas Running for l2 years a resident of Alaska and prac- tically all his life seine fisherman. He has been working on the inven- tion for the past seven years and has now applied for patents in four coun- tries, tho United States, Great Brit ain. Norway and Canada.
 Not to go into teehnicaAtles, the device is for the pulling of purse seines and the setting of them, It rests upon the regular seine turn table that is part of the equipment of every seine boat and is composed of series of rollers. These rollers are operated from an extension shaft either from the hoisting winch or the engine itself of the boat The roll CTS revolve and pull in the seine. Ingenious arrangements of slots in the rollers tend to take up the slack in the breadth of the seine and al low the lead line and the corks to come in freely.
 The most ingenious part of the whole invention is a rocking arm with rollers which working steadily reaches over and takes part of the seine away from the front rollers, carries it back and releases it in such regularity that it is piled up on the seine table in a heater manner than it can. be piled by hand. The machine is really uncanpy in its actions. It will be to the seine fisherman what the gurdy Is to the halibut boats only more so. seine boat carries from five to eight men. In pulling in seine after having made a set, all of the crew must pull. and pull hard for a long time before the seine is pursed and brought aboard. With the new in vention two men only are needed Neither one of them does any pulling One man stands right where the seine comes over the stern of the boat with plunger to keep the fish inside the net. The other man is where the net is piled. He tredes on the net to make it pile more coni plefely. Both men watch to see that everything Is clear. The machine will pull in the net in hand the time that it takes a crew of men to do the work and Is not severe on the mesh on account of the way that the rollers operate. .
 The machine can handle any size seine and can be operated by any powered engine that may be used on the boat. It runs so easily that it can be turned over by hand.
 Associated with MT. Running are local business men who arc backing him now to put tho invention on the market. and company Is being or ganized Mir Running will leave soon to make arrangements with some firm 10 manufacture the parts of the device and to get out cata- logucs. give demonstrations to fisher men and to get the invention on the market. Not later than next summer there Is no doubt that many seine boats will be equipped. .t.s j
 "Thcre Is not a particle of doubt, said an observer, but this new in. vention will practically reyointionize seine fishing. This class of fishing is usually done by men on shares. With the new invention two or per heps three men will do more work than from i've to eight men do, al tKe present tiJne. It sets the seine as easily as 1t brings 1t in by re. verse clutch which sets the rollers |.going the opposite way.
 "The cost Of the parts to manu- facture will not be great and will not be SO high as 10 prohibit any fisherman from making tho instaila ton. Many practical fishermen from around town have seen the machine in operation and they all consider il a complete success"