Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1919-02-03

price of five cents each was paid the
fishermen In order to receive this
price the lobster had to weigh at
least two pounds. have two good
claws and a hard she'll.
Row and sail boats were used I'M
til about 1900 and Holsters got so de-
pleted that nearly all abandoned the
lobster fishing. When the power boats
came into use fishermen at once saw
the opportunity to so farther away
from home and find new lobster
grounds never before fished. BY the
use of power boats more traps could
be fished and a new field was discov-
cred. For a few years the fishermen
reaped a harvest. 1t might be we'll to
state here that Holsters live mostly on
rocky bottoms and as the fishing
grounds around the shores Of Bidde.
ford Pool are made UP Of sand the
real home Of the lobster is limited to
a small area Localities covered with
vegetable growth called eel grass
seems to be the hiding place Of the
lobster during the shedding season.
For a short period the lobster be.
comes helpless after 1t sheds its she'll
the lobster to protect itself from its
enemies by hiding in the eel grass.
The fishermen learn from experience
that If they set their traps in the
grass fields OF the sea. as soon as
the Holsters were strong enough to
crawl, they would reap a harvest.
Only a few years ago certain
fisherman put 10 traps in one of these
fields and the first time he hauled
those traps he got % good. legal lob
stcrs. The present season OF 1918 he
put two traps on the same ground
and did not get one legal lobster.
"a sad but true story of how the
traffic in illegal Holsters started at
Biddeford Pool. Up to about the year
1910 all the fishermen protected their
home industry to the best Of their
ability and enjoyed a profitable BUSH
ness. In the year 1910 three brothers.
pirates of the sea, came from the
Massachusetts coast in a lobster
smack to the fishing grounds of Bid
deford Pool. set their traps. kept any
and all Holsters that they caught, sold
to the Boston smacks all Holsters nine
inches and over. as that was the legal
length in Massachusetts,. and all lob
sters less than nine inches were sold
to the summer residents by the dozen
for any price they could get.
What were the honest natives OF
the Pool to do? Were they going to
throw al! the Holsters less than 10a
inches that they caught back into the
sea as they had been doing, only TO
a%o1, Nd soil
themo They felt sure that if this
practice continued their industry
would be gone forever, SO in their
distraction they called on the depart
ment of Sea and Shore Fisheries for
help, only to learn that the appfo-
priation for that Departments; had
been exhausted and no assistance was
available Then came the question t"
decide, were the honest fishermen OF
the Pool going to see the foreign
pirates" destroy their industry and
they not reap their share of the
spois while it lasted? 1t is not hu-
nan nature to do anything of the
kind, so by not getting the assistance
that the department owes to eve"E
fishermen in the state of Maine. they
were driven against their will into an
illegal business though honest as any
lass of people in the world.
With the aid OF the Honored Gov
ernor and Council. and the untirinS
nfforts OF the warden in that section.
". y. Kicker, the commission has
been able TO give the fishermen the
aid necessary to gain their utmost
confidence that they will be protect
ed from further outrage. Today the
fishermen Of Biddeford Pool have
abandoned the illegal traffic and are
"OrkinS with the department TO re-
aid the almost depleted Industry
Gov. Carl T.. Milli;eu late Friday
,:c1noon issued the following proc
nation, setting aside Sunday, Feb.
!3I9. as a Memorial day TO Thee
&c Roosevelt:
A Proclamation
The death ui Theodore Roosevelt
as impoverished the nation ami the
Grid and plunged our people into
.-ofound and sudden grief His
road outlook, unselfish purpose. viz
= energy, magnetic leadership, daz-
ing achievements in public service,
nj high ideals in pirate life have
given him a place forever in our
hearts as the cXemplar of all that is
trues and best in American citizen
ship.
At noon OH Sunday, February ninth
e