Evening star., 1923-02-04
New Methods at Once
PICTURESQUE Fish Market

choice selections when the catch first
arrives.
The supply of crabs has been de-
creasing for a number of years, and
unless some legislative action Is
taken by the states through WHICH
the river passes it is likely that
within a few years crabs will take
their place among the higher-priced
things, such as coal, bootleg whisky,
etc.
During the course of the year the
bass. carp. pike. perch. trout, croakers.
herrings, founders, halibut, haddock,
salmon. butter fish, sun fish, blue
fish, cat fish, mullets, jack shad.
mackerel. rock fish. whiting. cod.
smelts and tile. The last mentioned,
however. are not often to be seen
in the market.
1t has long been matter of con-
troversy as to whether the Potomac
shad is better than that found in the
northern waters, such, for instance,
as the shad i'm the Delaware river, the
stream which separates New Jersey
and Pennsylvania, but this much is
conceded-that the Potomac shad is
always extensively advertised on the
menus Of northern hotels. The roe
is likewise much sought after.
THERE were formerly from 10000
i to 100000 herrings cut at the
W wharves. This particular branch of
the industry has practically passed
away and the cutting is now done in
the fish houses down the river. where
the roe of the herring and the by
products are sold at a price that
enabling the fishermen to sell the
herring, minus roe. its organs and
head, for a price that is practically
all profit. The parts. with the ex-
ception of the roe that are removed
from the herring are SO treated as
to permit them to be sold to COM
panies specializing in fertilizers hav-
ing fish by-products as their base.
In the days when sailing vessels
crowded the harbor it was practical
ly impossible to secure the delivery
of fish, oysters. CLAIMS or any other
similar products, but now nearly
every dealer has a truck or light
delivery wagon with which he de-
livers to retailers or customers the
foodstuff they may desire, and in
place of the white winged vessels
tacking in stately progress up the
Potomac, one hears, in the stilly
nf he o. "a
ing periods, the putt putt of the
saucy little engines that have been
the means OF converting these once
picturesque craft into mere hulks
for the transportation of fisheries
products.
Even some of the younger genera
tion can remember the days when
fish used to be piled up in great
pyramids OIL the wharf. and "old
uncles' were ready to slit, scale and
clean fish that still retained feeble signs
of life, SO recently had they come from
the depths Of the water. Then for
quarter you could sit down on an
an old log or box and have a singing
negro shuck oysters for you until it
was a difficult matter for you to
move with any rapidity. so great was
the number that YOU had eaten before
the stomach cried Enough
These old days will never return;
their picturesque qualities have pass
ed. The motor boat and the auto
truck have displaced the old-time
methods. and with the going OF these
the accompanying features have dis
appeared, but the new order of things
has brought cleanliness and conven-
ience. and today you can telephone
to your dealer and within a very few
minutes have delivered to your home
fish that have been caught either the
night before or early the same morn
ing: fish that have been rushed from
their feeding grounds to the munich
pal market and there placed in ice
boxes, refrigerators or other con-
tainers and kept at the proper tenn
perature until the time of sale and
delivery. While we lose the pic
turesque, we gain in securing the
advantages of modern methods OF
handling. All of which goes to empha-
size that the law of compensation
obtains in everything.