Evening star., 1933-04-24
A|D-SEEK|NG SALTS
WARMLY RECEIVED
Fishermen From Gloucester
and Other. Ports Here to
Ask Relief for Industry.

AClP AOA tiAeAA lAOuctIy, was IcCclflIlB u
warm reception in the Capital today,
including q tea At the White House.
The fishermen came here yesterday
in the famous fishing and racing
schooner, Gertrude L. Thebaud, to pre-
sent their plea for q tariff on flsh to
enable them to compete with imported
Canadian and Japanese fish, and to
sound out the sentiment on their re-
ceiving some help from the Reconstruc-
ton Finance Corporation.
As picturesque group as ever came
to Washington. the fishermen, all cap
| tains. went to the Capitol. the Tariff
Commission and to the Department Of
Commerce to tell the story Of their
business being whitfield away by the
imports Of fish.
Noted Along the Coast.
In the group were some Of the most
| famous fishermen along the coast-not
fishermen in the rod and reel sense, but
| the men who brave the Winter storms
of the Grand Banks and bring their
ice -encrusted ships into port loaded
with cod, haddock, mackerel. halibut
| swordfish sole and other fish for the
| market.
There was Ben Pine. who skippered
the Gertrude L. Thebaud to victory in
| two out Of three international fisher
mems races with the Canadian fishing
boat, Bluenose, back In 1890.
The Gertrude L. Thebaud was beaten
the second time she raced the Blue
nose, in 1891, but Ben. who is part own
er Of the Gertrude L. Thebaud. wants
another crack at the Canadian boat to
settle the issue.
Then there was Capt Joseph P. Mes
quita. the Oldest man aboard the Ger
trude L. Thebaud on the trip down from
Gloucester, a man who has been sailing
the sea in search OF fish for IS years
This morning he stood about on the
deck of the Thebaud and told of the
time German submarine blew up his
schooner, the Frances O'Hara, back In
1918.
Il watched" he said, 40 years OF
the hardest work a man ever put in
scattered all over the water"
Joe" as his shipmates call him. Is
half "Portygee" and half American. He
doesn't write. but for signature purposes
he carries in a little chamois sack Q
rubber stamp and pad. and when Joe
writes q check-there are few Of them
these days. he says-he brings out the
!
should go Joseph P. Mesquita. his
mark" and that makes everything
shipshape.
Was Shipwrecked Once.
| Joe" also was shipwrecked once the
| liner Saxonia cutting his fishing
schooner in two. He was picked up and
| carried all the way TO Liverpool, Eng
land. So glad he was at his escape
that upon his return to the United
States he went into his savings ano
sent to Portugal for a gold crown fol-
the statue Of the Virgin in the Glou-
cester chapel the Church Of Our Lady
of Good Voyage. The crown was sent
brought out
Then there was Capt. Jack Carroll
an old-time whaling ship man. who was
in Bafins Bay in '82 when ships left
there to 60 into the Arctic and bring
out Gen. A. w. Greeley. famous Arctic
explorer. who lives In Washington.
| With Ben Pine was DR.. Charles John
son Of the Massachusetts, General Hos
pital DR.. johnson operated on Ben
| for a sinus infection, and did such q
good Job that he incurred the everlast-
| ing friendship Of the sailing master
and whenever there is a good fishing
trip at hand, or jaunt such as this
Ben takes the doctor along If the lat
ter's duties permit his absence.
The youngest man in the group
strangely enough, was in command OF
the trip. He was Capt. Jimmy Abbott
| lust 80, who has been master OF the
Gertrude L. Thebaud for two years and
who commands the trim fishing vessel
on all its fishing trips.
| The fishermen had intended getting
around to see President Roosevelt some
time during their stay here, but the
President crossed up their plans by ap-
pearing at the wharf at the Navy Yard
yesterday afternoon Just few minutes
after they had made fast.
Salute President.
! The fishermen had passed the Pres
| ident, who was taking Sunday after
noon cruise down the Potomac on the
| Government yacht SeQuoia, on their
! way up the river, and had given him
a salute with 2l blasts Of the Ger
trude L. Thebaud's fog horn.
When the Sequoia returned to the
Navy Yard the President asked to be
taken to the fishing schooner. With
him went England's prime minister
Ramsay Macdonald. and the two. sit
ting in a White House car. shook
hands with each Of the fishing cap,
tains, while Mrs Roosevelt went aboard
the Gloucester schooner and made q
thorough inspection.
! The fishermen presented the Presi-
dent with a 50-pound halibut, fresh
| from the banks, and it was destined
| to appear on the Presidents table
! today.
President Roosevelt had q word OF
| two for each Of the captains, and quite
a few for Joe" Mesquita, whose ex-
perience with the submarine he re-
membered from his service as AsSis-
tant Secretary of the Navy during the
war. They recalled together how Joe
and his crew were ordered into dories
and forced to row 40 miles to the
nearest land while the Germans blew
UP his schooner.
They gave the President brief out
lining their plight and asking for some
sort Of governmental relief.
The same sort Of evidence of their
| condition was presented to the Tariff
| Commission this morning, and later al
/ the Capitol, when the captains were
| guests at Q luncheon given in the
! Speakers dining room by Representa-
tive A. Piatt Andrews Of Gloucester.
Here is the way their story runs:
Stories Of Debt.
schooner Catherine Burke. Capt
Albert williams. 70 men In crew, left
Gloucester January Is. 1888, arrived
back February Z. 1888, % days out;
each man in debt STA" They ex-
planned that the crew works on shares
or lays" and the money received from
their catch is divided among them after
paying the expenses Of the cruise.
Another one of the instances follows
Schooner Pollyanna. Capt. Eric
Carlson, 81 men in crew, left Glouces-
ter January Is, 1888, arrived back Feb
ruary 23. 1888. 80 days out; each man
shared 90 cents"
They presented in their brief scores
of such cruises made recently, and in
almost every instance all the fishermen
had after their voyage were debts.
They close their brief as follows:
! We feel very sympathetic for the
, ,,li0ht ~ Tho fo rv,,orc and ara in accord