USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Gloucester > The fisheries of Gloucester : from the first catch by the English in 1623, to the centennial year, 1876 > Part 3
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GEO. HARVEY,
SHIPSMITH,
Duncan St., GLOUCESTER.
Anchors and Vessel Work a specialty. Satisfaction guaranteed.
CAPE ANN SEA MOSSES
Neatly arranged on Cards, in packs of one or more dozens, or in Books, comprising fine varieties.
Price per Doz. $1.50; Books accord- ing to size.
For further particulars write to Mrs. A. L. Davis or Mrs. M. H. Bray, GLOU. CESTER, MASS. A> Orders accompanied by cash will receive prompt attention.
H. C. HUBBARD, Attorney & Counsellor at Law, BERGENGREN'S BLOCK,
Front Street, GLOUCESTER, Mass.
All business attended to with diligence until finished.
Nelson's Pat. Duck Preserver, (PATENTED JAN. 7, 1873.)
Warranted to protect Ships' Sails, Awnings, Tents, and all kinds of Hemp and Cotton Canvas from Mildew and Decay.
SAILS, &c., saturated in this PRE- SERVER, will keep free from mildew and mould till worn out, and remain white as when new, as shown by numerous Testi- monials, after a test of two years.
MANUFACTURED AT No. 81 Spring St., Gloucester, Mass. SEND FOR CIRCULAR.
CHRESTEN NELSON, Prop.
W. W. FRENCH,
Attorney & Counsellor at Law
TAPPAN BLOCK,
127 FRONT STREET,
GLOUCESTER, MASS.
MOSES L. ANDREWS,
Hast and Spar Hafer, 4
NEAR CENTRAL WHARF,
Rogers St., Gloucester, Mass.
38
has become customary to take these fish by seining, and when the net surrounds a "school," there is a chance, indeed almost a certain- ty, of a great haul ; but it sometimes happens to a fishing crew that no such chance occurs for months, and a bad voyage for the vessel and the men is the unfortunate result. The cases of total or partial failure, however, are not sufficiently numerous to create discourage- ment, or to excite apprehension that Gloucester will soon cease to exhibit that preponderance in this fishery it has so long enjoyed. It is true that the last year was one of poor success, but in the preced- ing the quantity of mackerel packed in this city was 118,314 barrels, of the net valne probably of more than one million dollars.
A remarkable feature in the modern business of Gloucester is the fishery for halibut on Georges Bank and Grand Bank. This fish is the only one of the flat kind, so far as we know, that is extensively used as an article of food in this country. It is found in the waters of Northern Europe, and is said to afford a considerable part of the diet of the people on the coast of Lapland, where it sometimes at- tains the weight of five hundred pounds. Those of a little more than half this weight, or about three hundred pounds, are considered large specimens by onr fishermen. This fish is most highly es- teemed when in a fresh condition, and we are not aware that it goes at all into the market in a pickled state, though great numbers are " fletched," to use a fisherman's phrase ; that is, the skin with a por- tion of the flesh attached, is cut into strips, salted, and smoked, and in this condition, when slightly broiled, finds much favor as a tea table relish. There are large establishments in Gloucester for cu- ring halibut in this manner, and there is always a demand for all they can supply. The fins of the fish are also preserved in salt and pickle ; but those who eat them in this condition know but little of the richness and delicacy of the fresh fin.
It does not appear that the halibut has ever been abundant near the coast, though the shore fishermen of former times occasionally found them when fishing for cod, and were able to furnish a limited supply for home consumption. It was not till the discovery of the great feeding ground of this fish, on Georges Bank, that the attention of our fishermen was directed to a special prosecution of this fishery ; and, indeed, not till the opening of railroad communication with all the cities and principal towns in the country, and the use of ice ren- dered it possible to supply very distant inhabitants with this excel- lent article of food in a fresh condition and at a low price, did any considerable number of vessels engage in the business. The Boston
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C. F. AUSTIN & CO. Fishermen's Bread and Crackers.
Superior Pilot Bread, Family do. do. A. & B. do. do. Navy
C. F. AUSTIN & CO
Soda
Biscuit,
Graham
do.
Wine do.
do. Boston Crackers,
Lemon
do.
Butter do.
Cream do.
Water do.
BOSTON
SH+B
Sharon
do.
CRACKERS
BREAD
Nic Nac do.
Tea Mixed
do.
Pic Nic do.
Peoples'
do.
Sugar do.
NO.116 COMMERCIAL ST
Ginger Snaps,
Assorted do.
BOSTON.
Seed Cakes, &5.
&c.
The above articles kept constantly on hand for sale, made from carefully selected Flour, and baked in the most thorough manner; put up in suitable packages for Grocers, Hotels, and Families.
SHIP BREAD and CRACKERS neatly packed in Barrels, Half-Barrels, Boxes and Tins, and delivered at short notice and warranted to keep on long voyages.
No. 116 COMMERCIAL STREET, BOSTON.
WHITON, BROTHER & COMPANY,
AGENTS
HINGHAM CORDAGE COMPY, MANILA and TARRED HEMP CORDAGE, OF EVERY DESCRIPTION.
WOODBERRY MILLS COTTON DUCK, ALL WIDTHS AND NUMBERS.
UNITED STATES BUNTING COMPANY, BUNTING ALL COLORS AND WIDTHS.
IMPORTERS, AND DEALERS IN
Russia, Manila and American Hemp, Oakum, Wire Rope, ANCHORS, CHAINS, RUSSIA BOLT ROPE, &c. 31 and 33 Commercial Street, - BOSTON.
Cocoanut
do.
Cornhill do.
BAKERS & ALL KINDS OF CRACKERS OT &NAVY BREAD.
Milz do.
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market, in which, hitherto, one or two thousand pounds of halibut would have sufficed for a daily supply, now furnished purchasers for all that could be brought, till the weather became too warm for dis- tant transportation ; and, when that season arrived, the fishermen could sell at home, to be smoked and dried, all that could find no sale in the former place. It was about 1836 that a vigorous prose- ention of this business commenced, and it had risen to such impor- tance in 1847, that the Gloucester vessels took in that year consid- erably more than three millions of pounds, which sold for something over seventy thousand dollars. Besides the Georges fishery for halibut, it has been customary, for a few years past, for the fishermen to resort to the Grand Bank, for the sole purpose of trawling for this fish, and in some instances more than a hundred thousand pounds have been brought home as the result of a few weeks' trip.
On the opening of railroad communication between Boston and Gloucester, it seemed expedient and practicable to bring the Boston and other dealers in halibut to Gloucester to purchase ; and, to carry out this design, a company was formed to buy the fish of the fisher- men, and await purchasers from abroad. But the enterprise, in a money point of view, was a failure. The price to be paid was stip- ulated for different periods in advance, and it so happened that it was a year (1848) when Georges Bank yielded as it never had be- fore. The object, however, at which the company aimed, was fully accomplished, which object was to make our own town the chief market for this fish, so that now, however large the supply, local dealers are ready to take them on arrival, and furnish Boston and other customers according to the demand.
Besides the fishery for halibut, Georges Bank has also contributed in another way and to a much greater extent, to the recent prosper- ity of Gloucester. The great abundance in which cod is sometimes found there recalls to mind the "pestering" of Gosnold's ship with them off Cape Cod, and the "strange fish-pond," where Capt. Smith found them so plenty, near Monhegan. This abundance, and the introduction of fresh herring from Newfoundland to be used for bait, induced our fishermen to engage actively in a winter fishery on that Bank. The success of the trip depends mainly upon wind and weather. Sometimes the whole fleet return to port with the loss of cables and anchors and with other damage, and without fish to com- pensate. Often better luck attends them, and occasionally a few favorable trips in succession yield a generous but still hardly ade- quate reward for the risk, labor and suffering of the employment.
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To Wholesale Dealers in Fishing Tackle.
No. 10 Central Draught.
We are now prepared to promptly fill all orders for Hooks embraced in our Cat- alogue, consisting of a full line of
Limerick, Ringed and Flat. Kirby,
Hollow Points, Ringed and Flat.
Kirby Bass and Salmon, Flat.
Aberdeen, Flat.
Kinsey, Ringed and Flat.
Carlisle,
Virginia, Flat.
Mackerel, Flat.
Blackfish,
Eel, Ringed.
Central Draught, Eyed and Flat.
Central Draught, Ringed.
I. P. Cod, Ringed and Flat. Kirby Sea, Ringed and Flat. Halibut, Ringed.
Our goods being made by machi- nery, are uniform in manufacture and unexcelled in temper, render- ing them superior to any goods made, either American or Foreign.
The STANDARD size of NUMBERS can be relied upon, and packed full count ONE HUNDRED HOOKS in each BOX, packed in fine order.
Parties ordering our goods can depend upon having their orders promptly filled and at prices below any ct'ur mak- er's, or any importer in the country.
SEND FOR CATALOGUE AND PRICE LIST. American Needle & Fish Hook Co., NEW HAVEN, CONN.
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In another place, in these pages, interesting particulars in relation to this fishery may be found, and among the statistics of the busi- ness the mind will dwell with painful emotions upon the list of those who have found in it a watery grave, and also an unknown end ; for no tidings ever come from the missing Georges fisherman. An un- usual absence gives rise to fearful apprehensions, and anxious friends at home watch from the hills in agonizing suspense for the returning sail ; but nothing comes save the moan of the sea which sounds their requiem. None but the stoutest hearts will brave the perils and hardships of such an employment, or of the dangerous trawl-fishing on Grand Bank; and the mournful losses, with all their sad consequences, constitute a serious drawback upon the oth- erwise happy prosperity of the fisheries of Gloucester.
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ALL KINDS OF
Stanwood,
Dry,
Pickled,
AND
*
SMOKED
Dealers.
and
Gloucester,
Mass.
Fish Curers
AT
VERY
Low & Co.
Lowest Prices.
ANDREWS, RICH & CO.,
WHOLESALE
Fish dealers
AND
COMMISSION MERCHANTS,
9 & 11 Commercial Wharf, North Side, BOSTON, MASS.
LEONARD WALEN, DEALER IN
Curriers' & Cod Liver Oil. GROCERIES, OUTFITTING GOODS, &c. Constantly on hand.
Rocky Neck, - East Gloucester. P. O. address, GLOUCESTER, MASS.
HARVEY KNOWLTON, JR., Wholesale Dealer in
FRESH, DRY & PICKLED FISII, Dry & Pickled Fish,
SMOKED HALIBUT, Fish Oils & Vessels' Outfits,
Rocky Neck, . East Gloucester. P. O. address, GLOUCESTER, MASS.
F
CHAPTER 4.
CHANGES IN THE FISHERIES-SEEKING NEW FISHING GROUNDS- THE FISHERIES AS AT PRESENT CONDUCTED.
The fishing industry of Gloucester is almost constantly under- going changes in its character and methods. Within the last thirty- five years an almost entire revolution has been wrought in the bus- iness. In 1841 the fisheries, after a gradual decline for many years, had about reached their lowest ebb, and from that point the tenden- cy was in the direction of expansion. Since 1847, notwithstanding the decadence of the foreign commerce of the port, which at that time employed one ship and nine brigs, the tonnage of the District has increased from 357 vessels, of a total of 17,548 tons, to 503 ves- sels, of a tonnage of 30,724 tons ; and the improved character of the vessels engaged in the fisheries is shown in the fact that not- withstanding the disappearance of the square-riggers from the dis- trict, the average tonnage of the fleet has increased from 49 to 61 tons. An average Gloucester fishing schooner is now fully equal, in every detail of equipment and the qualities which give speed and safety, to the first-class yachts that dance upon the waters of Mas- sachusetts Bay or Long Island Sound; while her outfits for the prosecution of the business contain every convenience which modern ingenuity can devise, and her crew are supplied with all the neces- sities of life and regaled on many of the luxuries unknown in ordi- nary passenger transportation by sea.
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Cape Ann Advertiser
Cape Ann Advertiser.
ALL THE NEWS
From the Fishing Fleet. A Reliable Fish Market. LOCAL NEWS, &c. Sample copies sent free to any ad- dress.
A handsomely printed sheet of THIRTY-TWO COLUMNS, issued every Friday Morning, by
PROCTER BROTHERS,
EDITORS AND PROPRIETORS,
Gloucester, Mass.
Each issue has all the Local News of Cape Ann, together with all the Fishing Items, a reliable Fish Market, Good Story, and choice Miscellaneous Reading Matter, making it emphatically
THE PEOPLE'S PAPER.
The Best Advertising Medium on the Cape.
CIRCULATION, 3.500 COPIES. TERMS, $2.65 per year, which includes postage, strictly in advance. Sent to any part of the country on receipt of price.
Subscribe for it if you wish to peruse a Live Local Newspaper.
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The great change effected in the character and methods of the Gloucester fisheries, within a comparatively few years, has been the result of numerous causes. In the early days of the town there was little difficulty in securing good fares of merchantable fish, in pleas- ant weather, at a short distance from shore, and accordingly the shore fishery, with its inexpensive craft and outfits, assumed lead- ing proportions. As the fish removed farther and farther from the shore, in consequence of the disappearance of fish food in near prox- imity to the coast, a better class of vessels and longer voyages be- came a necessity. With this improvement in fishing craft, and in- creased expense, new fishing grounds, and a longer fishing season, became possible and necessary. The enterprise of Gloucester fish- ermen was not long in finding new resorts for their calling, and the introduction of the herring trade, by supplying bait at proper sea- sons, gave an added impetus to the business. The increased facili- ties for transportation, and the development of the ice business, af- fording better means of preserving and forwarding fish long distan- ces, however, wrought the greatest revolution that these fisheries have witnessed, and placed Gloucester in the forefront of the fishing ports of America. Since the opening of railroad communication with Gloucester in 1846, but more particularly during the past doz- en years, an immense business has been done in shipping fresh fish to all parts of the country, the orders being received daily by tel- egraph, and the fish being iced and shipped direct to distant cus- tomers. Another outgrowth of the increased facilities for transpor- tation is the direct shipment of cured fish to all parts of the country, a business that has increased from a modest beginning in 1863 to huge dimensions, until Gloucester has become the distributing head- quarters for its own productions, and to a considerable extent for those of other fishing ports. Several business houses in this line send out trade circulars weekly, and fill large orders daily from a long list of correspondents. A single house in 1874 shipped nearly 50,000 quintals of codfish, 214 tons of codfish stripped from the bones and skin and packed in small compass, and over 100 tons of smoked halibut, to its numerous customers in the West and South. It is largely through the importance of this branch of the business, in connection with the fresh fish trade, that the Gloucester Branch Railroad has proved a profitable property to a bankrupt corporation, and that a large steamer, making daily trips to Boston, and a re- spectable fleet of first-class freighting vessels, plying between Glou- cester and New York, find lucrative employment.
4.7
JOB JOHNSON.
ESTABLISHED 1813. ACHIM JOHNSON.
JOB JOHNSON & SON, fish hook and cedlę
orks,
COR. MYRTLE & BEDFORD AVES.,
BROOKLYN, N. Y.
Manufacturers of Best Cast Steel Wire, And GENERAL HARDWARE,
Patent, and all other descriptions of Fish Hooks, Needles, &c. Sail Needles, Pack and Bag Needles, Upholsterers' Needles,
Mattress Needles, Surgeons Needles, Spaying Needles, Dissecting Needles.
Every Description and Size of TORTIONAL DOOR SPRINGS. PATENT AUTOMATIC GATE HARDWARE. JOB JOHNSON'S
SPHERICAL PATENT UNIVERSAL BALL CASTOR FOR FURNITURE.
PATENT AUTOMATIC BURGLAR PROOF BLIND and SHUTTER FASTENER; PATENT UNIVERSAL CLOTHES LINE HOLDER.
All Descriptions of Steel Wire Goods, Machinery, Springs, &c. &c.
N. B .- Particular attention paid to Tempering and Finishing all kinds of Steel Wire Goods.
Sole Agents for the Celebrated Shrimpton & Sons Superior Sail and other Needles.
48
With these advantages, it is not a matter of surprise that the fish- eries of Gloucester should cover a wide range of operations, and that a large proportion of its fleet should be engaged in some branch of this pursuit during every month of the year, a fact that does not hold true of any other New England fishing port. With a business capable of indefinite expansion ; with a fleet unsurpassed in seagoing qualities ; with a maritime force of hardy men cradled on the deep from early youth ; it would be singular if Gloucester failed to turn its attention in whatever direction fishing enterprise held out a pros- pect of successful operations. The successors of the men who braved the perils of the sea in the primitive craft of the earlier years of the eighteenth century ; who were undaunted from pursuing their avocation by savage or hostile forces ere the Republic was born ; are not the men to shrink at any hazard by storm or ice, and neg- lect opportunities that promise a successful issue in their dangerous calling. It is not a matter of surprise, therefore, that in the Spring of 1860, after an annual decrease for three years in the mackerel catch of the port, until the product had been reduced nearly two- thirds in quantity, the project should be seriously contemplated of embarking in the mackerel fishery of the North Sea, on the Norwe- gian and Swedish coasts, where the prospects of successful fishing were believed to be favorable. Happily, however, that year saw a revival of this industry, the mackerel catch of 1860 being much larger than ever before, and the project was abandoned. Ten years later, when the halibut fishery had assumed considerable propor- tions, attention began to be turned to new grounds for this fishery, and in 1870 an experimental trip was made to the coast of Green- land, with results which gave promise of a successful pursuit of this distant fishery. During the next two years half a dozen vessels made halibut trips to Greenland, but in 1873 the fleet was reduced to four vessels, whose voyages did not prove remunerative, and the distance of the fishing grounds, the uncertainty attending the busi- ness, the high cost of its prosecution and the dangers from storms and icebergs led to its abandonment. The pioneer in this fishery, however, Capt. John S. McQuinn, was still possessed with the pur- pose of finding new fishing grounds, and on the 23d of May, 1873, with a crew numbering twenty men, he set sail in the staunch schooner Membrino Chief, for the fishing grounds on the Icelandic coast, where the fishermen of France and Northern Europe have long pursued profitable ventures. It is probable that the voyage was made at an untoward season, since it proved a failure, the ves-
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ADDISON WITHAM,
RIGGER,
Loft at Burnham Bro.'s Railway,
Water St., GLOUCESTER, Mass.
Orders promptly attended to; Satisfac- tion guaranteed.
Second-Hand Rigging Furnished.
WM. COOS, JR., Hets and Deines, Tarred and Repaired.
NETS, SEINES, TWINE and FISHING NETTINGS, of every description, furnished to order. ALL WORK GUARANTEED.
SPRING STREET,
Near the Cape Ann Anchor Works,
GLOUCESTER, MASS.
JONAS H. FRENCH, President. H. H. BENNETT, Treasurer. SCOTT WEBBER, Supt.
CAPE ANN GRANITE Co.
- FURNISHI -
Granite, Building and Monumental Work, OF EVERY DESCRIPTION; ALSO DEALERS IN
GRANITE FLAGGING & PAVING BLOCKS, Office, Simmons Building, 40 Water St., (Room 12,)
Quarries : Bay View, Gloucester, Mass. S
BOSTON.
W. J. MADDOCKS,
+ Arugaist & Apothecary
Store opp. Procter Bros.,
GLOUCESTER, MASS.
-
A full line of
Pure Drugs and Chemicals,
Constantly on hand.
Medicine Chests
For Vessels' Use, a Specialty.
Chests replenished at short notice and at reasonable prices.
BUCK'S BOOTS.
JONATHAN BUCK,
Manufacturer of
Fishermen's Boots
OF VARIOUS QUALITIES, Hand-made and warranted superior to any other manufacture.
Factory at Harwich, CAPE COD, - - MASS.
ADOLPH VOSS,
Owner and Manufacturer of
Voss' Improved Bait Mill, Richardson's Imp. Bait Mill, Small's Patent Boom Crotch Supporters,
And FISHING KNIVES.
All kinds of FISHING ANCHORS constant- ly on hand. Vessel Work and Jobbing of every description promptly attended to. Galvanizing done in all its branches.
Shop foot of Duncan St., near Rail- ways, GLOUCESTER, Mass.
50
sel being obliged to return empty, and the experiment has not been repeated.
MODEL OF A HERRING VESSEL.
The Newfoundland and New Brunswick Herring Fisheries, of comparatively recent origin, while not unattended with hardship. and danger, became at once an important auxiliary of the Georges and Banks fisheries, and have been pursued unremittingly from the start. During the present season herring have been shipped hence to Sweden, at a good profit, and it is not impossible that this may prove the initial step toward the resumption of exportation of fish to foreign ports, an important industry of the port in the early days of its fishing enterprise. The Spring of 1876 has also been marked by a new feature in the Georges fishery, the capture of halibut in im- mense quantities in deep water on the edge of the bank, good fares having been secured in a hundred and fifty fathoms of water, a greater depth than was before thought likely to furnish profitable returns.
As at present conducted the fisheries of Gloucester furnish re- munerative employment for its vessels and mariners for the greater part of the year, and it is not probable that any considerable por- tion of its energies need be turned to new fishing fields in the years to come.
With the close of one fishing season another is inaugurated. On the winding up of the mackerel fishery, and the partial suspension of the Bank fisheries in the Fall, the better class of vessels thus em- ployed commence fitting for the Herring Trade, to which the ener-
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Gloucester Publications
BY
PROCTER BROTHERS, Publishers and Booksellers.
HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER ;
BY HON. JOHN J. BABSON. A Handsome Cloth Bound, 8 mo. volume of 610 pages. Price $5.00.
FISHERMEN'S MEMORIAL AND RECORD BOOK ;
A complete History of the Gloucester Fisheries, from 1830 to 1873, giving a record of the vessels and men lost for nearly half a century, thrilling incidents accompanying the peril- ous calling of the fishermen, interesting sketches of life on board a fishing craft, together with maratime poetry. Handsomely illustrated. Cloth $1.50; Paper $1.00.
FISHERMEN'S BALLADS and SONGS OF THE SEA ;
A fine collection of songs, many of them written by these hardy toilers of the sea. Paper covers, handsomely illustrated. Price 50 cents.
GLOUCESTER AND ROCKPORT DIRECTORY ; Price $1.50. Copies of the above sent to any address, post paid, on receipt of price.
DESIGNER
178 CONGRESS ST.
AND FAMEKECHALE ENGRAVER
-
BOSTON .
ON WOOD
Particular attention paid to the engraving of
FISH, VESSELS, WILARVES AND OTHER MARITIME VIEW'S.
Many of the Cuts in this Book were furnished by
F. A. McKECHNIE,
178 CONGRESS STREET, - BOSTON.
NPALL ORDERS PROMPTLY ATTENDED TO.
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gies of quite a fleet are devoted during the winter months. A few vessels only engage in what is known as the salt herring trade, the majority of the fleet securing their fares fresh, freezing them thor- oughly and stowing them in bulk, allowing their cargoes to remain undisturbed until they are marketed in as good order as when taken from the water. The Newfoundland herring trade was inaugurated in the winter of 1856, and has been pursued with varying success since that time. This fleet usually sails from the middle to the last of November, with an outward cargo of such supplies as are likely to find a quick demand among the herring fishers of Newfoundland, which are exchanged for the products of the sea. The crews of the fleet do not engage in fishing to any extent, being occupied in ta- king proper care of the herring purchased of the local fishermen. Having secured a cargo they return home, usually arriving in Jan- uary and February, when a portion of their cargoes find a ready sale to the Bank fleet, for bait, the rest being marketed in Boston, New York and Philadelphia markets, for food, where they are in active demand, especially during Lent. The business is an important one, furnishing employment for the vessels and men at a time when they might otherwise be compelled to lie idle, and providing the means for the early embarkation of the Georges and Bank fleets in the late
MODEL OF A GEORGESMAN, 1876.
Winter and early Spring months. The business is also a godsend to the people of Newfoundland, who are thus enabled to exchange the products of their Winter fishery for the necessaries of life on much more favorable terms than would otherwise be possible. The
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