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ENQUIRER-SUN: COLUMBUS, GEORGIA SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 30, 1890.
THE HERRING FISHERIES
v
<OF:SCOTLAND AND HOW THEY ARE
CONDUCTED.
THE AMOUNT OF CAPITAL EMPLOYED ANI)
NUMBER OF HANDS—THE MODE
OF CURING AND PACKING.
[Copyrighted for the Enquirer-Sun.]
Lerwick, Shetland, November 0, 1S90.
—The herring fisheries of Scotland form
such a stupendous interest, in capital in
vested, in the number of men, women and
boats employed, and product for home
■consumption and export to the continent
secured,that I have been at pains to study
the subject for intelligent presentation to
American readers. The earliest date as
signed such fishing on the coasts of Brit
ain is about 1030, a'though herrings are
mentioned in the chronicles of Evesham
in 709, the Normans having probably then
acquired the art of salting fish; and it is
more than probable that the use of
salt was known in the time of William the
Conqueror, as Duhamel quotes one of
William’s charters which states that in
the 11th century vessels from Dieppe called
•'Lirand Drogueurs” went to the North to
fish for herrings in July and brought them
home in barrels salted. The Dutch ob
tained privilege of Edward I. to take her
rings at Yarmouth, England; and in the
reign of the third Edward an act was
passed relative to supplying the British
fleet with herrings. During the middle
ages, and later still, British herring fishing,
which was always chiefly along the Scottish
coasts, was even encouraged through the
means of religious feast days.
THE SCOTTISH HERRING FISHERIES
owed their rise and develpment to the
jealousy of lhe Dutch who largely fre
quented the east coast during the last cen
tury and who still annually send a large
fleet of fishing “busses” to the Shetland
Islands. Their method of curing with
salt is said to have been originated in 14S6
by one William Beukels, a native of Flan
ders. This humble fisherman may be said
to have laid the foundation of the Dutch
herring fisheries, which have always
proved one of their greatest sources of na
tional wealth. The saying is that Am
sterdam itself was “built on herring
f»ones”; while Beukel’s memory was so
honored by the Dutch that, in 1530,
'Charles V., of the Netherlands and his
sister, the Queen of Hungary, paid a mem-
>arxble visit to his tomb. The Scotch
incepted the Dutch method of curing her-
sriag and these two people with the fisher-
4»fta of our own New England coast are
principal competitors for the continental
■cured herring trade of Europe.
The Board of British White Herring
.Fisheries was established by parliament in
>1809, and is still in existence under the
present title of the
FISHERY BOARD FOR SCOTLAND.
Many restrictive measures have been en
acted during the present century, such as
'“close” seasons, barring the use of circle
trawl-nets, and nets of certain size of mesh
hut without result; and since 1808 the
Scottish herring fisheries have been prac
tically free from legislative control, even
Sunday fishing in religious Scotland being
largely practiced. The Scottish Board
lias in its service a general inspector, one
assistant and 30 sub-inspectors or officials.
All of these are not only graduate fisher
men but have also been fish-curers by oc
cupation. For the purpose of easy con
trol and procuring statistics, the coast-line
of Scotland is divided into 26 districts, the
east coast having seventeen districts and
the west coast nine districts. Each dis-
■ if ret is provided with at least one officer,
and some with two.
A bounty system for the encourogement
of herring fishing prevailed with curious
results from 1756 to 1830. Fishermen
went to sea to
-‘CATCH THE BOUNTY RATHER THAN THE
FISH.”
ft was paid on tonnage of vessels instead
of upon herrings landed. In 1759 this
bounty was fifty shilling per ton of ton
nage. " Four barrels were taken. The
tonnage bounty paid was upwards of £159.
This being discontinued from 1809 to 1815
the government paid two shillings per bar
rel of cured herrings and altogether, tour
shillings, eight pence, if exported. Gov
ernment bounties ceased in 1830. Gov-
■ernment branding, after examination, was
however, continued; and, in 1858, a brand
ing fee of four pence per barrel was fixed
which still continues in force. In a way
the bounty system is still continued as a
concession to the fishermen, but in a to
tally different form. The Government
paid its bounty botli to the vessel owner
on tonnage and the fish-curer on cured
herrings. Under the bounty system as re
tained by the trade, the bounty is now
■exclusively paid by the curer to the fish
erman before he puts a net in the sea.
This “trade bounty” reached its height in
1884, when, on the Aberdeenshire coast,
it was from £40 to £60 per boat, the fish
erman also receiving £1 per “cran” of
herrings landed. This “trade bounty”
now greatly reduced, is paid to the crew,
or rather, to the owner of the boat, before
fishing begins, and forms a mild sort of
lottery. Thus if the bargain is AT per
cran and £60 bounty, and the boat fish 100
•erans, the cost to the curer is 32 shillings
per cran. If 200 craus are landed the
price is reduced to 20 shillings per cran.
Again, all herrings over a complement of
say 200 to 250 erans will be delivered un
der the £1 rate, and those delivered after
nine o’clock at night of the day they are
taken, are still cheaper to the curer.
In the early part of the century Scot
tish herrings were chiefly exported to Ire
land and to the West ludias as food for
staves. But since 1846 continental Eu
rope, especially Germany and Russia, lias
been the
value of the herring, white, shell and sal- ! ers, when they are commercially known as
mon fisheries of Scotland in 1886 was
£2,550,77S, of whicli herrings represented
£1,460, 981.
The boats in use at the middle of the
present century were about twenty-four
feet of keel, undecked and carried twenty-
four hemp nets, forty yards long, seven
yards deep, with thirty-three meshes after
a year’s use. The boats built within the
past five years are from forty-eight to fifty
five feet of keel. They are decked and
carry an average drift of fifty cotton nets,
each sixty yards long and eleven yards
deep, anti about thirty-five meshes to the
yard after a year's use. There are three
classes: Firth boats, straight in stem and
sea sticks.” After ten days they are
opened, the “pickle” again poured off,
more herrings are crowded into them,
they are again “tighted,” solidly filled
with pickle through the bungs, laid in
double rows; and are now ready for offi
cial inspection.
The women forming these curers’ crews,
who are largely from the west coast and
the Hebrides, receive AT of bounty, called
“earnest money,”
which is known as “arles” on the Aber-
deenshiie coast; about eight-pence per
barrel for cleaning and packing; and three
pence per hour when at the final fillings
found rude lodgings in
SNOW FLAKE
HOMINY
i
stern, fifty-five feet of keel and fifty-seven j where' in “messes’, they live
anil 9 hi It taar. ovrromo loncrtn q hnun • thn I ’ . *
with the utmost economy; for they are
working here to keep the croft thatch
and a half feet extreme length above: the
Skaflie boats, “fiddle-shaped” bow and nere l0 Ke ep me cron tnatcn
sloped stern with thirty-four feet keel and above & eir heads at home, They often
tiTTY' tnat lonorrli annra• am! tha /.ii n mate ... .
fifty feet length above; and the Zulu boats,
with straight bow and sloped stern, with
forty-five feet of keel and fifty-five feet
leugth above. The general rig is lug sail,
jib and jigger. A large number are smack-
rigged, the latter being in common use
here in Shetland for its convenience in
tacking up the narrow voes or bays. A
labor sixteen and eighteen lionrs per day.
They are of ail ages, from fifteen to fifty-
years. Working upon perishable food,
depending upon uncertain delivery from
the fishermen, they do not come within
the restricting provisions as to hours of
labor of the British factory acts. Branding
and inspection are simple processes. Each
boat of 50 feet keel, Firth build with sail-, curer must brand bis nauie and place or
ing gear included, will cost about A300
the fishing gear costing from £150 to AT80
requiring an outlay of at least £475, be
fore equipment for herring fishing is com
plete. It was calculated in 1878 that there
were over 7,000 boats engaged in the
Scotch herring fisheries. These carried
nets nearly 12,000 miles long; sufficient to
cover a superficial area of 70 square miles.
The number of boats employed in 1888,in
Scotland, in the herring and other sea
fisheries, numbered 14,904, with a tonnage
of 124,452 tons. Of these 4,777 were
boats of the first class, or above 30 feet of
keel, exclusive of 107 vessels employed in
fishing with the beam trawl. For the same
year the number of fishermen and boys by
which the boats were manned, was 48,61S.
There were 1,047 fish curers. The coopers
numbered 1,410. Others employed in the
work, such as packers, “gutters,” and la
borers, numbered 48,806; giving a total of
persons employed in the fishing industry
of 97,881 souls.
East coast summer herring fishing be
gins about the first of July and continues
until the 10tli of September. Here in
Shetland the season opens a month earlier.
Fishermen, laborers, curers-crews and
what not come to all the east coast ports
and to Shetland from every portion of the
north and west of Scotland including the
outer Hebrides. They are simply the
crofters, I have spoken of in previous arti
cles, who take this method of securing
money with which to pay the rent of their
crofts, and without which they could not
exist throughout the year. At Wick 15
years ago the fishermen helpers received
each a wage of from £6 to £8 for a season
of about six months, with board and
lodging. A few years since it was £6 to £8,
with one shilling for each cran of herring
lauded, which with other perquisites in
creased their earnings to £15
or £20. At present in Shetland,
the principal seat of the herring
industry, the system generally prevailing
is to allow one-half of the proceeds of the
fishing to the owner or owners of the boat,
who provides all material, the other half
being equally divided between the mem
bers of the crew, the owner receiving a
share as such if he be one of the crew. On
the east coast it is also becoming general
to give hired fishers one shilling on each
pound sterling value of herring landed.
At some ports men receive a certain pro
portion of the boat’s earnings, providing
their own subsistence on shore, but get
ting their “ oil skins” for sea use as a per
quisite.
The preparations of the fish-curer are of
interest and importance. All winter long
coopers have been employed in making
the necessary supply of barrels. They re
ceive from ten-pence to one shilling for
each barrel made, and during the herring
season are paid regular wages ranging from
25 to 30 shillings per week. The herring
barrel must hold 26 2-3 imperial gallons;
the half-barrel, la 1-3: but no official cog
nizance is taken of quarters or less. Hav
ing secured sufficient ground for curing
purposes, which is called
A CURING YARD OR STATION,
we will suppose lie intends using the
fish landed by ten boats. He provides a
rectangular box with sides about two feet
high, into which the herrings are emptied
from the fishermen’s baskets, or from his
own carts, and around which the “crews’
of “curers” work. Formerly the “creel”
or square wicker basket, was used in the
delivery of fish. This has been superceded
by the circular “quarter-cran” basket,four
of which make the cran of 374 imperial
gallons, the standard measure upon which
all estimates on Scottish herring, and ex
pense in securing the same, are based. For
handling the fish of ten boats, the cuu-r
will employ three coopers, and one crew
of “gutters" in all. The latter are inva
riably women, crofters’ wives, daughters,
sisters. Five tons or two hundred bushels
of salt to the 100 erans, will be needed;
and he provides barrels and salt on the
basis of an average years’ fishing giving
him from 1800 to 2000 erans of fish irom
the ten boats.
On the arrival of the fleet the fish are
sold by auction, a plan very recently in
troduced, and identical with that of our
own herring fishers at Eastport, Maine.
Samples of herring are retained by the auc
tioneers in case of disputes. The sales
man charges the fishermen a small per
centage, as at New Haven on the Firth of
Forth; he becomes responsible to the
fishermen for the money; and payments
are made daily or weekly as agreed. At
an ordinary east-coast herring fishing port
fully 10(H) “gutters” and packers will be at
work. Perhaps 600 of these are women.
As stated, three form a crew.
port of enre on the side of each barrel, as
also “scrieve” on the barrel the date of
catch, day of cure and grade of fish,
government inspection consists of assuring
barrels of legal size, proper hooping, the
eurer's brands and marks, and proper
classification under “Large Fulls,” lit
inches and upward; “Fulls,” lOj- inches:
and “Mattie Fulls,” 9£ inches: all full of
milt or roe. Seven per cent, of all lots
are actually examined “hit or miss.” In
1809 but 34,701 barrels were branded. The
highest number known in a single year to
the Scottish Herring Fisheries 089,325
barrels. These were branded in 1885.
Edgar L. Wakeman.
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For sleeplessness and nervousness, take
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For loss of appetite and debility, take
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For fevers, chills and malaria, take
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Dr. Mozlev’s Lemon Elixir will not fail
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all of which arise from a torpid or diseased
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Prepared only by Dr. H. Mozley, At
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It retails
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CARTER &
Coin Factors and
BRADLEY
Grocers,
COLUMBUS GKA..
PITTS'
Infants
-for
and Children.
WHOLESALE HOUSES OF COLUMBUS.
BUGGIES, WAGONS AND HARNESS.
Williams, Bullock & Co
dies, etc.
Wholesale and Retail dealers in Bug
gies. Wagons, Road Carts*, Harness*, S*a-
au8 6m
DKi GOODS.
J. Kyle & Co..
Established 1838. Wholesale Dry Grods, Nor
facturers of Jeans Pants Overshirts, Etc.
ms. Etc. Mann-
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C.iiMTh. Skin Diaecaoa, Eczema, Chronic Female Com-
plaints, Mercurial Poieou, Tetter, Scaldhead. etc., etc.
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UPPMAH BROS., Proprietors,
WHOLESALE DRUGGISTS.
Lipaman Block. SAVANNAH. GA.
CHIEF PURCHASER.
During 1807, the first year for which sta
tistics are. procurable, the product
was upwards of 90,000 barrels; for the
ten years ending in 1847, there were 453,-
993 barrels cured; for the twenty years
closing with 1S87, there were 1,110,958
barrels cured; while the tremendous in
crease in the industry is shown by the fact
that in 1888, there were cured on the east
coast 872,643 barrels, of which 734,230
oarrels were sent to the continent; while j rile( ji a te*lv loliowi
■on the west coast the yearly catch aver- I
tiges 230,000; giving a total product for [
1888 of at least 1,100,000 barrels, exclusive !
■of the herrings used fresh in fishiug ports, j
.those “kippered” and those sent fresli to
.Scottish and English markets, which
amount annually to 140,000 “erans;” and
it should be borne in mind that the cran
measure is equal to 37 j imperial gallons.
It is still the standard of measure,although
seldom used as a utensil for measurement.
An idea of the predominating
IMPORTANCE OF THE HERRING FISHERIES
may be gained from the fact that the total
TWO USE THE KNIFE AND ONE “PACKS.”
They work with marvelous rapidity. The
herring is held in the left hand, inserting
the knife in the throat of the fish, side-
wise, with tiie right hand, witli one swift
movement in “a pull like cut,” as one of
tlie women described it to me, the herring
is opened and cleaned, and whisked into a
basket. It is so quickly done mat the eye
cannot follow the process. The herrings j
are next sorted, shifted to receiving boxes, j
and then emptied into “rousing boxes”
where they are thoroughly “roused” or I
mixed with salt, la packing, which ini- i
tlie tiers are lorined, j
between layers of salt, l>y placing the her- |
rings hack down is laid in the center of
a forming tier, and then a line of tlie fish
is riui in either direction to the barrel-
sides, the spaces left on each of this line
being laid with fish, heads outwards. Ev
ery alternate tier is laid transversely.
The barrels are heaped two tiers above
their level, and are then known as ••up
sets.” In two day's time, the salt is partly
melted, and a portion of the “pickle" is
poured off. The herring have also “pined"
that is shrunk. “Filling up” follows. The
barrels are then “tighted” by the coop-
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Office 1vYhitehall 84
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WHOLESALE BY
Brannon & Carson, and Patter
son & Thomas,
gotjtmbus. ga
OVER 1,000
INCANIMT ELECTRIC LIGHTS USED 15
COLUMBUS.
Of this, over 200 are in reidences, and wires
have been placed in new residences for over 200
more. Perfectly safe, no heat.
We will Wire New Buildings at
Cost. Whether the Lights
are Used or Not.
r We will also do all kinds of bell wiring, and
am negator work, at reasonable prices. Tele- j Leave Uolumbu3
phone 232 for terms and information.
J J ^ ^1*1* AT CO ' Manufacturers and Wholesale Dealers in br
GROCERIES.
| Wholesale Groceries, Cigars, Plug ard Smoking l'obao-
XT* | la ii Wholesale Fancy Groceries and Manufacturer of Candies. Ciders,
X: • tP • XvUJLIll. || Vinegar, Etc., 1013 Broad street. j
| u d i J t II Wholesale Grocer ami Manufacturer o? Pure Cider and Vinegar I
> « 1 • ‘RiU 1 I Candies, Etc.. 1017 Broad street. |
DKUG8.
Brannon & Carson.! i' ru ^ 9t *-
| FURNITURE. 1
A. G. Rhodes * o.|j Pa“ e “ dK " tail Fnrn,tn |
JEWELRY. 1
HARNESS, SADDLES, ETC. 1
1 M Bradford *1 ^' lc * 1
CENTRAL RAILROAD OF GEORGIA.
8k•hi-fiulif* in Effect Sunday, October '2. XHHO
To Macon, Augusta, Savannah and Charleston.
BRUSH ELECTRIC LIGHT AND POWER CO.
julvfitf
CENTRAL, PEOPLE’*
-—AND—-
<’o! ambus & Gulf Navigation
LINES OF
S T E -A. im: e ir, s
Columbus, Ga., September 5, 139G.&-,
On and after September 5, 1390. the local rate#
of freight on the Chattahoochee. Flint and Apa
lachicola rivers will be as follows:
Flour, per barrel $
Colton Seed Meal, per ton 1 2C
Cotton, per bale
Other freight in proportion.
Passage from Columbus to Apalachicola, 16.00
Other points in proportion.
8CHEDULE.
Steamers leave Columbus as follows:
Steamer Fanny Fearn Tuesdays at 8 a. m
Steamer Naiad Thursdays *t 8 a. m.
Steamer Milton H. Smith Saturdays at 8 a. m.H
Above schedule will be run, river, etc., permit
ting. Schedule subject to change without notice.
Boat reserves the right of not landing at any
paint when considered dangerous by the pilot.
Boat will not stop at any point not named In
list of landings furnished shippers under date of
December 15, 1889.
Our responsibility for freight ceases after it bM
been discharged at a landing where no persen if
there to receive it.
GEO. B. WHITESIDE,
Sec’y and Treas. Central Line of Boats]
W. R. MOORE
; 3 40pm
Arrive Fort Valley j G 35 p m
Arrive Macon | 7 50 p m
Arrive Augusta 6 25am
Arrive Savannah 6:Klara
Arrive Charleston j 12 J 6 p m
Louisville h
* 10 50 p
Arr
K*
11 59 a in
100 pm.
To Troy, Eufaula, Albany, Thomasville, Bruns
wick and Jacksonville via Union Springs.
Leave Columbus 7 10 a m 3 30pm
Arrive Union Springe ; 9 15 a m 5 p m
Arri ve Troy 2 40pm 7 20 pm
Arrive Eufaula ,1106am, 10 25pm
Arrive Albany j 2 50 pm' 1 JJ a ni
Arrive Brunswick I 112 20 p m
Arrive Jacksonville I I 830am
Through sleeper from Union Springs to Wav-
cross and Jacksonville on night train.
Arri
Arrive Talladega...
A rrive A nniston ..
Arrive Birmingham
Arrive Memphis. ...
Arrive Nashville...
Arrive Louisville ..
Arrive Cincinnati..
10 c
Memphis, I
\ati. I
3 40 p ns I
5 lQ p i
6 (*0 p a: I
11 43 a m| i
6 (i0 a m j 6 25 p m
510pm | 6 30 a in
7 30 p m i 6 00 a m
2 *27 a mjl2 07 p m
6 52 a m| 4 05 p m
Train leaving at 10 50 p. m. carries
sleeper for Birmingham.
To Atlanta, Montgomery, Mobile and New Or- ! Arrive Jacksor-
leans via Opelika.
To Savannah, Smithville, Albany
Brunswick and Jacksonville vii
Leave Columbus —
Arrive Americiis
Arrive Savannah
Arrive Albany
Arrive Thomasvilie .
Arrive Waycross
Arrive Brunswick.
Thomas villej
. Americas.
am *6 00 a r
► p in 9 00 i
7 00 p !
Ipffi 2 50 p l
i P m 5 40 p i
, 5 15
12 05 p i
Leave Columbus 10 50 p m 11 59 a m 3 40 p m
Arrive Opelika..— 12 08 am, lOOpmj 5 0U p m
Arrive Atlanta j 6 50 a in, 5 25 p m;
Arrive Montgomery. | 3 45 a m j 7 25 p m
Arrive Mobile 8 10am j 2 05 a in
Arrive New Orleans.; 12 40 p in | 7 00am
To Greenville.
Leave Columbus ..
Arrive Greenville.
Daily.
2 45 p m
6 15 p m
To Montgomery, Mobile and New Orleans,
Union Springs.
l.eave Columbus j 7 10am! 3 30pm
Arrive Union Springs ! 9 15 a mj 5 35 p m
Arrive Montgomery ! 10 50 a m 7 05 p m
Arrive Mobile \ | 2 05 a m
Arrive New Orleans j 7 00 a m
nab with Piilln
Leave Colli ml
Arrive Griffin
Arrive Atianti
Through
lpm train.
train is solid Bn
lav
A rri v
From Macon.
From Amerie
From Birmi
From Opelika
From Montg
and Troy . .
From Grce'.r;
From
Griffin
From
(>t>elik
* at Columbus
11 3»i a
30 p
3 25 p
At.
' 10 p m •
> p in
I. JOSI
President Columbus and Gulf Navigation Co.
Agent People’s Lice*
fOSEPH.
ny.
For further information relative to tickets, best routes, etc., apply to F. -T. Rcbim
Agent. J. C. Haile, Agent, Columbus, Ga. D. H. Bythewood, D P. A., Columbus, G*i.j
Chariton. G. P. A., Savannah. G*