"YOU SHINING BEAUTIES!"

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 172, 22 July 1924, Page 5

"YOU SHINING BEAUTIES!"

NOT WOMEN, BUT FISH. TALES OF A TRA-WXERB^AN. WHAT ENDED THE WAR? "Fishing's a gamble — backing horses. You look over the side as the trawl is being hauled in on a dark night. If you see nothing when the net is nearing the surface, you know the net 1 is split, or that there are precious few ; fish in it. But if you see coming up a • ball of phosphorus you yell, 'Rise and ; shine, you shining beauties!'" Captain William Myroft, an old North ' ?ea skipper who had charge of trawlers ' during the ever-exciting period of the ' war, thus described the hauling-in of ; the trawl when yarning to a "Star" man to-day. The skipper thinks it a j pity that Auc-klanders are not sufficiently appreciative of fish as a food, but he holds that we would eat it more plentiful if it were brought right to our doors, and that there is much lacking ' in the system of supply. Captain Myroft was the first man in . the merchant marine to gain a mone- j tary reward from the Admiralty during ( the war. He was on a trawling cruise , when he sighted two German sub- , marines. Immediately, he showed his stern to the enemy and made for the shore, where he reported his experience. , Destroyers went out immediately to the , locality. What happened to the submarines he was not told, but the result must have been satisfactory to the ; destroyers, for Captain Myroft was sent an Admiralty cheque, which he divided imong the crew of his trawler. A Nice Good Friday. ' : Bound .for the coast of Iceland, seeking fish, on one occasion, Captain Myroft left the company of a British patrol, with orders to steer a course around the North Rolinshire. It was clear weather, occasionally disturbed by light snow (showers. Twenty-five miles awaj\ the skipper sighted a boat's crew scurrying jfrom another trawler — the Narboth i Castle —and sheered off his course to jpick the men up. "There's a sub. here," said the skipper of the abandoned craft. "] guess that," replied Captain Myroft. "You hop on board!" The crew of the Narboth clambered up,- hoisted their boat aboard, and the Nestor (Mycrofts' I ship) got under weigh again. But the Nestor had not gone far when the perisIcope of a submarine showed up astern ! and a shot brought the trawler to, "This i was Good Friday —a nice day for fish." j The crew of the Nestor, with the I "rescued' , crew of the other trawler, then I abandoned ship, and after the submarine I oad sunk the Nestor, it went away to 1 the westward. Captain Myroft was ' pleasantly surprised, for it was then the custom of the Germans to make prisoner the master of any vessel sunk, as proof of the proceeding. However, there was a reason for the departure of this submarine; it had sighted the smoke of some vessels and went to investigate. In the meantime the trawler's boats discerned four British destroyers rushing along at great speed. The Nestor's boat was being rowed, and her one maßt, without sail, must have looked like the periscope of a submarine, for all at once a shell from the loading destroyer passed between her and the other boat. Immediately Captain Myroft affixed a white muffler to a boathook and waved it. Then, with the destroyers rushing towards them at the rate of 45 knots, the tfawlermen witnessed the spectacle of a periscope again arising from the sea—apparently the Gorman returning to complete its job. Simultaneously the leading destroyer tired, and before the submarine had submerged. th<> racing hunters were upon it, dropping depth charges. The leading destroyer actually touched the submarine, and in the mind of Captain Myroff there was no doubt as to the fate of the Gorman. Depth charges did their jobs well. The crows of the trawlers were taken on board the destroyers and wero landed on the coast of North Scotland on the following Sunday. j Depth Charges Did It. "Depth charges were the beginning ol the finish of the war, ,, declares Captain Mvroft. '■ Our destroyers got that clever that once they smelled a submarine it was the doom of that sub. The submarines could not get away from them. The destroyers were equipped with instruments which could detect a submarine under water and track it relentlessly. There was no escape for the sub.; the destroyer was too fast. It got over the underwater craft and dropped its depth charges. Then it was goodbye to the submarine. In the end German sailors refused to so out to certain death —they would not be. driven on. board a submarine even at the point of the pistol. Yes, depth charges finished the war —you can put your hand to your cap to that." "It was 'money for dogs,' fishing in ■ the war days," said the skipper, revertinsr to the real work of the trawler. "My last 30 weeks made no less than £41,r>00 for my trawler, the money, of course, being divided between owners, officers and crew. My share as master amounted to £4500 —not bad for 30 weeks work—something like f 120 a week it worked out at. I am not "swanking' about it. but it goes to show how much money there was in the fish business in England during the war—though there wasn't much fish for poor people to eat. Choice fish, such as sole, turbot, halibut and grills, brought as much as £25 a box of from Sst to lOst. Haddocks (much like your schnapper) brought from £5 upwards. 'I have seen haddock of about the size of your average schnapper selling at 15/ each. "Yes, I made a lot of money fishing during the war. I have spent most of I it—why not ? Yet I am better off than I a skipper who was a pal of mine— ' Danish Peter they called him. Peter hung on to his money and he settled ashore. He bought a house like a. mansion and a motor car. One day he took his missus and kids for a drive, and the car turned over. Peter broke his neck. ] I am alive, and though most of my money is gone, I was never in better health in my life. If I had hung on to my money I might have bought a motor , car and aeroplane and broken my neck. ! Well, I've got no quarrel with the world, and so I prefer being alive."