LIFE ON A STEAM TRAWLER.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10593, 24 October 1910, Page 6

LIFE ON A STEAM TRAWLER.

HOW the'harv'bst W THE SEA IS GATHERED IN.

(By Tom Wins, M.P. for Great Grimsby.)

The Cyrano left the glorious Humber .sonic days ago, and breasted the North Sea past' the frowning heights of l! lamborough Head, where so mariners have paid the toll of death. Wc sighted Peterhead, and passed Moray 1< lrtli, and so on through Pentland 1' irth nito the spacious Atlantic, arriving at the Faroe fishing grounds after a journey of 600 miles. . . \ . The Faroe Islands rear themselves m the tempest-tossed -North Atlantic like <.-rim sentinel?-. They ...are. intersected by fiords, where are,. be found harbors of refuge in which many a vessel has been saved from ..aisaster vrmlc the; sea spent its fury V'P on , the rocks without. The-peoples who inhabit the group areva, ;i estless, narcl} race like unto-'.tlie old .Vikings. Here the- oppressed of other, lands nave sought"the air of freedom. The Irish during periods of-persecution while wan.-; dering - across ;tlie- Atlantic turned aside northiwdS~ and- fo.urfd -i haven. .One ' of'' records* thev' fact in. its name, Westmanhaven,',in other words, blie Haven of West Man. ? -] niustleave; the story of these islands? for soinc other " As the C>iino appioaclicd the inlands a smack sailed out to smaclt- was once a Grimsby' vessel,* but m the march of, progi ess Jiijs pljee to the modern .steam ,ti awleraipon tlie deck of which,l st?pd ; ; Thc Cyra 119.15,, indeed, the'laVfworcT in' fishing vessels.* Regardless of time and,,tide apd.wmd,, she has churned her way' across those' 600 mile's, of water, and .presently she will spread her nets by the aid .oi, chinery in the'vasty deep. She is fitted with every appliance loi the capture of . the.. an.d _foy deal-, inn* with tile- hauls with ;i celerity iin-„ known to l tlie" fisherman" a" few years' back. Her'decks are lighted with acetylene gas in place of the,tglari,ijg od-Wffips.i called "Duck." Steanv comes to the aid of the fishers when pulling up the trawl ■ ' The engineer is an' important factor in modern fishing. For over, twelve days his engines ,worked: unceasingly on the Cyrano. As on? :man left, lor, rest another took his plape, and at his behest the engine throbbed, moving tons of steel and raising myriad fishes. In every direction you see improvement; Boy labor lias been reduced, and the apprenticeship system may ■ again befcome more! prevalent it will be ' under mucli better conditions tli«in in the old da vs. This knowledge will be ! gained at the Fishers' ■ Institute, where 'every form of handicraft- connected ;\\Mtk this industry is taught ainder the . education authority, guided by. a .committee of energetic practical men who give "their valuable time for the public weal, i The improved, life 011 board the [trawler may to some extent be traced 'in• t-lie improved feeding;- .arrangements. 'The-steward is now- a. 0,0.0k with .some, ■'knowledge.: f/i the difficult, art, .of cater-.. ing for" the men's wants. Yoik realise this as 'you Witness the -deck hand, ihiihgrv, • tired,' viewingv'the substantial, >ancl .varjexl, food that is pla.ced. before ;him. '"Cppipare t}ii,s, wij/h the, bad. pld: ' p a st when the food'was spoiled by an 'inexperienced .pook, and;tlie angry crew ; practically s'tarved at, their poster. I I was' [strjick by the ! sound and am-, ierring iudgm.ent .of ;th,e skipper in select|ing the sjDot'for a likely ;haul. Once his: -decision is arrived at, no time is lost [in getting to ■ work. . The call is g lv A e n to the engine-room to "slow down. All - hands are on deck, the doors of the net are loosed from position, lifted and lowered. . The are let dpwn, the net'to tunnel easily along : the bottom of the sea, the lead is pulled ■'up and the shout, "Seventy-two ifathoms" is heard, which guides . the ; skipper as to the length of trawl ropes 'required. The winch . merrily unwinds the warp attached to the net, and stops ;dcad at 275 fathoms. . . ; Now we are fishing. The towing ball lis fastened to the foremost, and the crew realise that the "watches which, on the way out were regular, are over. Now come the hours of continuous work with only a brief respite. In three hours the trawl will be drawn, and it the fishing is good, we shall remain about liefe: if the haul is poor, we shall -make for other, grounds. . . .. Near midnight orders are- given .to .light the deck, and the engineer holds iiimself in readiness to haul in, the trawl. The" mate emerges" from the cabin and the deck hands, one by one,! from the fo'castle. There is a; heavy ■swell on, and the vessel is shipping water; but the hauling has commenced, the grinding ropes are being wound ■round the drum of the winch, up-come the side doors of .the net with a deafening -noise, ropes which hold the not are •being unloosed, and" the winch draivs up the bobbins which act as the doorstep over 'which the fish have passed , linto the net. Now all hands are puil- ■ ;ing in the slack of the-net .over the bulwarks. Up goes the cry, "There she is, bo.vs." It is the cod end of the net rising to the surface. ? Suddenly the color of the, water changes, "as though an electric light him ■- struck athwart the .heaving waters,' which glisten like a silver sheen, xou strain your eyes, and see that the net has risen to the surface, and it are fish of all kinds, big and small;; 'struggling to be free. A rope, is passed.. " carefully. round the upper part- of the' "net. This is a dangerous task, but Ted, , the mate, is equal to it, and bends far pver the-, bulwark while a s .comrade grips. him tightly 'from behind. The rise and; ' fall of the vessel bring the. net level with the bulwark at one moment; ■ at the next, the net is 20ft. below. Ultimately the rope is made-fast, .the cry "Heave up!" " brings"the net aboard, ! and as the cod end is the fsh - fall into the pounds. ; "That's a goodcatch," comes the verdict,. and the: nien set to work preparing "for, speedy unloading when they vreturn-to. port. . : - . ■ No, there is nothing comparable witli an experience -of this sort. Live for. a spell with'these sterling fellows,\ shares their lot in every, sense, .watch the.draw;, ing up and the shooting of the net, ! sleep in the bunk on a. long straw shake,down, and"lee' 3 withJsthem in cabin. Thus you will realise the real and the aspirations which move these ■fishermen. ■ The slowness of speeph which is a. habit of the mariner is the result of his association with the sea, its constant change and ..unchanging.? grandeur, its, poods of storm and calm, the weird: voices borne over its bosom, the mournfulsong o£ the wind. iThe pictures in the' 'sky , 'pasrit'e'3 Te'tt'irig ; sun/, : the« ploucLs into which 'he weaves an imagi--1 nary panorama of lands of ice. and snow-capped mountains-, the boundless expanse which faces, him in whatever direction: his eye: wanders—these things, fisherman slow, "deliberate in speech J and action. But if-he ponders'over the magnificence of Nature he is. a strenuous worker; &nd-i.l<, ask the reader;''to remember, when he partakes of some delicate dish wrested from the caves, of ocean, to give a thought to ; the -brave fellows who have. labored in the still watches to secure' for him thatdainty:.'morsel. ' ■.. ■