The Boy With the U. S. Fisheries

Boy With the U. S. Fisheries, by
Francis Rolt-Wheeler

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Title: The Boy With the U. S. Fisheries
Author: Francis Rolt-Wheeler
Release Date: April 8, 2007 [EBook #21008]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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[Illustration: STRIPPING COD AT SEA ON A WINTER MORNING.
Fisheries Bureau Spawn-taker aboard a trawler. Note the snow on the
rail, the frozen spray on the mast, and the ice on the rigging.

Courtesy of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries.]

U. S. SERVICE SERIES.
THE BOY WITH THE U. S. FISHERIES
BY
FRANCIS ROLT-WHEELER
With Fifty-one Illustrations, principally from Bureaus of the United
States Government
BOSTON LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.
Published, November, 1912
COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.
All rights reserved
THE BOY WITH THE U. S. FISHERIES
Norwood Press BERWICK AND SMITH CO. Norwood, Mass. U. S.
A.

To My Son Roger's Friend
COLIN McLACHLIN

PREFACE
Treasure-ships, bearing richer cargoes than any galleons that crossed
the Spanish Main, still sail over the ocean to-day, but we call them
fishing smacks; heroism equal to that of any of the pioneer navigators

of old still is found beneath oilskins and a sou'wester, but the heroes
give their lives to gain food for the world instead of knowledge; and the
thrilling quest of piercing the mysteries of life has no greater
fascination than when it seeks to probe the unfathomed depths of that
great mistress of mysteries--the Ocean. Just as to save life is greater
than to destroy it, so is the true savior of the seas the Fisheries craft, not
the battleship; so is the hatchery mightier than the fortress, the net or
the microscope a more powerful weapon for good than the torpedo or
the Nordenfeldt.
The Bureau of Fisheries for the United States Government, Mr. Chas.
Frederick Holder and his associates for the anglers of America, and the
sturdy and honorable class of commercial fishermen are raising to the
utmost of dignity and value one of the oldest and greatest of all
industries. Not till the waste of waters is tamed as has been the
wilderness of land will their work be done, and the Fisheries Bureau
must ever remain in the forefront of such endeavor. To reveal the
incalculable riches of this vast domain of rivers, lakes, and seas; to
show the devotion of those whose lives are spent amid its elemental
perils and to point out a way where courage, skill, and youth may find a
road to serve America and all the world beside, is the aim and purpose
of
THE AUTHOR.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE MAROONED BY A WHALE 1
CHAPTER II
THE FIGHT OF THE OLD BULL SEALS 39
CHAPTER III

ATTACKED BY JAPANESE POACHERS 75
CHAPTER IV
CATCHING THE SEA SERPENT 112
CHAPTER V
CLUTCHED BY A HORROR OF THE DEEP 152
CHAPTER VI
DEFEATED BY A SPOTTED MORAY 195
CHAPTER VII
HARPOONING A GIANT SEA VAMPIRE 234
CHAPTER VIII
FINDING A FORTUNE IN A PEARL 278
CHAPTER IX
A TUSSLE WITH THE MONARCH OF THE SEA 314
CHAPTER X
RUN DOWN DURING A SQUALL 359

ILLUSTRATIONS
Stripping Cod at Sea on a Winter Morning Frontispiece
Whale Harpoon Gun Loaded } FACING PAGE Finback Whale Being
Struck } 14

Finback Whale Sounding } Lancing Finback } 28 Pumping Carcass
with Air } Dead Finback Set Adrift }
Spearing Seals at Sea 46
Holluschickie Hauling Up } 64 Old Bull Seals Fighting }
Bull Fur Seal Charging } 78 Snapshotting an Old Beachmaster }
Haul of Herring at Gastineau Channel, Alaska 90
Typical Seal Rookery Half Abandoned 102
Native Salmon Trap } 116 Modern Salmon Trap }
Trout Fry. "Millions of These Hatched Yearly" 128
Hatcheries for Landlocked Salmon 138
Atlantic Salmon Leaping } 146 Pacific Salmon Leaping }
Sea-Serpent Caught by Colin } 154 Sea-Serpent Stranded }
Where the Big Tuna was Caught } 170 The Largest Sunfish }
Octopus Caught at Santa Catalina } 190 Squid Caught at Santa
Catalina }
Headquarters of Fisheries Bureau } 202 Largest Seine in World }
The Pool Where the Dog Was Devoured 224
Early Bird Passing the Aquarium 238
The Gorgeous Submarine World } 250 The Gardens of the Sea }
Young Sponge on Cement Disk } 264 Sheepswool Sponge }
Manta or Giant Sea-Devil 276

Winter on the Great Lakes }