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kettles and skimmed the oil from the kettle; then there was only about one-half of the oil saved. Since then the business has increased until now an enormous business is carried on.

54. New York.

55. Phosphated for the Southern States.

56. Used as a lubricating oil and by leather manufacturers; also for paint.

57. Price in 1873 was about 45 cents a gallon; from 75 cents to $1.10 in previous years.

58. No; not by any mode that has been practiced.

52. Statement of Joseph Whaley, Point Judith Light, Point Judith, R. I., December 28, 1874.

Mr. BAIRD :

SIR: I have received a circular in regard to the fish known in this vicinity as menhaden. I will answer all questions I can. I did not receive any blank, so I put it on this.

1. Menhaden.

2. More plentiful than any other kind.

3. I think I saw more pass here last June than any time since 1862. 4. Five hundred barrels.

5. I do not think that it does, as they are as plenty now as ten years ago.

6. The first fish are seen about the 20th of May; the main body get along about the middle of June. They pass here to the east from the 20th of May to the 1st of July.

7. They, as a general thing, near the top of the water, and make a ripple or a slick. They do not attract birds, as they do not drive up any small bait or other fish.

8. From the south and bound north and east.

9. Very regular sometimes; if the weather is cold and easterly winds prevail it puts them back ten to fifteen days.

10. I do not think it does.

11. They go or move with the tide, or the way the tide is setting. 12. Rivers and bays.

13. Sometimes high, and sometimes about half way to the bottom. I think they prefer water from 10 to 20 feet deep.

14. They leave here when the water gets too cold.

15. I do not think they do. I cannot tell the young from the old, as they get their growth in a year. I have seen them shut up for nine months; they have then nearly their length.

16. They are seen in large quantities in November; they are about 2 inches long.

17. They begin to leave in October, and continue to the 15th of December by degrees.

18. Southwest.

19. Some place where the water is warmer than it is here.

21. In rivers and bays.

28. They are, in river and bay, and all along shore.

29. Yes; they suffer most from bluefish and striped bass when they are young. I do not know to what extent.

34. Purse-seines and gill-nets.

35. The length varies from 200 to 300 yards; the depth from 20 to Go feet.

36. Sail and steamers.

58. I do not think that it does.

I will here state that there is a great many fish taken near this point, but as there is no harbor near they are carried away to market. This is a passing point for most all kinds of fish to pass from the south to the north, from the east to the west.

53. Statement of A. G. Wolf, Absecom Light, Atlantic City, N. J., March 6, 1874.

1. Mossbunker.

2. More numerous than any other fish.

3. No difference.

4. Two hundred and fifteen barrels by Adams & Co. About same last year.

5. No.

6. In April; main body in July. No. Yes. Depending on tide. 7. Very high; fins out of water; come in a solid body, as deep as you can see in the water. They make a ripple and can be seen on calm days for half a mile. Attract birds, such as fish-hawks and sea-gulls.

8. Come from the south; shift into and out of iulets with the tide.

9. Have never failed to come in regularly.

10. Has no effect.

11. Drift with the tide.

12. No favorite feeding grounds.

13. Swim high, and are seen in both shoal and deep water.

14. No.

15. Come in all sizes; cannot tell their age.

16. In the fall you can see millions of little fish not over two inches long.

17. Leave by degrees, beginning in September.

18 Go south.

19. South.

20. Can't tell; they take no bait.

21. Up in the bays and inlets in spring.

24. Seem to prefer warm water, for they go up the bays as far as possible.

26. Settle and become attached to shells and stones.

28. Yes; in fresh-water creeks.

29. Yes.

30. Bluefish catch the fish. Parents do not eat the spawn.

31. Bug or fish-louse on outside; a worm is attached to the outside and bores into them, and sometimes a bug is found in the roof of the month.

32. Suffer from all fish; bluefish are their worst enemy.

33. Not here.

34. Gill and purse nets.

35. One hundred to three hundred fathoms long, 12 feet deep.

36. Boats from four to five tons for gill-nets; schooners, sloops, and

one steamer of from ten to twenty tons for purse-nets.

37. Eleven men to a net.

38. All day, if good weather.

39. No.

40. East wind affects them.

41. Ten vessels; forty men.

42. Tried out near Little and Great Egg Harbors.

43. None in the neighborhood.

44. Two hundred and fifteen barrels.

45. Not known.

46. Five thousand dollars in one factory.

47. One dollar and twenty-five cents per thousand fish.

48. Four gallons of oil per thousand fish.

49. Forty gallons.

50. Least in August.

51. Greatest in November, eleven gallons per thousand.

52. Northern fish yield most.

54. New York City.

55. The South.

56. For tanning and adulterating paint-oils.

$7. Forty-five cents per gallon.

58. Does not seem to diminish them.

Questions were answered by Messrs. Bowen, Strickland, and Conover, of Atlantic City, and Capt. John D. Sanders, of Leedsville, N. J.

54. Statement of Albert Morris, Somers Point, N. J., January 12, 1875.

1. Mossbunker.

2. There are a thousand times as many.

3. No.

4. 7,200; 1874, 12,000.

5. Think not.

6. About 1st of May. The main body arrive about 20th June. There are sometimes three or four runs a week.

7. High, so that they can be seen.

8. Mostly follow the coast.

9. It always has been regular.

10. It does not, for sometimes they are caught in 2 feet of water. 11. Go with the tide.

12. From the beach to about five or six miles from shore, and sometimes more.

13. From 1 to 10 fathoms.

14. It does.

15. They do both.

16. They are in great abundance, and are from 3 to 5 inches in length. 17. About the middle of September, but the eastern run comes along about the last of October.

18. They follow the coast.

19. From Chesapeake Bay to Cape Hatteras.

20. A very small substance, scarcely seen by the naked eye when the sun shines.

21. Along the coast.

28. They are, along the coast.

29. They are.

31. Crabs are found in the gills.

32. To quite an extent.

33. Yes; in October, 1873, they floated ashore by tons.

34. Purse-nets.

35. Two hundred fathoms long, 500 meshes deep.

36. Sloops of about 20 tons.

37. Seven.

38. All day.

39. Most of our fishing is done out at sea, where the tide does not make any difference.

40. It does, especially easterly winds.

41. Three vessels; 9 men.

42. For manure (guano); part is used in the vicinity, and part shipped to Wilmington and Philadelphia.

43. Somers Point Oil Works, John D. Sanders, J. S. Adams, and

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50. One quart; in the summer, July and August.

51. Four gallons, in October and November.

52. They do.

54. New York.

55. Wilmington.

56. Painting.

57. Forty to 50 cents per gallon.

58. I think not.

55. Statement of D. E. Foster, Cape May Light-House, N. J., February 15,

1. Bony fish.

1875.

2. They are more numerous than any other fish visiting our coast. 6. They come from the south; the first arrival is about April; these fish are larger but not so fat as those which come about July.

7. They generally swim in schools near the surface.

17. They leave about November, heading to the north.

30. They are preyed upon by sharks, porpoises, fish-hawks, &c.

33. I have not known of any disease to prevail among the fish here. 42. They are used mostly for manure.

here.

There is no oil manufactured

56. Statement of A. A. Owens, Philadelphia, Pa., March 31, 1875.

1. Oldwives and mossbunkers.

3. Cannot perceive either way.

4. None.

5. No; there are very few captured.

6. They are first seen in June and July. The last are the largest.

7. They swim high and make a ripple.

8. From the northeast in large schools.

9. They seldom fail.

10. I think not.

11. They come in on the flood and pass out on the ebb tide.

12. Along the coast and in the inlets.

13. They generally prefer deep water.

14. They become somewhat torpid when sudden cold weather comes.

15. Sometimes both together.

16. There are no very small ones seen.

17. They leave by degrees in the fall.

18. Northward and eastward.

22. They seem to mix indiscriminately in schools.

29. I think not.

30. The bluefish is their greatest enemy.

32. They are destroyed in great numbers by fish on the coast.

33. Very seldom in this vicinity.

34. Pocket nets and seines.

43. None.

51. Greatest in the fall.

54. New York and Philadelphia.

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