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1st. I myself have been engaged in the fisheries as master, as owner of vessels, and as a wholesale producer of, and dealer in, fish for a period of more than forty years. I am familiar with the mackerel fishery and know the average stock of a mackerel fishing schooner under an experienced captain and a good crew with a first-class outfit. During all these years the schooner Col. Jonas H. French had been owned by me and had been engaged in the mackerel fishery under command of Captain Harris for at least five years previous to 1887, and during that time her gross stock varied each year between $10,000 and $20,000. At the time of this seizure mackerel were plentiful in the immediate vicinity of the schooner, and there is every reason to believe that the said schooner could have secured a full fare of fish within a few days. The said schooner was fully fitted out with barrels, salt, first-class seining gear, an experienced captain and crew, and to the best of my judgment could have secured about 500 barrels of fish at this time, which could have been sold at a price of $14 to $20 per barrel. In fact, however, the entire gross stock of said schooner for the mackerel fishery for the year 1887 was less than $1,000, and not enough to pay the expenses of outfit, making the season's work a total loss.

2d. I base my estimate also upon the fact that there were engaged in the mackerel fishery that year and in this vicinity the following fishing schooners of which I have memory, namely: the Schooners Alice C. Jordan, Crittenden, Vesta, Edith Rowe, Thetis, Mayflower, Ralph Hodgdon, S. F. Maker, Harry G. French, Isaac A. Chapman, Gatherer, Edward E. Webster, John W. Bray, Henry Dennis, Senator Morgan. To the best of my recollection, the smallest catch of any one of these schooners at the time at which this seizure was made was about 300 barrels, and varied from that up to exceeding 500 barrels for the largest catch. To the best of my recollection, the smallest stock for any one of

these schooners for this season was about $7,000, and the largest stock at least $25,000.

3d. I further say that to the best of my recollection and information the total receipts of mackerel at the port of Gloucester during the month of August alone in the year 1887, was 7,990 barrels, and the price per barrel varied, as shown by the market reports at that time, from $10.50 up to $28.00 per barrel. From my experience in the mackerel fishery, I know that the average stock of a first-class mackrel catcher with an able captain and crew, in the period of years around 1887, did not usually fall below $7,000 per year even in a poor year, and frequently reached the sum of

$15,000 or $20,000 per year, and had been known on many

occasions to rise higher than $30,000 per year.

4th. The pursuit of said schooner by the Canadian authorities was widely known among all fishermen, and it was fully believed that the Canadian authorities proposed to seize said schooner wherever she could be found in Canadian waters. As a result of all this it became impossible to secure a crew for said schooner for a period of more than six weeks after her return to said Gloucester, and her fishing operations during the balance of the season were a complete failure.

My loss from said seizure is as follows: Loss of property seized, $1,555.75; loss on trip broken up in July 1887. $6.500; loss during balance of season. $14,000; making a total loss of $22,055.75. In addition, interest is claimed on said amount from the time said losses occurred.

JOHN CHISHOLM.

GLOUCESTER, MASS., February 10, 1913.

Subscribed and sworn to before me,

[SEAL.]

FREDERICK H. TARR.

Notary Public.

EXHIBIT 11.

License Certificate of Col. Jonas H. French.

UNITED STATES CUSTOMS SERVICE,

PORT OF GLOUCESTER, MASS.,

December 28, 1912.

I certify that the records of this office show that the American Schooner Col. Jonas H. French, official number 125,708, was duly licensed for the fisheries for one year from March 28, 1887.

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To all people to whom these presents shall come, Greeting:

Know ye, that at a special District Court of the United States holden at Boston, within and for the Massachusetts District, on the twentieth day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, John Chisholm of Gloucester in said District, fisherman, born in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, having produced the evidence, and taken and subscribed the oath, required by law. was admitted to become a citizen of the United States, according to the acts of Congress, in such case made and provided.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of said Court at Boston aforesaid, this twen

tieth day of April, A. D. 1869, and in the ninety-third year of the Independence of the United States of America.

[SEAL.]

(Signed)

S. C. SPRAGUE,

Clerk of the United States District Court
for the District of Massachusetts.

I hereby certify that the above is a true copy of the original certificate of naturalization in the possession of John Chisholm and this day exhibited to me by him.

FREDERICK H. TARR,

Notary Public.

EXHIBIT 13.

Memorial of John Chisholm.

This memorial respectfully represents that on the 24th day of July last, the Schooner Col. Jonas H. French of Gloucester, owned by the undersigned, cast her seine around a school of mackerel over four miles distant from the shore of Prince Edward Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, that after securing the mackerel in the seine, the Captain left the seine and boat in charge of two men, took another boat and seine and went in search of another school of mackerel. The men in charge of the seine finding the tide setting them toward the shore, endeavored to recover their seine and return to their vessel; while doing so they were captured, together with the boat and seine, by a boat from the Canadian Cutter Critic. The captain of my vessel on returning on board endeavored to find his boat and seine the wind being very moderate and there being some sixty or more sail of seiners in the immediate vicinity with their boats out, it was some time before he ascertained the fact that his boat, seine and men had been captured or seized, and being without the means of taking a fare of mackerel, his best

boat and largest seine having been taken, he was obliged to abandon his voyage and return home.

I claim that there was no violation of the provisions of the Treaty of 1818 by the Schooner Col. Jonas H. French, or her Captain or by any of her crew and respectfully submit the accompanying documents as evidence of the facts in the case and also call attention to the affidavit of Capt. Staples filed in case of Schooner Argonaut by James G. Tarr & Brother as applicable as evidence in case of my vessel. I also depose and say on oath that I was in the schooner Harry G. French of said Gloucester, as owner and master, and in my seine boat passed and spoke Col. French's boat just after she had set her seine around the school of mackerel. I judge the French's boat and seine were at least four miles off. The Cutter Critic was plainly seen by us about two or three miles off. I advised Captain Harris to leave and go for another school with the other seine, which he did. I rowed along and met Captain Parris of Schooner B. F. Butler, and finding fish, before casting our seines, although we were satisfied in our own judgment that we were nearer four than three miles from land, to avoid the possibility of trouble, a dory was sent to the Cutter to ask if we were not far enough off to set our seines. The reply came, "Don't set." Other vessels within a few hundred yards of us, on the same line from the shore, did set and took their mackerel aboard without hindrance from the Cutter. Had an American armed vessel been near we should have set our seine, and would do it every time when the same distance from land, knowing that then we should have protection of our rights, as I know we were outside of the three mile limit. As indemnity for losses to me as owner of the schooner Col. Jonas H. French and to the crew of said schooner for the unwarranted seizure of her boat, seines and men and the breaking up of her voyage and the loss of a probable fare of fish by reason thereof, from the British Government the sum of sixty-five hundred dollars

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