Evening Star Newspaper, April 14, 1929, Page 105

THE SUNDAY’STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, PRIL . 14, 1929 <4PART 7., Fishermen Prepare lets With Hope .of Successful Shad Year Potomac’s Commercial Pursuers of “Mystery Fish” Look to Scientists as Means of Assuring Big Runs in Successive Years — Figures Produced in Hauls of “Good Old Days” Kept in Memory—Wide Search Made for Natural Spawning Grounds. BUREAU OF FISHERIES SCIENTISTS STUDYING METHOD S OF INCREASING THE DIMINISHNG SHELL-FISH SUPPLY. APPARATUS DEVELOPED BY BUREAU OF FISHERIES FOR REMOVING INDIGESTIBLE OILS FROM FISH. BY C. MORAN, OWN the Potomac a thousand commercial fishermen are pre- paring their nets and other gear for what they hope will be another big shad year. Similar pr ations are being made at the new shad hatchery of the Burcau of Fish- eries at Fort Humphreys. Both groups want a big shad run, but for different reasons—the fishermen to cash in on their catch, the Federal fish experts to secure a big crop of eggs to be hatched at the Fort Humphrey plant, the baby fish later to be liberated in the numer- | ous streams that flow into the Potomac and thus to lay up a supply of shad sgainst another year. Veteran shad fishermen along the river, as they repair their nets and oil their tackle in readiness for the big run that will be under way about April 20, tell of the “good old days” when more than one million pounds of shad a sea- son were caught in the Potomac; of catches such as that in 1901, when a total of 2,979,233 pounds were taken. The biggest catch of all, however, was in 1922, when, according to statistics of the Bureau of Fisheries, the total | was 3,115,571 pounds of shad. For five fears after that the industry came upon ean days, until in 1928 the catch once more exceeded the million-pound figure. There is an excusable fiction about Potomac shad, as there is also about Penobscot River salmon, for that mat- ter, and about sdores of other kinds of fish designated by some locality, , which is that no matter where or when 3n these United States a person eats shad, it is always “Potomac River shad.” If all the shad thus designated actually came out of the Potomac, that river would be literally teeming with fish. The same is true of “Penobscot River salmon.” There was a time when the Potomac did teem with shad, and today the big- gest shad industry in the United States is in the Potomac, but the supply is not what it used to be. The dwindling sup- ply is the reason why the Bureau of Fisheries is doing its utmost to re- habilitate the industry by artificial means of propagation, and the new | hatchery established at Fort Humphreys is expected to go far toward producing that result. The hatchery is close to spawning grounds and at a place where there is 8 minimum of river pollution. * ok K ¥ JURING the height of the shad sea- son, which this year will run from about April 20 to May 10, from 18 to 20 men will be active at the hatchery gathering eggs from the boats of fisher- men in that vicinity, bringing the eggs into the laboratories where they will be placed in hatching jars and distributing the fry when the eggs are hatched in 6 to 12 days, depending upon the tem- perature of the water, among the vari- ous tributary streams. In the early days of the Potomac shad industry the supply of fish was so large that intensive catching methods did not need to be employed in order to take enough fish to satisfy consumer de- mands. Many fish reached spawning grounds where they propagated natu- rally. But as consumer demand in- creased greater competition developed in the industry, and the fishing methods used resulted in the capture of prac- tically all fish before reaching spawn- ing grounds. Fisheries Bureau officials realized that under these circumstances there would soon be no shad industry on the Potomac, and artificial methods of propagation were developed. Stimulated by the work of the Fish- erics Bureau on the Potomac, State officlals in & number of other places have been endeavoring to rehabilitate their shad industries or to establish such industries where formerly there had been none. In the Hudson River, for example, the shad catch prior to the year 1902 aggregated from 2,000,000 pounds to 4,500,000 pounds & season. Then as & result of over-fishing and water pollution the industry declined to catches of around 200,000 pounds, and in one year, 1916, was as low as 40,000 pounds. In recent years, how- ever, the New York State fisheries offi- cials have developed artificial propaga- tion methods and the catch two years ago was 358,000 pounds. Similar efforts are being made along the South Atlantic, notably in. Florida and the Carolinas, and success is be- ing achieved now in stocking the waters of the Pacific Coast with shad taken from Atlantic waters. Shad is reported to be one of the abundant fishes in California rivers, being most numerous in San Francisco Bay and its tribu- taries, where, contrary to its habits in Atlantic waters, it is found through- out the year. Shad is now found regu- larly in' the Columbia River as far upstream as the Cascades, about 150 miles above the mouth of the river. * ok % ALTHO\JGH shad eggs were arti- ficially taken and fertilized as early as 1848, little is known of the habits and movements of the fish when out of the rivers. The shad assumes: the aspect of a “mystery fish,” in that the ocean areas to which it resorts are unknown, and what its salt-water food consists of has not been determined. In the Gulf of Malne it is known to associate in large numbers with mack- erel and herring during the months of June, September and October, being most numerous in June. It has been taken at North Truro, Mass, in the Fall, when the ocean temperature was from 43 to 49 degrees; in the month of November it has been found on the west side of Sakonnet River, Rhode Island; in May and June it has been captured with mackerél a few miles northeast of Cape Cod Light. Some instances of capture indicate that under certain conditions the adults may remain in the fresh water rivers a whole year. Shad have been taken in Chesapeake Bay in November. The fish has been found in the Potomac occasionally, in limited numbers, in August and September, and even dur- ing the last week in December. Its movements apparently are largely con- trolled by the water temperature. It is believed that the fish seeks to occupy an area having a temperature of 60 or 70 degrees, and that its tions are determined by the shifting of this area. d “The erection of impassable dams along rivers and streams,” declares Glen C. Leach, fish culturist at the Bureau of Fisherles, “was probably the first thing to curtail the natural spawning grounds of shad and to check their natural increase. As shad enter the rivers only for the purpose .of spawn- ing, the fisheries are necessarily prose- cuted during the spawning season and often upon the favorite spawning grounds. The increase of population ' has created a larger demand for the fish, and an increased intensity in the fishing has resulted. The number of shad that reach fresh water has there- fore been greatly curtailed by sssiduous fishing with all kinds of contrivances in the estuaries and in the mouths and lower parts of rivers. “From spawning until their retum | to the rivers shad eggs and fry are preyed upon by other fish, so that the majority of the young do not survive their few months’ sojourn in fresh water, and of those that leave the rivers each season a very small percentage reaches maturity to deposit its eggs and contribute to the perpetuation of the specles. In the rivers, striped bass, white perch, black bass, and other predacious fishes devour the young, and when they reach salt water, sharks, horse mackerel, kingfish, and others undoubtedly destroy many adults. It has been observed by North Carolina porpoise fishermen that as the shad swim close along the shore the porpolses follow and feed on them until they pass into fresh water. L 1 BY JOHN CLAGETT PROCTOR. O my mind tomorrow marks the I most historic day _connected with the District of Columbia— the one hundred and thirty- eighth anniversary of the laying of the corner stone at Jones Point, which occurred on April 15, 1791. At the time it is probable this was not con- sidered an especially great event, but if you will but pause to consider its unique character, you will no doubt look upon it today as a most impressive occurrence. True, the placing of boundary stones s no doubt a very ancient custor, but this was not & boundary stone—it was, to every intent and purpose, & corner stone, and was so masonically _con- + sidered and so masonically laid. It was not the corner stone of some important building or monument, but it was far ater. It was the corner stone of a ‘ederal District in which was to be ced the Capital City of & new Nation, onceived in liberty,” as Lincoln puts it, “and dedicated to the propod't‘ion that all men are created equal.” It will be recalled that the so-called residence act was approved by Wash- ington on July ‘16, 1790, and by the following twenty-fourth day of January, 1791, the President had sufficiently de- cided upon the territory to be taken “In the Middle Atlantic States the the cool weather of Fall comes; then they begin to drop downstream, and by the last of November have passed out into the oceans or bays and are lost sight of until they come back, three or ‘mur years later, full grown and ready | to spawn. They leave the Potomac | when the water falls to about 40 de- grees, by which time they are about ¢hree inches long. “They have been observed in great abundance about Bryans Point, on the Potomac, feeding and jumping out of the water about sunset. They keep within the open streak of water be- tween the shores and the aquatic vege- tation that covers the flats, in waler 2 to 5 feet deep. After mild Winters young shad have been found in the Potomac, in April, 30 miles above brackish water and 160 miles from the ocean, in company with young alewives. “Some immature shad, apparently 2 years old, are caught each year in seines operated in the fresh water of the Po- tomac, and undersized shad are fre- quently caught in the New England ‘rivers/ where tidal waters extend only 2 short distance.” * k k% EVERY river on the Atlantic Coast from Massachusetts southward has been examined by the agents of some State commission or the United States. or by both, to determine the natural spawning grounds of the shad. On pearly every stream hatcheries have been operated at one time or another, young fish remain in the rivers until | sufficient numbers so to justify eontin- i ued operations. As early as 1880 it was | discovered that the Potomac River, im- | mediately adfacent to Fort Washingtol |12 miles below Washington, is more productive of ripe shad eggs than any other place of equal area. A hatchery with full equipment was erected at this | point, but the station was moved later | to Bryant Point, on the Maryland side | of the river, opposite Mount Vernon. | In some years as many as 80,000,000 | eggs have been gathered on the Poto- | mac, the “take” fluctuating each season between that figure and a minimum of | 9,000,000 eggs. It has been learned that | when temperatures are high the fish | tend to leave the main channels and scatter over the shallow-water areas of the bay, where they are more easily taken by the traps, thus reducing the numbers that ultimately reach spawn- ing areas. If temperatures are low, the | fish tend to follow the deeper channels, | and thus a larger number reaches the | spawning areas and the take of eggs is | correspondingly increased. The shad fishery of the Potomac River has had, in addition to the benefits of artificial propagation, some protection from the excessive to which other areas have been subjected, by the enforce- ment of regulatory measures of the War Department maintaining lanes unob- | structed by fishing apparatus for pur- | poses of navigation. In value, Mr. Leach says, shad is the most important fish of the rivers of the Atlantic Coast and, next to the Pacific n, | but usually eggs were not obtained in | salmon, is the most important an- | adromous spectes of North America. Among the fishes of economic value in | the United States only the salmon and | cod exceeded shad in vajue for many years, and, considering all brgnches of the fishing industry, only the whale | fishery and oyster fishery, in addition to those mentioned, have been financially | more important than that of the shad. Discussing the general fishery situa- | tion, Commissioner Henry O’Malley of | the Bureau of Fisheries declares that | “the commercial fisheries of the United | States apparently are in a stronger eco- | nomic condition than those of any other | large fish-producing country in -the | world today. The enlivening of the public con- science to the need for proper hus- | bandry of our fisheries resources is the most heartening feature of the present ‘fishtfles situation. Greater interest in | outdoor recreational pursuits and the | development of strong organizations | that are sponsoring the conservation of | wild life have enlisted the active sup- | port of hundreds of thousands of our | people in insuring the perpetuity of our fishery resources, as a result of which Federal and State agencies are ex- panding their facilities for handling | and distributing fish and eggs for stock- ing streams in an effort to maintain the fish supply. As a consequence of this expension in hatching and rearing | facilities many more fish are reared to a length of 3 or 4 inches before being released in natural streams and ponds.” of District Corner Stone Remembered on Anniversary ing any chances of having his plans upset after having once decided upon the particular location of the seat of Government. 8o, in about two weeks from the time the agreement had been reached with the landowners, the cere- monies connected with the placing of the initial storie occurred. Indeed, :g- parently, in so big a hurry were the commissioners in officially laying down the four boundary lines of the District that a temporary stone was used upon } the occasion of laying the stone at Jones Point, and it was not until June, three years later, that the permanent stone as we see it today was put in position. < The exercises connected with the lay- ing of the corner stone were conducted under the auspices of Lodge, No. 22, P. A. & A. M, of Alexandria, chartered under the grand jurisdiction of Virginia, April 28, 1788, and of which Gen. Washington became the first worshipful es to issue his notable proclamation, which in part sets forth: “Now, therefore, in pursuance of the powers to me confided, and after duly examining and weighing the advan- tages and disadvantages of the several situations within the limits aforesaid, I do hereby declare and make known that the location of one part of the said District of 10 miles shall be found by running four lines of experi- ment in the following manner, that is to say: Running from the courthouse @f Alexandria, in Virginia, due south- wes) half a mile, and thence a due southeast course till it shall strike Hunting Creek, to fix the beginning of the said four lines of experiment. “Then beginning the first of the sald four lines of experiment at the point on Hunting Creek where the said south- east course shall have struck the same and running the said first line due northwest 10 miles; thence the second into Maryland, due northeast 10 miles; thence the third line due southeast 10 miles, and thence the fourth line due pouthwest 10 miles, to the beginning bn Hunting Creek. &And the said four lines of experi- master, and the President of the United States on April 30, 1789—] two days short of & calendar year the first date. This Xk now known as Alexandria-Was] and thousands o visit its lodgeroom to see the Masonic relics connected with the life of the first President. Some folks do not look upon the number “13” and the week day “Fri- day” with favor and.avoid both when possible, feeling that they are associated with 1l luck or failure, or both. How- ever, our fathers were not s0 supersti tious, as indicated by the fact that the; were willing to start the Nation with lssuwmdemmgymeor- ner stone of its national tes on a the da; which the uj jed to fall. ‘which to ceremony, the first being the laying of the corner stone of Alexandria | who ‘There is not an abundance of liter- ature extant regarding the laying of the District’s corner stone, and just what sort of a day it was can be as- sumed. . Eviden! * and of Alexandria and a large number of “citizens and strangers. Arriving at the point, Rev.. James Muir, D. D,, chaplain of the lodge, de- livered an address. A thoughtful writer ha 0 be present contributed to a Philadelphia p:&fl' the following mfzrlz.stm. though brief account of the even! da, Al 21, 1791. ‘On ¢ 16th - instant, Hon. Daniel - Carroll .and. Hon. David Steuart arrived in this town to super- intend the of the first corner Event of Real Importance to City and Nation Took Place April 15, 1791 — First President and Alexandria Lodge of Masons Associated With Historic Event—Voteless Citizens of an Earlier Day Quoted. andria, end that the boat would soon | followed by the rest of the fraternity, in their usual form of procession. “Lastly. The citizens, two by two. “When, Mr. Elliott had ascertained the precise point from:which the first line of the District was to proceed, the master of the lodge and . Steuart, assisted by "others of their brethren, the stone: After which a deposit and ofl was upon Aaron’s garment; it is more refreshing than the dews on Hermon’s hill. “‘May this ‘stone long commemorate the goodness of God in those uncom- mon events which have given America a name among nations. Under this stone .may jealousy and selfishness be forever buried. From this stone may & superstructure arise, whose glory, whose magnificence, whose stability, unequal- led hitherto, shall astonish the world and invite even the savage of the wil- derness to take shelter under its roof.’ “The k of some. re- returned :&r:he place from whence they came, Wl a number of toasts.were drunk; and the following was délivered by the master of the (Dr. Dick), and was re- ceived with every token ‘of approba- “Brethren and gentlemen: May jealousy, that “green-eyed monster,” be buried deep. £ g 3 ‘Hodgson, John erbert, Robert San- lam Hunter, sr.; Edward Har- per, William .Hunter, jr.; ner and Michael Gretter. 5 * K K K ACK in 1855 the Government deemed it advisable to erect at Jones Point at the mouth of Great Hunting Cregk, on the west bank of the Potomac, a lighthouse, for the protec- tion of navigation and in doing so found it necessary to inclose the corner stone in the seawall surrounding the structure placed there 64 years be- fore, and in this way it was obscured from view for many years. About 20 ! years ago it was located and enough of the wall removed so that it might be visible at all times, and & few years sub- sequent to this it was protected with a! iron grating g:aeed there by local mem- bers of the Daughters of American Revolution. To ever so many W “mature” , Jones Point , Charles Tur- ians hi be at the Washington wharf, where we would all run pell-mell for the long line of bobtail street cars held there for our especial benefit, for the purpose of conveying us to our respective sec- tions of the city, which we generally reached without mishap, uniess the car happened to Jun:g the track, which was not an unusual thing then for a Wash- ington bobtail car to do. After the corner stone was laid 40 other stones were placed in position along the boundary lines of the District at approximately one mile apart, and a 40-foot lane was cleared of tree ob- structions on. all four sides of the sur- veyed territory—20 feet inside and 20 feet outside the line. As all the stones on the Virginia line were dated “1791" it is evident that they were placed dur- ing that year, and as the Maryland stones are reported to bear date of the following year, the conclusion is reach- ed that they were not placed in position until 1792. When the condition of land, at the point where the particular able for the purpose, perhaps being marshy, or even—as it happened in one or two cases—covered with water, the stone was either placed forward or backward and the difference noted. * ok kX (AROUND 1906 Fred E. Woodward, brother to the late S. W. Wood- ward, did considerable voluntary work measuring the corner stones of the Dis- trict and checking up on the data re- garding these old relics. It was the writer's pleasure & day or two ;sn to renew his acquaintance with Mr. Wood- ward at his home in Takoms Park, and, incidentally, to talk over the discrep- ancles that senuemn found when he “re-surveyed” the boundary lines the District. and it also seems to be about this time that he read a the subject before the Col Society. Mr. Woodward’s own statement: “It. will s to know that the National Government, often called the “Ten Miles Square,’ is not at pres- ent, and ;lula not, evan mehouhet. actly 107 square. Accurate meas- mh mndefix %.the Ul'l‘illedmflhtu Coast, Survey, definitely the po- sition of the original boundary stones, show that while the District was ap- proximately a rectangle whose four muwmxonflumleuth,lcmg‘o: stone should be placed, was not suit- { urprise many the District of Columbia, the seat of | B! | tween the successive stones vary con- siderably from exact miles, and in no single instance can a milestone be found placed at exactly a distance of one mile from its neighbor. The nearest ap- proach to an exact mile is between Nos. 1 and 2 on the southwest line, near Benning, and between Nos. 7 and 8 on the northwest line, near Chevy Chase Circle, each of which measures 5279 feet, or one foot short of a mile. “These errors in measurement amount to as much as 40 feet over a mile iu one instance and to 138 feet short in another of the various intervals, and these discrepancies apply tg thcse spaces which are supposed to be exuct miles and not to certain spaces which were intended to be either more or less than a mile, and are so marked. “It is still further discovered that | many of the stones are out of nt and that the original lines limi! the territory are not at the proper es. For instance, the southeastern £, which was intended to bear north 45 degrees east, or true northeast, is ac- tually north 45 degrees 1 minute &5.§ seconds, or nearly two minutes out of the way, while the southwestern ling, which was intended to bear 45 degrees west, or true northwest, is actually north 44 degrees 59 minutes 24.8 sec- onds west, or nearly one-half minute out of the way; LRI As you are no doubt aware, the in- dependent City of Alexandria and Arlington County, Va., was until 1846 (3 of the District of Columbia. Prior to the retrocession, which eccur- | red during that year, ail that part of the District lying south of the Potomac was known as Alexandria County, D. C. At that time the City of Alexandria and the county as well, had just as much franchise as we have today. True, they had their own separate mayor, but the National Government controlled their finances and to an extent dic- tated just what they could do and what they could not do. Alexandria was a port of entry prior to being merged into the: District. It a very old town, originating as Hunting Creek Warehouse, and ing its name to Bell Haven even before becoming Alexandria. 1t had enjoyed many privileges which were taken away from it when: it be- came a part of the District. Indeed, few of the golden eggs it was promised were ever laid, and if laid, 0 its belief, went to that part of the trict of Columbla north of the Potomac. urdened with a debt nearly reaching million dollars, on the brink of bank- apwy. w!mx “lfg: frequent aj to ngress for rel ldflf e~ 8 was .:“EE ‘;imnh. and’ Con- der the circumstances, a very good argument in favor of again join- Vi However, some of the 1t then said not only lied at the time to the rest of the but, indeed, still a) to_citizens who are