Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 59.djvu/561

Rh When the fishing boats begin to arrive, the wharves, which have practically been deserted, assume a very busy and animated appearance, and as the arrivals increase in number the bustle among the different classes of people becomes intense, although good nature and good order prevail. The foreign visitor here witnesses some exceedingly interesting and picturesque fishing scenes—thousands of fishermen in their coarse blouses and flat cloth caps, with trousers rolled up and their feet bare or in the huge wooden shoes of the country, unloading their fish and carrying them to the canneries; hundreds of women and girls in short dark skirts, white caps and collars, and wooden shoes, negotiating for sardines, receiving the fish from the fishermen, and dispatching them to the canneries; sardine boats, either rowed or sailed, entering the harbor in groups or singly and coming up to the already congested docks; fish wagons going to and from the factories, and a mixed crowd of merchants, sight-seers, artists and idlers. The commingled noise of waves, boats, wagons and tongues is underlain by the incessant rattle of wooden shoes on the stony pavements.

The prices received by the fishermen are regulated by the factory operators, and depend on the supply, the size and quality of the fish, the weather and other considerations. The fish of each boat are virtually sold at auction, only there is as a rule no counter bidding, the prices offered by one or two factories being adopted by the others and accepted by the fishermen. If a fisherman is not satisfied with the price offered by one factory, he is at liberty to seek a higher price elsewhere. Some boats always sell their catch to the same factory, and all of them, to a greater or less extent, deal with particular factories. The maximum price which factory operators can profitably pay for sardines is $5.00 per 1,000 fish. The dealers in fresh sardines can pay as much as $7.00 per 1,000. At times the demand for sardines to be sold fresh (au vert) tends to keep up the prices; but this use is limited and does not interfere greatly with the cannery demands.

Women usually represent the factories as purchasing agents. They are given considerable discretion by their employers and are very sharp in making bargains. Payments are not made in money, but in tokens or tickets which are redeemed weekly. As the fishermen deliver their fish, two baskets full at a time, to the agents of the canneries, they receive a metal tag or token with the name of the buyer on it. When all the fish are landed the metal pieces are counted and surrendered, and a claim check is issued in their place. At the end of each week the master or the owner of the boat (sometimes the same person) goes to the factory, receives the money due, and apportions the earnings of the crew.

The division of the proceeds of fishing is rather complicated. The boat, nets, equipment and bait usually belong to a nonfisherman (who