-ciLi@ the labor of haullng the heavily-laden nets out of the icy wator.-

The river yielded generous harvests, but the financial returns were sometimes disappointing. On the rivers and bays of the Province, hundreds of smelt nets were in operation. The local market could absorb but a small fraction of the production; hence, the bulk of the catch had to be exported -- chiefly to Boston. And, Since refrigerator cars were not available, it had to be shi ppéd by regular freight -- slow, and often subject to unscheduled delays. The fish were frozen and carefully packed in ice, but an extra day or two on the road, or a sudden rise in temperature, usually resulted in a spoiled shipment. In Such an event, the shipper received nothing; he also lost the freight charges which he had been obliged to prepay. Walter Shaw relates an inatance in which he not only received nothing for his smelts but also had to pay a bill in the amount

of six dollars!

Such i111 luck, however, failed to discourage the regulars who, on the average, came out of the winter's efforts with a reasonable profit. Although there is still some smelt-fishing on the river in the form of a winter sport, as a commercial venture it has long gone the way of a host of other small enterprises that flourished in bygone days, but which now -~

more's the pity -- exist only as wistful memories.

KREARCEREERE A