Even before the lobster fishery had been taken up to any extent, the
coast of Maine was visited by well-smacks from Connecticut and New
York, most of which had been engaged in the transportation of live
fish before engaging in the carrying of lobsters. These vessels
sometimes carried pots, and caught their own lobsters; but as this
method was not very convenient, the people living along the coast
took up the fishery, and sold the lobsters to the smackmen. About
1860 the canneries began to absorb a considerable part of the catch,
and they employed vessels to ply along the coast and buy lobsters.
As these vessels would only be out a few days at a time, wells were
not necessary, and the lobsters were packed in the hold. In the
summer great numbers of them were killed by the heat in the hold.
After 1885 the canneries rapidly dropped out of the business, the last
one closing in 1895. In 1853 there were but 6 smacks, 4 of them from
New London, Conn. In 1880 there were 58, of which 21 were dry smacks,
while in 1898 there were 76, of which 17 were steamers and launches
and 59 sailing vessels. These were all well-smacks. A few sailing
smacks also engaged in other fishery pursuits during the dull summer
months. In 1879 a steamer which had no well was used to run lobsters
to the cannery at Castine. The first steamer fitted with a well to
engage in the business was the _Grace Morgan_, owned by Mr. F. W.
Collins, a lobster dealer of Rockland, who describes the steamer as
follows:
The steam and well smack _Grace Morgan_ was built in 1890, by
Robert Palmer & Son, of Noank, Conn. At that time she was a dry
boat, but the following year, 1891, the Palmers built a small well
in her as an experiment, but I am of the opinion that it did not
prove very satisfactory or profitable; consequently they offered
her for sale and wrote to me in relation to buying her. I went
to Noank and looked her over and came to the conclusion that by
enlarging the well and making other needed changes she could
be made not only a good boat to carry lobsters alive, but also
to do it profitably; consequently I bought her and brought
her to Rockland, had the well enlarged on ideas of my own, and
differently constructed, so as to give it better circulation of
water, and also made other needed improvements throughout the boat
to adapt her especially for carrying lobsters alive. The changes I
made in her proved so successful in keeping lobsters alive, while
it increased the capacity for carrying, that I have since adapted
the same principles on all my boats. The well I had put into the
_Grace Morgan_ is what is termed a "box well," that is, without
any well deck. The well is built from the sides of the steamer
directly to the hatch on the main deck, with bulkheads forward and
aft and tops running directly to the deck. . . . You will see at
once that this well has many advantages over the old style with
flat well decks, like those of sailing vessels: (1) It affords a
much larger carrying capacity in same space of vessel. (2) The
priming-out pieces are much higher up on sides of vessel, giving
more room for boring hull, which affords much better circulation
of water in well, which is a great advantage in keeping lobsters
alive while on long trips. (3) Every lobster can be easily bailed
out of the well without grounding the vessel, which is necessary
with all vessels having the old-style well. (4) In all steam
and well smacks the after part of the ship is always steadiest,
consequently the well being located aft, as in my smacks, the
lobsters contained in them are not subjected to the hard pounding
while running in seaway that they are in the old-style wells,
where there is no chance to relieve themselves other than to be
forced against the well decks by the upward force of the water
when the vessel settles into the sea, and which results in killing
many of them.
Both of my steamers have box wells aft, and from my experience,
compared with all other steam and well smacks afloat, I am
convinced that this well, for all practical purposes, is the best
that has yet been adapted to steam smacks. So far as the _Grace
Morgan_ is concerned, she has been a perfect success in carrying
her lobsters in all kinds of weather since I put her into
commission October 27, 1892, during which time she has had a
wonderful career, as well as carrying millions of lobsters.
Probably no boat of her size has ever had such an experience,
as she has run steadily the year around in all kinds of weather
during the past eight years. . . . Previous to buying the _Grace
Morgan_ I had run steamers in the lobster business, but they had
no well, and being so hot in their holds, particularly in the
summer months, the lobsters died so fast that the business in dry
steamers could not be made profitable. This is what prompted me to
construct a well in mine, as I have done.
The _Grace Morgan_ has a length of 49 feet, a breadth of 13.9 feet,
and a depth of 5.7 feet, a gross tonnage of 21 tons, and a net
tonnage of 10 tons.
The steam smacks now used average about 14 tons. They are usually
built low in the water, and have a small pilot-house forward, with an
open space between it and the engine-house, and living quarters aft.
The boat has also one or two short masts. Some of them also have the
pilot-house and engine-house joined together. In those with a space
between the pilot-house and engine-house the well is usually placed in
this open space. Where the pilot-house and engine-house are together
the well is either located forward or aft. These wells are generally
capable of bolding from 3,000 to 10,000 live lobsters. Small holes in
the bottom of the well keep it filled with fresh sea water. Should the
weather be clear the proportion of dead and injured lobsters will be
small, but in bad weather many are apt to be killed by the pitching
and rolling to which they are subjected.
These smacks make regular trips up and down the coast, landing their
cargoes either at Rockland, Portland, or at one of the lobster pounds
scattered along the coast. They not only stop at the villages, but
also drop anchor off the little camps of the lobstermen, and should
the smacks of two rival dealers arrive at a place simultaneously,
which frequently happens, the bidding between the captains for the
fishermen's catch gladdens the latter's heart and greatly enriches his
pocketbook. Most of the captains have regular places of call where
they know the fishermen are holding their lobsters for them, and they
follow a rude sort of schedule, which will not often vary more than
a day or two. The lobsters are bought of the fishermen by count,
and cash is paid for them. Should the smack belong to a dealer this
practically ends the financial side of the transaction so far as the
captain is concerned, as the crew are paid wages. Should the smack
belong to a person other than the dealer, which is frequently the
case, he either makes an agreement with some dealer to run for him
exclusively at a certain price or commission, or else buys from the
fishermen and then sells at either Rockland or Portland. This method
of buying lobsters is somewhat hazardous, as the market price
sometimes changes sharply when the smack is out of reach of
telegraphic communication.