Second Shetland Truck System Report Part 396

16,989. Is it prosecuted chiefly for the fresh market?-Yes, princ.i.p.ally.

16,990. Is it carried on with the same boats which are used in the herring fishing?-No. I think they are generally a larger cla.s.s of boats-decked boats-that are used for that fishing. A number of the fishermen go in the same boats which they use in the herring fishing, but some of them have a cla.s.s of boats in which they go out to sea for two or three days, and these are decked and very comfortable.

16,991. Do you buy any of these fish for curing?-Not generally; but Mr. Methuen does at Anstruther and the other stations there.

He keeps an establishment at Anstruther.

16,992. Does he cure herrings only, or also cod and haddocks?- He buys cod and ling, and sends them away fresh, I think, and he buys a good number of haddocks and smokes them. Haddocks are what he buys princ.i.p.ally there.

16,993. How are these settled for?-I am not quite sure, but I think it is once a week.

16,994. There is no yearly settlement?-No.

16,995. Do you know any reason why a settlement once a week or at delivery should not be made in districts like Shetland or the Lewis, which you know better?-No. I think the fishermen prefer to get their money once a week, and the curers now like it as well too. They find less trouble with that system, and the fishermen are more independent and do not require advances as they did before.

16,996. Do you think that system of frequent payments has enabled the fishermen to do without advances to the same extent as they required them formerly?-I think so.

16,997. Would there be any practical difficulty in settling in that way in remote and thinly inhabited districts, such as Shetland and the Lewis, where the stations may be a long way from towns?- There would be a difficulty, to a certain extent. One great difficulty would be in getting cash daily, but they might perhaps get it weekly. I think, in the western islands, perhaps once a week might be adopted as a very good plan, if it could be managed, and they could arrange to get their money from Stornoway.

16,998. The man might get an order to receive the money due to him for his fish at the princ.i.p.al countinghouse of the merchant?- Yes. The general system adopted with Mr. Methuen's boats, and those of the other curers belonging to Wick, is, that they generally agree so many boats belonging to the Lewis, and so many belonging to Caithness, and they return to the Wick fishing after leaving the Lewis; then at the end of the Wick fishing they are settled with for both fishings.

16,999. Have you been in the habit of supplying boats to fishermen?-When I was at Stornoway for Mr. Methuen, I generally supplied them with nets and bark, and they got boats in some cases too.

17,000. What kind of boats were these?-They got the Caithness boats; but that is not so much the practice now. The fishermen seem to get them from the boat-builders now, and make their own arrangements for them.

17,001. Have you seen any of the Shetland boats?-Yes, I have seen them at Wick. I think they generally have four oars.

17,002. Have you seen any of the six-oared boats?-Yes. I think there are two or three cla.s.ses of them. They have a small boat, then a four-oared boat, and then the larger six-oared boat.

17,003. But they depend most on the six-oared boats now: have you any knowledge of the cost of such boats?-There are very few of the Shetland boats that come to Wick; but I have seen some of the Orkney boats there, which I believe are very similar, and I think a boat of that kind, with masts, sails, and oars complete, would cost about 50.

17,004. Were these boats half-decked?-There was no deck on them when I saw them. They were all open.

17,005. What was the size of them?-I would suppose about 24 feet keel.

17,006. However, you don't know much about the Shetland boats?-No; it is the Orkney boats that I have seen coming to Wick.

17,007. Do you purchase salt for curing your fish?-It is generally supplied from Liverpool.

17,008. What is the usual price that is paid for salt for curing?-It varies in price. Last year I think it would be about 12s. per ton in Liverpool.

17,009. Have you been able to get salt in Liverpool for curing as low as 7s. per ton?-No. I have never bought it, but I have an idea about what it costs. It is generally from 9s. to 11s.; I never heard of it being under 9s.

17,010. How do you take it up to the north?-By sailing vessels.

17,011. What is the freight?-We have paid 9s., and as low as 7s.

6d.; but about 8s. is the general thing to Burntisland. It is brought from Liverpool round by the north of Scotland and up the Firth.

17,012. Do you think 10s. would be about the freight to Shetland?-I would suppose so; but we generally get the freights cheaper to Burntisland than they would be there, as it is going to a loading port. Perhaps about 12s. would be a fair freight to Lerwick, because the vessel has to come away in ballast again.

17,013. What allowance would you make for wastage, if you were calculating the cost of curing?-About 21/2 per cent. is the usual thing; if there is more waste than that, then we charge the captain.

17,014. Have you ever made any estimate of the cost of curing a ton of cod or ling?-No; but I would suppose that in Shetland it would cost about 1 per ton to split them and cure them and dry them. There is a great deal of work connected with it.

Edinburgh, April 18, 1872, CATHERINE BROWN, examined.

17,015. Have you been a knitter of Shetland goods for a long time?-Yes, for about fifteen years.

17,016. Did you live in Lerwick at one time?-Yes.

17,017. Were you employed to knit a shawl for the Princess of Wales?-Yes; a cloth or burnous.

17,018. Have you an appointment as knitter to Her Royal Highness?-Yes.

17,019. I believe some of your shawls obtained high prizes at the London Exhibition of 1870?-Yes.

17,020. Are you now going to begin business in Edinburgh?-I think so.

17,021. Have your knitted for Mr. Robert Sinclair?-I have sold to him. I have always been in the habit of knitting with my own wool and selling my goods.

17,022. Have you never knitted with the merchants' wool at all?- No.

17,023. Have you seen Mr. Sinclair within the last ten days?-Yes.

17,024. Are you aware that he and some other merchants in Shetland desired that you should be examined before this Commission?-I know that he wished me to be examined.

17,025. I have been asked by Mr. Sinclair to put certain questions to you on the subject of your dealings with him. Do you know whether, as a usual thing, the merchants in Lerwick pay higher or lower prices for hosiery articles than you could get from private individuals?-They pay lower prices.

17,026. Is that taking the price in goods?-I never sold for goods, always for money.

17,027. Did you never do that from the very first?-I was in the habit of selling to private individuals then.

17,028. Did you never sell for goods at all?-When I wished goods, I exchanged my articles for them; but I got money whenever I wanted it.

17,029. How did you succeed in obtaining cash for [Page 438]

your hosiery whenever you wished?-The merchants always came to me and asked for the goods. I did not go to them.

17,030. But you were not always such a good knitter as you are now. Did you not go through any apprenticeship?-Not with the merchants.

17,031. Was the merchants' money price for the goods lower than the money price which you got from private individuals?-Yes. I always gave it to them a little lower, perhaps 1s. or 2s. or 3s. less on a shawl, than I asked from a private individual.

17,032. Did you sell your shawls for a lower price to the merchants in Lerwick than you sell them for to the merchants in Edinburgh?-No. I sell them at the same price to the merchants in Lerwick as to the merchants in Edinburgh.

17,033. Have you ever sold a shawl to a merchant in Edinburgh?- Yes.

17,034. Have you not got more for it from him than you would have got from a merchant in Lerwick?-That was some years ago.

17,035. Was Mr. White the merchant in Edinburgh to whom you sold?-Yes.

17,036. Do you know whether knitters in Lerwick, who depend entirely on knitting for their living, are able to get money for their work?-I do not know about any person but myself.