TRAWLER'S QUEER HAUL,

Taihape Daily Times, 2 June 1919, Page 5

TRAWLER'S QUEER HAUL,

GRIMSBY FISHERMEN NET A ' TRACTION ENGINE, j

All that comes to the trawler man's net is not fish —particularly in war tim.9 says the Weekly Dispatch.'' Though; the east coast trawlermen know every inch of the North Sea, they regard the future with doubtful eye. for derelict! torpedoes and strayed mines still stud! the bottom of the sea. There are many less alarming things among their strange catches, however.

.'. a net full of fish were shot floundering into the trawler recently, for instance, there tumbled out of one of them a metal-bound chest which -was full of gold coin. No, the fortunes oi? the fishermen were not made; the find' went into the custody of the Custom;? authorities.

A crate of felt hats was another unexpected haul, which one crew made. Many fishermen secure a serviceable "rig out" from luggage lost from wrecked craft. A skipper was seen shaving himself the other day with a razor from a water-soiled, but hand-somely-fitted dressing case salved by the trawl. A lady's gold wristlet; watch was found recently in tb<3 "pouch'' of a cod, which must havesnatched the glittering morsel as it fell shimmering through the depths. Few- skippers expect to include a traction engine- in their catch, but early in the war a Gromsbw boat "eaught v one. A vessel with a deck cargo of agricultural machinery wad torpedoed, and not long afterwards a. trawder which w r aa working the ground got a heavy bag. When the steam winch hauled the catch into view it : was seen to be an agricultural tractor. It wms hopeless either to free the net, .of to "gaff" the strange fish, and the skipper, with a sigh, had to chop away his gear —£200 worth of nets and boards and warp.