Pot luck of the lobster
QUESTION Were lobsters once so common they were considered a pest?
The european lobster Homarus gammarus is one of nature’s most valuable resources for fishermen. But they were once so common that eating them was considered a mark of poverty.
During the summer in Suffolk, they were so abundant in the shallow waters that fishermen could gather them by hand, dip net and spear, or they were gaffed with a hook attached to a pole near shore. They were so plentiful that, in the 18th century, they were used as fish bait and fertiliser. Their American cousin, Homarus
americanus, was so abundant that lobsters were used as prison food. In Maine, New england, there are records of servants demanding contracts restricting the number of times they could be served lobster each week.
Lobster fishing on a commercial scale began around 1840 when fishermen began using lobster pots. These were made of wooden laths and cotton or manila cord heads, tarred and strung to form a funnel, which was attached to an entrance ring made of spruce. But the change from hoop nets to pots meant so many lobsters were captured that supply began to exceed demand and stocks declined.
In an effort to ensure a continuous supply, protective measures were passed, including licensing fishermen, returning to the sea egg-bearing females, closing fishing areas during particular seasons, limiting the size of lobsters caught and implementing hatchery programmes.
Dr Ian Smith, Cambridge.
QUESTION In the early Seventies, I was in an old Government building that had lifts powered by water pressure. The operator pulled on a rope inside the lift to move it or brake. Does anyone know anything of this system?
hyDrAuLIc power, using water compressed by a steam engine to work machinery, had been developed by Lord Armstrong (1810-1900) to control cranes in Woolwich in the 1850s. This required the presence of a hydraulic accumulator, a pressure storage reservoir, which could be built on large construction sites, but was unsuitable for smaller projects.
In 1869, a young engineer called edward Bayzand ellington (1845-1914) formed a partnership with Bryan Johnson of chester. The company, Johnson and ellington, began specialising in hydraulic machinery.
Largely through the efforts of ellington, an Act of Parliament was passed for the distribution of water at high pressure for the working of goods and lifts in large towns. In 1872, he set up the hull hydraulic Power company, a test bed that showed the practicality of the idea on a large scale.
In 1882, ellington helped form the General hydraulic Power company. Subsidiary companies were formed to supply London (LhP), Liverpool (1889), Manchester (1894) and Glasgow (1895).
In London, the company built a pumping station near Blackfriars Bridge, with pipes providing power to cranes and factories in the docks.
By the 1890s, the network had expanded to pumping stations at Wapping, Pimlico, city road and east India Dock, with more than 180 miles of pipes. Another, at rotherhithe, was the headquarters.
They powered theatre curtains, clocks and a turntable on the stage at the royal Opera house. hydraulic lifts meant that buildings could be taller, while hydraulic printing presses meant newspapers and books became more affordable. Lifts were developed in partnership with Waygood Ltd. Pulling on one rope would allow water into the hydraulic, making the lift go up, and the other rope would release the water into the drain making the lift go down. The ropes did not move with the lift, so you had to keep moving your hands to keep hold of the rope. The company continued to expand through World War I, but competition from electricity and the issue of burst pipes saw a decline in fortunes. The Blitz destroyed large segments of the LhP’s network, but it limped on until 1977 when cable & Wireless bought its subterranean routes. The most visible evidence are valve covers in pavements marked LhP, which can be found all over London. Jonathan Miles, Grays, Essex.
QUESTION What is the origin of ‘winkle bag’, Canadian forces slang for a cigarette during World War II?
World War II introduced a great deal of Army slang, though it was not so picturesque nor as extensive as it was in World War I.
The most universal expression for ‘fed up’ was ‘browned off’. One stage further than ‘browned off’ is ‘well baked’.
‘rompers’ was the Army word for battledress. A truck, car or lorry was a ‘bug’ — short for buggy. ‘On the peg’ meant under charge for misdemeanour, and a ‘regatta’ was the cleaning and scrubbing of barrack rooms.
‘Do-re-mi’ was money, derived from dough. ‘Going on the itunt’ was going on manoeuvres.
An ‘old bull’ was a bluff to conceal ignorance, and the ‘gin palace’ is a big wireless truck. An RAF pilot called his cockpit the ‘pulpit’ or the ‘office’.
‘Driving the train’ was leading two squadrons into battle. A ‘near miss’ meant bombs dropped near enough the target to cause damage. The instrument releasing the bombs, an electrical distributor, is called a ‘Mickey Mouse.’
‘Winkle-bag’ was rhyming slang for ‘fag’ and single cigarettes were sometimes known as winkles. The term’s origin is uncertain, but it seems to have been popular among all Allied forces.
R. Schofield, Crawley, W. Sussex.
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