Sea Dogs

When a group of priests in Boston were served what looked like frankfurters on a recent Friday, there were instant protests: "We can't eat meat today." Then the surprised priests were told to go ahead and eat them; the frankfurters were actually made of tuna fish. After other similar test runs on unsuspecting diners, "Friday Franks" were put on the market this week by Gloucester's famed old (89 years) Davis Bros, canning company.

Davis Bros.' hustling President John F. O'Hara, 36, hopes to cut into the Friday fish market, which he helps to supply, simply because this year he ran into a shortage of mackerel, normally 70% of the fish he cans. Fishermen were pulling in plenty of tuna along the East Coast, but that was not much help: it was the dark, oilier tuna (horse mackerel to fishermen), and could not compete with the West Coast's white tuna.

O'Hara soon found a way out. He heard that Boston's Packers' Laboratory, a research company, had developed frankfurters made from tuna, and he made a deal to market them. He is now producing 1,000,000 franks a day and has sold his entire output for the present to a chain of grocery stores. The franks come only in cans as Davis has not yet worked out a way to preserve their flavor in the bulk. The price: 59-c- a 12-oz. can.

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