The New York herald., 1869-07-04
TEE DRUM FISH.
Terrible Rayages Among the Key
port Oyster Beds.
Twenty ITillions of Summer Oysters
Destroyed.
LARGE SACRIFICE OF CAPITAL
SKETCH OF THE RAVAGING MONSTERS.


The beautiful little village OF Keyport, by the
Jersey shore, on the distant rim Of New York bay,
with Its shell-covered beach, its old homeseads hid
away among the foliage OF maple and cottonwood
trees, and its hardy, simple hearted population OF
fisherman has been recently visited with great
disaster as great to its people in It's industrial and
commercial results as the destruction of a cotton
mill to a factory village in New England. What the
army worm is to the cotton boil, the locust TO the
virgin corn and clover, so is the drum fish to the
young and succulent oyster. The latter in this in
stance has been the fearful and fatal visitor to the
waters Of the lower bay and the remorseless ravager
among the oyster beds Of Keyport Nearly 000 900
oysters have already been destroyed and over
$100,0 OF invested capital have at the same time
disappeared. This is no light blOwto community
depending almost wholly on the cultivation of the
bivaiye and employing over seventy sloops,
with an innumerable fleet Of small boats,
in carrying forward the enterprise. Those
who not engaged in fishing find
limited share of employment in various neighbor-
Ing brick yards or In factory where manu-
1actured on large scale Tor the purpose OF preserv
ing fruit and where the fruit itself is put up and ex
ported to many markets. Beyond this Keyport has
TO 1--we and thrive by oysters and clans. The roads
OF the village are whitened with bleached and broken
shells; the sidewalks are dotted with crustaceOus
eruptions; the sawdust on the floor Of the corner
grocery is mixed with the fine fragments OF the bi
valve; the wayfarer, passing by the village wen,
takes his libaOn OF spring water by the aid OF an
empty mollusk shell; the hotel table runs over
with u variety Of dishes contributed by the mex
haustible oyster; the contemplative man at the cor
ner, with the sunburnt face and the WIDE spreading
straw hat minus any trimming, has his deep
set eye fixed upon distant oyster bed, where
his fortune lies q few fathoms below the tide the
flavor of the village conversation is pronouncedly
clammy, and from every quarter comes distinguish
ing evidence Of the potential presence of the mighty
mOllusk.
EXTENT OF THE OYSTER BEDS.
Forty miles in circuit the oyster beds extend,
reaching from Staten Island one side to Sandy
Hook on the other. The ground is saked with TALL
strong switches that nod lazIly above the tide and
mark each planters property as accurately as
rail ience Very few outside oyster boats have any
ground LETT to them now The old professional
planters have monopolized almost all the ground
by process OF stalking as ingenious as it is prOfta
BILE. At this season the oysters spawn and spread
themselves away from their original resting
places. They spawn with marvellous fecundity,
and attach themselves 10 every conceivable thing at
the bottom. An Old bootleg, for instance glass
bottle or any other odd encumbrance on the bed Of
old ocean, has been known to become so covered by
Al
identification. The planters OF the initiated stripe
follow the spawn outside OF their original grounds,
and having discovered that there Is an immense
migration to the common grounds, where anybody
with palr OF tongs can help himself, they go to
work and bring from Norfolk, Va, or thereabOuts,
q small quantity OF oysters, which are turned out
on top Of where the spawn ies and then the ground
Is staKed and Claimed as the property OF the enter
prislng individual who invested In the Vrgnians.
Fortunes have been made in this way but 1t hardly
fair way of making them. The visitation OF the
drum fish, however win blight the blooming hopes
great source OF supply for years past OF the young
oysters planted in the lower bay In the spring Of the
year and made to furnish supply Tor the summer
~ well as for the all and winter OF the year. The
East river was formerly drawn upon Tor this pur-
pose but 1t was early discovered that there was little
gained in the transpantlng process and 1t was
gradually relnquished In favor of the product from
growth of which made 1t highly paying
speculation to go even as FAR down as
expense to bring the supplies up here About this
time eighteen years ago all the oysters. young and
Old, were destroyed bv a raid Of drum fish. Great,
OF course was the CONSERVATION In keyport: but 1Or
the thousands killed then there have been nearly
millions The recollection of that fearful inva-
sion haunted the memories OF the inhabitants for SIX
eight years after; but tme with Its usual effect.
finally wiped out the remembrance and the planters
were lulled into forgetfulness SO great that they
never dreamed Of q recurrence being possible II
was q phenomenon thought they, that Ike an
earthquake or stroke OF lightning may never visit
have proven.
DISCOVERY OF THE DRUM FISH.
Two weeks ago urum nSn was caught Dv a Key
port fisherman, who spirit OF curiosity proceeded
TO make an anatomical dissection OF the curious
creatures stomach for the enlightenment Of himself
and his neighbors The keen eye Of the fisherman
very quickly detected a quantity Of chewed up oYs-
Ter shells In the interior OF the fish, and
having caught him In the vicinity or the beds he
mentioned the significant result OF his analysis TO
few Of the leading planters They paid little or no
GO by U that
this was but vagrant specimen OF the genus Poga-
Mas C'rOnis on his travels through strange and
rnn a Iouf pduu
gentleman Of Staten Island took fancy to row a
boat from there across 10 Keyport-a toerably long
row for o warm day. On the journey he felt aston
ished to see the water for miles, as he believed,
covered with schools OF drum fish, the ma
Jorlty OF dark d9n color, but con-
them. SO numerous did they appear that the
blades OF his oars were impeded by their presence,
and he found little difficulty IN knocking a dozen
30 on the head and capturing them afterwards. On
his arrival at Keyport he communicated tne mtelli.
the village. He showed them the specimens In his
boat; he ripped open one OF the largest and ex-
posed over handful OF rragmentary oyster shells
calmly reposing within, and he concluded by de-
claring his belief that the oyster beds must be badly
used up, and that soft shell clans must be as rare
about Keyport as strawberries in the month Of No
vember.
The planters gradually opened their eyes as
WIDE as one Of their own oysters, and resolved
to see for themselves II drums were really beating
ABOUT their oyster beds Captain John Britton and
Mr.. Brown, two OF the heaviest oystermen OF Key
port-the former OF whom has $4,000
OF capital invested in the business, and the latter
nearly as much-went out IN their sloops Tor critical
investigation into the condition OF AFFAIRS. The tongs
were put down on the first bed they came to ana
bushel fun OF bivalves brought aboard, but every
single one was empty, was chewed or at the thin
end and its contents sucked down the voracious
throat of some prowllng drum fish, Twenty beds
were visited In succession, but nothing met the
astonshed eyes OF Brltton and Brown but broken
empty oyster shells. Some OF the ceds however, had
escaped so far-beds on which reposed a dark solld
mass Of tough old Virginia veterans that the drums
might have tried their moars on hut relnqushed for
the younger and softer kind In the immediate neigh
borhoOd. Mr. Brown, OF course, could not estimate
accurately the extent OF his loss but ne thinks II is
safe TO say the drums have dssipated $4,000 worth
OF his submarine property.
THE LOSS SUSTAINED.
Captain Britton makes higher estimate OF his
loss. Both men brought from Virginia last spring
twenty-six schooner loads OF oysters, ranging rom
$1,000 to So 900 per load. The aggregate OF this was
certainly an enormous investment In the simple
seed to speak, OF the oysters: but then this hap
pens To he the great supply source OF New YORK,