The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-03-27

| oysters are SOld AT a good many places III
Portland-sometimes down in cellars But
they are not sold so much in cellars as they
used to be when was a boy, because when the
war sent everything up oysters rose too, and
now they can be bought on the first floor and
all the first-families eat them-with little
something for a relish. You can generally tell
where to buy oysters; there's most always big
| sign over the door, and inside there are lots of
| little signs which announce that oysters are
sold at wholesale and retail,-and that they are
got up in every STYLE That's the way dealers
make 'em go down. They used to hang red
lanterns over their doors at night; but since
railroads have been invented and red lights are
used as signals of danger the oyster men have
taken their lanterns down. The only danger
in eating oysters now is that you may not have
money enough to pay for them after you get
through eating. / got caught myself that way
the other day.
went out in search of useful knowledge and
stepped into shop not far from Old City Hall
and mildly suggested that I would like to in
spect dozen of the mans best, and he opened
the subject with alacrity; and we conversed
asked him where the creatures were raised, and
~-S sONNe
Bay, near Norfolk, were the birth-places of the
mollusks. Fine. ones are gathered near the
mouth of the Potomac, he said, and they bring
good prices and are favorites 1 asked him
where else they got them. Oh! said he, we get
them along the shores of Long Island Sound.
How many different kinds are there? 1 asked.
Well, said he. There are the Norfolks, the New
York oysters, Princes Bay, Blue Points and
Providence river. These are the kinds we sell
most of. In New York they sell the Shrews-
burys-a very nice variety-and other fancy
sorts, but we do not sell many of them here.
1 asked him what was regarded as the
choicest in market, and he said
peoples tastes differed. Some regarded the
Providence Rivers the best, but for his part he
enjoyed the Blue Points as well as anything.
Now I'd got his shell opened little kept
tucking the questions into him while ate.
Said he, when was a boy 500 bushels was con-
sidered years supply for the Portland mar
ket; now we use not less than 10000 bushels,
and frequently more. Quite a number of ves-
sells are owned by oystermen in Portland, which
run regularly between this port and the oyster
grounds in winter and 60 fishing or coasting in
summer The business has been profitable this
season, and The vessels have paid fair dividends.
Sixteen cargOes have already been landed and
six or eight more are expected The cargOes that
arrive latest in the season are bedded for sum-
mer use; the vessels are hauled to an out-of-the-
way place, where the flats are bare at low
water, and the bivalves are thrown overheard
SO as to spread as evenly as possible on the
bottom. Every day boats are sent to the beds
on the ebb of the morning tide, a load is rak d
up, and when the tide comes again the boats
are foated off. The oysters do not propagate
in our waters, but they get fat I asked him
about the country trade and he told me that
Portland was supplying large part of the
State of Maine with oysters. Formerly Boston
got all this business, but every year Portland is
drawing more and more of this trade About
forty "gallon-openers" are employed by the
trade of Portland, and not far from
persons-including the crews of |
the vessels-get livelihood from the whole |
sale oyster business in this city.
looked over the pile of debris in front of me,
and asked the gentlemanly proprietor to figure
up the damage had done. He handed me the
score on bit of single, and the figures were
IN enormous exhibition of the one-man power
over mollusks. / intimated that would call
round next payday and wipe out the figures if
ne would allow me, and in the meantime hand
I'd him a copy of my new and pathetic song en-
titled
Shells of Ocean.
have promised, moreover, to go round and
drink glass of ale with that public-spirited in
dividual before the new law goes into operation
just to keep fresh in recollection lows that |
we've tasted. Yours No.