, 1873-07-13
GR0TTO-DAY AND OYSTERS.
a Holiday Among tho Urchins Of
London,
How Madonna by Murillo Was Brought
to Light.

The urchins Of London have two traditional
holidays Guy Fawkes' day and Grotto-Day.
About tho former, which occurs on Tho 9Th OF
November, n1nny accounts have boon writson;
about tho lRttor have soen mono. / will thore-
foro ondoayor to supply tho dctlclonoy.
On tho 1st day Of August, no eooner aoos one
walk ont in tho morning, In whatever direction,
than ono's onrs are salutod With tho cry,
"pleaao to remember tho 0rottol" You turn
no corner, cross no square, alight from no cab,
but aomo unwhshpd wa!f iB enporing ut your
hoel8t olutching an oyator-shell lko a acallop In
bis dirty fingers, aud crying with whining voice,
plaaAo to romamhor tho drottot" All boydom
is IN conspiracy to wleedlo you ont OF your
ooppbra. AND 30 1t gooB on all through tho day,
behind md boforo on right hand and loft, that
pitooua cry for la.gesae, "ploasc to romombor
tho Grotto."
Tho grotto, II you turn to 500 It, IL no Bho1tax
In some outrageous nook ovorhung by moss
clad rocks, but rudo shrine Of four and twonty
oystor-ehalls, at which tho girls ait and beg,
whilo tho boys arc trooping aftor generous way
farers. But whom night comes, tho 1udo loap
Erowe into nkonoaB Of Bome church or castle,
BONO gront manBion Or Swiss cottage, aud,
lighted by links or candles within, thcy dot tho
London streets with weird sort Of beauty.
The custom Gomez from Yory remote timos,
and the Grotto-Day waR observed in London
ages botoro the gunpow<er plot was thought OF.
st. james, patron saint Of Spain, founded Ais pri-
cipal shrine at CompoHtilla, which, during tho
middle ages, became tho fnvorite resort Of Eng
linh pilgrims. As q proof TINT tho pilgrimage
had boon performed, each weary wanderor ro-
sorted to tho adjacent soa-shoro In pursuit Of
scallop-hhol1. This, worn in tho cap, Indicated
not US is usually supposed that the deyotee had
visited tho Holy Land, but that he had knolt bo-
fore the shrine Of the good St. Jamea Of Com
poRti}}n. Nov, In old timeB in London, oysters
came In, or wore supposed to be catabie,
on St: 5amaa' Jay. autl there o1ists Curl
/ over cats oyatera on St. Jamoa' day shall noyor
want money" st. James day occurs on the 23d
OF July, and, duo allowance being made for tho
| o1evon days difforoneo between tho old and new
coiucden with the 1Bt of August, when oysters
now como in. Putting these facts together. one
eaBily Boes how in course Of time II camo about
tina! tho holy scallol-shen Of st. james and tho
associated and how temples OF oyster shells
came to be built conjointly in honor Of both
| aaint and soaBon.
All over provincial England oysters are not
living in the country, as With ua everywhere in
| tho United States, the old couplet settleB the
| gastronomic Law:
In months which have no Il,
From oysters keep afar.
But for some unexplained reason, tho Lon
| doner, dsregarding orthographicnl authority,
| chooses to commence oystor.oating in August.
and June Oh both sides Of the Atlantic, aud dur
| ing that important period their organization is
| thoir flesh becomes unwholosome. For two
months after spawning limo tho flesh is unpal-
Rtab}o. 30 that tho old notion is founded On cor
| rect observation.
| The oyster reproducos when it il throo years
| old. The number OF Its young is supposed to
Yary from 100000 to 3,oo0,0oo each oyater.
| ThSsa. at first mora mist, when two weeks old
attain tho aize q mustard-seed, and when three
months old have gio11 to tho slzo Of peas.
They continue growing for moro than two ydais.
In oygter culture e srrast Ind u; &afts:ins sp"! ls
hurdles OF brush, lines Of posts. and b,1ndles Of
| {aggots, are reHOrte1 to,
Tho exhaustion OF tho ogstot,beds of England
and Franco had become SO groat q fow yoars ago
| tho boda had boon 30 ovcrdrelgod that
thoro was not, paying one from Bayonne
along tho whole Biscay, coast. II. .coste,
under aoyernment authority, visited tho famous
| bathing, luxurious Italians for centnrios built
their villas. In the noighboring Luorino Lake,
that princely oystorman, eergius orata, inaugu-
ana syss 81
| soomB almost incapable OF improvement. Fol-
| lowing this modo in Franco, tho old oystor-beds
| in the Bay Of ST. Brieno woro ronowed by laying
down about 1000, 600 OF mature oysters, sinking
faggota, md constructing parallel banks. In
less than eix months the old shells on tho beds,
the fsggots, and tho stakea wese covered with
minute oyBt0rs.
The same plan, with like Buccoss, has bsen
| purauel on tho Island OF REQ, on Jersey, aud in
various other placos in franco, Ireland, and
England, 30 that the question Of probable az
! lauHtlon OF tho oyster beds OF these countries
no longer proeon!s iteolf: Tho Commissioners
gate this subject show clearly in their report
that oyster raising il within every mans ability
who can command portion Of shore on salt
! water.
rfed on to sono extent, has noyor been forced
| forward by neceBaity. To be sure, some OF the
Long Island Sound bods hare been exhausted,
hut when 1t is romemberod that thore is nj
1,Gss,ooo acres containing ut least 400, 1000 600
buBhola Of molluBcs, and that this s not ouo-
twontieth OF what must bo tho total produce OF
! all our states bordering on the Atlantic and
doubts On tho subject Of future oyster supply.
OF the comparative flavor Of European and
| American oyaters thora will always probably be
d difference Of opinion. Wo charge the former
Me 0sns sn to yhi Eossmsn is
| tort TINT to mako away with large American
| oyster is liko swallowing a baby. That the
ric81 feeding grounds Of tho fhames estuary,
| whore tho shells become thin, translucent, aud
within Of pear1y ridesconco, la, despite what ia
termed coppeIy tasto, tho very prince Of
biyalvea no ono who Inns onoe got rid Of his
To bs convinced Of what oyster culture ia ca
pablo Of accomplishing, one needa but to visit
| the grand old town Of Rochelle and 800 tue
| a small boat, deftly padded by skilled hands.
takes tho visitor out to largo massos Of rock.
Leaning ovor the taarail, and dipoanning thedept1s