Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1879-12-20
SEARCHING FOR sPONGEs.
How the sponge is found and Gath.
cred In Tropical Waters
around Key West.
FLORIDA Cor. Farmer and Fruit Grove

FLORIDA Cor. Farmer and Fruit Grower.l
l remember using sponges in my
schooi-boy days withouta thought OF
whence they came, how obtained, or
their previous condition. Although :
little, the sponges which we may find
exposed for sale in drug stores and
other places, look unlike animals, yet
by our naturslists, they have been
classed with the lowest order Of the
animal species.
The sponge may be found in the
various subtropical waters of the
world. The principal sponging
grounds Of the United States are the
waters around Key West and along
the western coast of Florida, from
Tampa bay on the south to Pensacola
on the northeast. The sponge schoou-
ers have two places to clean their
sponges when coast sponging-One at
AnclOte Keys, the other at Rock
Island.
OF the sponge we have several var
| feties. classed according to their mar
ketable value as s'sheep wool" !" "yel-t
low," ''foX glove" 'grass," ETC., be!
sides one class, the ''loggerhead,2 y
which has no value, and is not thought :
worth picking up. The first named
is the variety mostly sought as it
| bears the best market price. The
most of the vessels engaged III the
| sponge trade are owned and fitted out
at Key West. The outfit of sponge
schooner consists of number of long
| poles with hooks fastened on the end
for gathering and from three to seven
email boats called "dingies," from
seven to fifteen men-according to
the number of bOats-with provisions
for from eight to twelve weeks wa
ter-glasses, etc.
Having curiosity to sec actual
sponge-gathering, last Monday moru-
ing found me aboard the schooner
"Samfiler," spinning toward the bars;
but owing to light winds during the
day We did not arrive till after night
fall. Tuesday morning, however,
sponging commenced i'll earnest.
Shortly after sunrise the "dingies,"
manned by two men each, with water
glasses, sponge-hooks, ETC., set off in
quest of sponges. One Of the men in
the ''dlngy" sculls the boat about here
and there, while the other, lying
across the boats thwart with his
head in the water-glass, scans the
bottom for spoDges. The water-glass
used by the spongers is nothing but
a common deep wooden pail, with q
circular pane of glass for bottom.
Placing this upright in the water, and
putting the head i'll far enough to ex-
clude most of the light, one can east
ly see all object OH the bottom in six
or seven iathoms of water. The
spoDger, when he sees sponge, by
the waving of his hand directs the
sculler how to go, and when i'll de-
sirable position he thrusts his long
pole down and hooks his sponge. ~
The vessels usually remain out up-
on the bars from Monday until FRI
day evening of each week, coming
iuto the Keys Friday night in order
to clean the sponges which they have
: gathered the week previous, put those
gathered the present week into the
crawls, put their wood and water on
board ,and prepare for the next week.
The sponges which they gather one
week are put III crawls or pens, made
!, by driving posts i'll the sand, where,
at low wnter, they will be quite or
almost dry. Here they are left until
the next Saturday, to be- washed by
the tides. On the following Saturday
they are cleansed by striking them
one or two light blows with a pad.
die. When the sponges are cleansed,
they are taken aboard the schooner.