Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1881-10-22
oYsrEaA

0Y1rEnS.
The months with the "f'' to them are
now upon us. and the season whom that
most delicious Of all bivalvss. the fresh
shell oyster. 10 at his best. Yet. durise
the four "off" months. the oyster still
finds plenty Of admirers. many people
eating them vhsnsvsr they can get them.
the year round. A prominent oyster
dealer in New York estimates that 9oo.-
900. 900 oysters are sold in that city
during May. June. July and August.
and !. 220. 600. 900 during January. Feb
ruary. March and April. At an average
wholesale price Of % per 1000 the value
Of the oysters sold In New York during
each year would DO sic. $50. ZOO. And
tbs demand for for oysters 10 increasing
In the Western States. dealers having
learned how to ship them In the shell
with safety for great distances during all
the ''r" months.
The oyster statistics Of San Francisco
have never been publishsd. bat u they
we're they would doubtless astonish most
anybody. for people on this coast are
fond Of oystsrs. Evsn during the months
without the '.r" the oyster stands Of
San Francisco are literally supplied and
a. literally patronizsd. and here on the
Constoek. In the hottsst Of the summer.
shell oysters. fresh from the Bay. sand
wiched between cakes Of Toe. greet the
eyes and salute the palatss Of numerous
admirers. Fresh oysters are not 70
cheap In Ban Francisco - they are In
New York. they not being a. natural or
indigenous to this coast a. they are to
the Atlantic shores OF Uncle Sans do.
minions. In fact the seed Of our best
oysters are brought in huge quantities
yearly BY rail direct from New York or
Baltimore. These transplanted oysters
are an improvement on the original
stock. being 6nsr favored. tender and
luscious. but they do not propagate.
They simply grow to maturity. fsttsn
and die. and the supply has to bs kept
up by fresh seed from the East. Per
hsps THAR greater cost makes them taste
all the better. bat nobody 10 fonder Of
the royal bivslvs, irssh evolved from his
native shsll. than your old Pacific
coaster. And he can generally shuck
them out pretty lively too when he has
the opportunity.
Speaking OF opening oysters. the
Philadelphia Record tells Of . young
man In that city named Beech. who. It
claims. 10 the champion systsr opener Of
the world. II says:
In 1875 he opened 500 oysters In
twenty-five minutes and six ssoonds-an
average Of three seconds for each oyster
opened. At another time he opened 100
In four minutes and thirty seconds. re-
quiring two and thrse.quarter seconds
to each oyster. Since be hss been at
Ridgway Park he has uncovered 100
oysters in four minutes. Beech 10 q
young man. quick in his movements and
rather wiry. When he takes up HE
knife the oysters fairly jump out Of
their shells. Beech makes no false mo-
tons in opening oysters. With one
blow Of the knife he cracks the shell,
then the point 10 inserted and the shell
dies Oh.
That's . pretty good story. but most
Of bur old oyster openers will sgrss that
Beech does make q 'falss motion" when
he makes . blow with the knife 10 crack
the she'll. Every well.resslatsd oyster
has . vulnerable point. . place apparent
10 the experienced eye. where the knife,
properly propelled. will slide right into
bis internal revenue department., and q
peculiar turn OF the wrist will detach
his upper shell a. easily n cracking
pins-nuts. We know . lady In Gold
Hill who could discount Beech at 1t. and
wsuld contract to bury him with shells
IL somebody would supply the oysters.
An to his fairly opening "a hundred In
four minutes," hs can tell that to the
salt water soldiers. She can open .
thousand In three mlnutss-with . little
hot water.