Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1882-03-16
Re Chesapeake Oyster Trsubsls.

the Dredgsrs q shs Chesapeake man
ass % escape arrest and TO outwit tho
Police beat ! taksn from recAnl l.
sas q lhs PhiIadslphia Tsmes. That
paper mys
Mary boats havs strips 0f painted
canvas. which when sersad over their
slae nsake them look entirely differ
snt. Il il the cuskon fer honest trad
In boats whoae captains are n search
pf caxep az eyefers = eeFe ! cnunln
Df empty BASKETS IS k.I s 81 ss kaSs'
which signifies that they wish 20 buy.
The pirates take advanssgs OF this
and mounting . basket at the mast
head, steer TO forbidden bars aud be-
gin dredging. II tongmen with oys-
ters for sale approach the vessel they
soon see the dredgs At work and keep
at safe distance. The crews of the
navy were deceived By this ruse for q
long tina. THE Cookoo Fleet, : which
has been operating on the Eastern
Shore for weeks past. Is made up OF
seven or eight boats. whose names are
changed by ruttinga piece Of canvas
over the two last letters and prefxinR
the word '.ths' or the Christian name
Thomas to-the work Cook. Ii can
be easily imagined how by these
changes feet Of seven or eight vas-
sells can be 90 fxed that il Is utterly
impossible to identify any one unless
she and her crew are captured ut work,
which rarely occurs. A few days AGO
one Of the navy boats discovered two
canoes dredging on Tangier bar. As
the police boat approached the cane o.
put on all sail for the mouth Of the
Potomac river. With Q glass the Of.
6cers saw that the largest and appa-
rently the worst sailer had CooEoo
painted on her stern. To this boat
they gave chase. allowing the other to
escape down the bay. The wind stiff
ened and the canoe outsailed her pur-
suer. and to the astonishment Of the
crew Of the latter kept straight on for
the Potomac river. An hour or 80
later the Ccokcoo disappeared in q cove
that opened further up the river.
The slocp followed, and on going
through the chute the pursuers were
TO find that the Cookoo
had disappeared, but coming down
the river were two canoes, called
Thomas Cool" and The Ghost" Both
had their numbers up. snd to all APP
pearances were innocent vessels, Jour
neying to the dredging grounds on
the bay. The Cook was boarded, but
her papers were all right. and the mys-
tilted policemen returned to their
sloop. A day or 50 later they learned
from some tongmen that the Cookoo
had merely taken her false name of
her stern. pulled down the white can
vas that covered the registered num-
Der on her mainsail, went about and
came cody down 70 meet her pursu-
era John Yarnell. the captain Of the
Cookoo. Is one Of the most tricky mem
bers Of the piratical guild and although
he 10 often arrested, he il rarely found
guilty. The law makes it necessary
for every oyster vessel to have two
sets Of letters, twenty-five inches long.
corresponding wide and ak inches
apart. One set must be on the star
board side Of her mainsail and the 9TH
er on the port side Of her jib. The
pirates. however. cover up their num-
bers with pieces of clean sail 'cloth
and when q mile or so of are COM
pletsly disguised. Ofccurse they have
10 make the cut Of the vessels appear
different, but those changes are easily
made with canvas tackled on the bul-
wark.
THE sioops i'm the oyster navy are
far more effective than the steamer,
which can do nothing when there Is
ice on the bay: but fast sailers and
well handled a. the sloops are, the
canoes of the pirates will In strong
wind and heavy sea sail away from
their pursuers with the greatest case.
The canoes are built Of logs, and be-
ing very heavy and sharp at both
ends. and having great length of keel.
will stand mp under q full press Of
vail when all other bay craft are com
PEELED to 60 reefed.
"In Fishing bay on the Eastern
Shore there are many Of these canoes
that will carry six or seven hundred
bushels Of oysters. In light winds,
when they ara compelled 70 tack fire.
ths canoes do not act O. we'll a.
the sloops and are easily overhauIed.
IL u the opinion of all the most intel
ligent officers Of the navy that three
good steamtugs. well armed and
manned by crews Of ten men each,
would do more TO break mp the pi-
rates than the present feet Of sail
boats. Ia referring to this matter
Captain Sim Lawson, Of Kent Island,
who Is By the way. an oracle on oys-
ters said what in the world can
these heah police boats 'rOun hsah do
when it's BLOWN on the hay? Why,
sah, they mus haul in they hawns and
the canoes walksrightaway from EN-.
sah.,'
The captain was st dinner at the
City Hotel, in Annapolis. when he
gave this description % the ineficien-
cy Of the slOOps and he paused to re-
move the upper shall OF section Of
mince pie before containing. After
opening the pie much in the same way
ID which he would have Jet daylight
into Lynhaven hay oyster, he pro-
ceeded % swallow the meat. leaving
the douehy shells untouched. Thsn
be want On Now. thers'smy friend.
CAp.n Lem Mitchell, one Of the mos