The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1883-10-19
A Big Oyster Story.

| ELBOWS that for an ister?' said the
skipper of an oysterman, pointing to ar
/ enormous shell that lay on the deck
at amt not only big SHE'LL" he con
tinued, ''but it's got powerful bic
yarn that goes with it,
The shell was certainly four feet
long. large enough to serve as bath.
tub for a small boy, and must have
weighed over two hundred and fifty
pounds, as the reporter could not move
it with one hand. 1t was one of the
largest bivalves known, the trldacna
gigas, more properly allied to the clans,
but passing as very respectable oyster.
Eyes, SIR" continued the skipper,
who was shocking oysters, smoking,
talking and humming a tune at the
same time, that lister was fetched from
the East Indies by an old mate of mine,
and happenin' to run foul of me he
says, says he: Bob, you're in the istei
biz and oughter have the boss lister,
kinder sample yer goods like Sc
what does he do but send this ere bal.
last aboard. There was two of 'em.
one got washed away in a gale of wind
off Pint Lookout, down the Chesapeake.
but the two of 'em weighed over five
hundred pounds, and ellis, he what
fetched 'em, said he eat the lister along
o. the hull port watch of the ship
about twenty, reckon-and there wa:
half of that lister left. The crittel
weighed close on to forty pounds, al.
solid meat. Ye wouldn't open many OF
'em in an hour.
1.-The yarn? Wall, as | was sayin',
ellis was one o. these speculatin
chaps, always lOokin' for the mair
chance. swappin' knives, clothes, any
thin to make a cent, and cute as they
make 'em; so when the ship struck the
Eoss ATTITUDES Gil was always on the
lookout for curiosities, shells and such,
for to fetch home and sell. So. when
the ship struck the Straits o. Sunda and
KEN to, off he goes with couple o.
niggers what came aboard to GIT coral
and things. Wall, they was wadin'
along, as Gil said, haulin' the canoe
after 'em and pickin' up chunks OF
coral and conchs and such, and all tc
once Gil see what looked like flower,
all pink and yellow, and not KNOWN
"htI ~ NaS' up Hc Soto anu give IL
kick with his foot. The next minute he
felt somethin' close over his foot like a
wise, and was gripped as if he'd took
root, and lookin' down he see his foot
nipped in one of these ere shells. Pull
and haul every waXs he would he
couldn't move, and they couldn't get at
the critter, as it was buried in the coral
and the tide on the food; it rises about
six feet in that country. Wall, they
thumped the critter with the oars and
hauled away for awhile, all to no
puppus, and Gurus enough, Gil had left
his knife aboard, and the only thing to
do was to 90 for it. So off one of the
coons started for the bark, and she a
lynn two miles away. The other chap
stood by Gil in case he gev out; and
there they was, the tide a risin' every
minute, but in about three-quarters OF
an hour the ships cutter came along.
The boys gev Gil a cheer that kind o
braced him up, and the skipper had sent
his grog. Overheard jumps the mate
with one o. these ere spades they use in
whalin', and in about minute the crit
ter was all cut up and Gil was yanked
aboard; but I'll be logged if the water
wasn't most up to his chin. The next
day they went at low tide and got out
the critters shell; and that's the yarn,
and there's the SHE'LL said the skipper,
in Observation-Disclosures Times.