Daily Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1876-1884, 1883-03-18
A North Carolina Venice.


Correspondence Of tho Atlanta constitutional
suppose Morehead City is the only
city in the world without wheel in it..
l do not think there is a wagon or bug
Ky horse In the town, and very few in the
country. Everything is done in boats
There is not house in the county that a
boat cannot get within mile Of. Not a
doctor or lawyer In the county who owns
q horse-they practice in boats. The
people 10 to funerals in boats, and when
they arrest man they carry him to Jail
in q boat
The main export of the town best les
truck is fish, but the fish caught here
embraces everything from a whale to a
shrimp. Last year two or three whales
were taken off this coast, and a whale is
worth from 81, 200 to $1,000. II is said
that they get between the shore and the
gulf stream, and in trying to beat out to
sea are sickened by the warm water.
They turn in shore again, and soon
strand themselves. Along the bays and
quantities in nets But this wholesale
fishing is neither picturesque nor inter
esting. A pretty sport is practiced along
the shore in spearing founders. A
smallsrow boat is put adriit. A man
with a fiamheau walks along up to
his knees in water. In the bow of the
boat sportsmen stand with slender gigs,
Along the bottom, by the reflection of
the light, can be seen white founders
buried in the sand. They remain per.
fectly still while the gig is poised above
them, and never move until thoy are
either speared or missed. The only
drawback to this sport is that occasion.
ally your torch bearer is stung by a
stingaree, A stingaree is simply long
buggy whip, broken out with the small.
pox and filed with steel springs, aqua.
FORTS aud needles. When he hits you,
lockjaw is the mildest possible result.
The little Niger" contingent about
Morehead makes its living by grabbing.
With little boat, hardly bigger than a
tub, they go out into the surf, and flop
ping in and out like amphibia, soon come
in with bushel or so of the ugliest look.
ingand sweetest tasting things that swim
the water.
One other very impor tant industry OF
this most interesting place is the raising
of ''marsh tackles" The marsh tacky
is shaggy pony hardly larger than the
Shetland, light built and hardy. lie
lives in the water, and will not eat corn
or hay. He is brought up on the marsh
grass, which he eats between tides.
They cost literally nothing, breeding
in droves as wild horses. Each
drove has its leader, who selects the
eating grounds and decides when the
tides are going out or coming in.
Once every year the owners have what
is called pony penning All the
ponies along the coast, running into the
thousands, are driven in by boats and
either branded or sold They bring
from SIS to $50 apiece, and it is trib,
ute TO their utter wildness that a
''broke" pony, that is, one that can be
ridden or driven, is called trained
tacky," and brings $40 They are in
great demand in the middle part OF the
State, eating little and doing heap OF
work. They run down to skin and
bones before they learn to eat corn OF
hay, but then fatten rapidly and lose
the ugly reddish color the salt water
gives them. There are men who buy
them in large numbers, train them, and
take them to the mountains and get
fancy prices for them. As write there
IS drove of tackles marching in slow
and sedate procession against the hori'
zon. The leader, bearing his response
bility with dignity, picks the way care
FULLY, and his company follow with q
blind sense OF confidence. The water,
as it splashes about their legs, glistens
like showered silver, and their red sides
shine against the sun like bronze. On
they go, as birds beat homeward in the
twilight, growing smaller and more in
distinct as they plod their steady way.
AT last they are but specks above the
wafer, moving dumb and patient TO some
well-desired goal.