Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1883-09-09
SEASON.

September has come, the genial month
of ripened fruits and garnered harvests.
The grape vines are loaded with heavy
purple clusters; the golden rod fringes
very country highway with its glow
ing radiance, and the mellow forests
begin to take on the gorgeous splendor
oftheir autumtal tints. But none OF
these things, much as hey may tend to
endear September to the lover of ma
.ure, makes up the true charm of this
favOrite month to the average Ameri-
IAN. 1t is not even that partridge
shooting begins in September, nor that
the schools begin their annual round of
mental exercise for the active young
brains that have kept nervous parents
on the rack during the long vacation.
September's charm lies in the last let
ter of its name, the ''open sesame" that
tempts the oyster to open the locked
embrace of its rough shell, and give up
its soft and tender treasure to the legion
Of its lovers.
There is, perhaps, no reason why, at
least in the United States, there should
be any ''close season" i'll respect to
oysters. The alleged oysters that are
found Oh the English coast, and along
the coast line of Europe, are said by
those who are best informed to be even
less fit for eating during the summer
months than at other periods OF the
wear, and there seems to be some foun-
| da.ion of reason for the long established
English tradition which declares that
oysters must not be eaten from the last
day Of April to the first of September.
But the American oyster, according to
the reports Of those who are most fam
liar with its habits, is all animal Of
sturdier strain, and it is claimed that he
is properly in season all the year round.
But the English tradition of a close
season prevails and, perhaps, it is prop
er that it should. The prosecuted mol
lusc gets a breathing spell, 4 four months
vacation during which he is not called
upon "to be doing, but to be-" No
| nightmare visions of stew, or ''fry"
disturb his medItatIOns during this hal
cyOn period, but he lies calmly in his
,cean bed and drinks ia the wholesome
Juices of the sea without worry or anxi-
ely, knowing that the most ardent Of
his lovers will not disturb him until his
holiday is over.
And the oyster is not the only gamer
10y this superstition that requiresa close
season ofthe oyster market. 1t may be
true that oysters are the most whole
some of food, and that they are always
in season, but we should be 10th to find
them entered in competition with the
delicious round of fruits, from the
strawberry to the peach, that claim our
favor during the summer months.
There is q heartier zest in the popular
appreciation of the oyster in the cool
autumnal evenings than would be pos
sible il, like the poor, he were always
with Us. The close season gives a
wholesome rest to the popular appetite
Like that which the Catholic Church
wisely forces upon her disciples during
the Lenten season, and the digestive
organs Of the great American nation are
all the better for the change.
Fortunately, according to all accounts,
the present season has been an unusu'
ally wholesome one for the oyster, aud
all the indications point to an abundant
supply, and in good condition. In
spite Of the enormous and eyer-in-
creasing demand, the old historic Oys-
ter beds are rs prolific as ever, and there
is no reason to apprehend an oyster
"a noipn