The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1885-10-16
THE RHODE ISLAND CLAM.
Its History from the Ocean Mud to the Table.


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Its History from the Ocean Mud to the Table.
AS at present served u clam dinner
prepared to till, as it often is, from
live to fifteen or twenty thousand peo-
pie in the course of i few hours, is
a stupendous affair, and from the bot
tom up is a work to be admired as a
whole and wondered at in its details,
and few of the thousands who in the
course of the summer season sit down
to clam dinners appreciate tho work
entailed in its preparation. FIRST and
foremost. says The Providence journal,
there is the clam. Most of the clans
used at the shore resorts of Narragan-
sett bay come from the flats across the
bay from Nayatt. on the Conimicut
shore and or Green's island. AS far
up as Pawtuxet and about Sabln's
point the clans are considered hard.
glue shelled' and gritty; but across at
Bullock's point they are good, and
the Bullock's pointers get their clans
right at home. Two-thirds of the
CLAIMS are got by "%churning." The
Changing wades out over the bed and
Shoyels up mud and clans and every
thing that comes along into big wire
BASKETS, which, when about full, are
lifted out of the water, and a rinsing
and shaking washes out the mud and
leaves the clans. Twomen and a boy
attend to each basket, one man shovel
ing in the mud, the second getting out
the clans, and the boy ''cuiling' them.
Churning can only be done at about
half-tide, when the water is two or
thraa feat 1naN 90 hr Tim fip,a tl,
workman has to put his head under
water when he bonds over at shovel
ing, he soon has TO give up the Job.
The suction on the shovels is tremen-
dous, and they are made exceptionally
strong. When there are good tides,
on the full and change of tho moon,
the clans may be raked out after the
manner of non-professional diggers: a
shovelful of mud is turned up at the
time, and the clans it contains arc
raked out with the clam-hoe. Con-
sideration of either of the above meth
DDS is sufficient for true understand
ing of the happiness of the clam ut
high water. The clam ordinarily lies
i'll the mud from two to eighteen
inches; Il clam that would bury itself
much deeper than eighteen inches is
not to be looked upon with favor. 1t
is Il wearing life that the clam DIG gers
lead, working rs they do tive or six
hours at Il time in the water, and so
hard as to be constantly wet with per-
spiration.
Capt. j. H. Northrup, who has been
the captain Of the Rocky point clam
gang tor some eleven years, and has
probably haudled more clans in his
lifetime than any other man in Rhode
Island, gave The Journal representative
some interesting facts about the bust
ness. He said that at Rocky point
alone last year some 1000 bushels of
clans for the bake alone were used.
HIS regular clam gang is seventeen or
eighteen men. but on big days it is
necessary to increase the force to fifty
or sixty men. This year the CLANS on
Green's island are only one year old,
and are ready for the bake-a remark,
able case of clam growth. 1t appears
abundance they grow very slowly, aud
those used last year from Green's
island were about three years old; but,
being few Of them .'set" one year ago,
they grew large enough fe use very
rapidly.
''Do the CLANS ever run on! before
the season is endedp' was asked the
captain.
"Oh, yes; and then we have TIC look
somewhere else Tor them. Now, this
year, before the season is over we
shall probably have to leave our pres
ent place and dig over in Coles river
aud in the Kickemuit river. Those
will be massachusetts CLAIMS, of course,
but they are favored with Rhode
Island water. Already the CLANS on
Green's island are thinning out. and
op the lst of August | shall raise the
bay of my g They get 80 cents IA
bushel now, and their pay will be
raised to 81 per bushel. Do | expect
the clans will get Il out entirely?
Well, not just Yet, and at present the
prospect is something wonderful for
next Year. l never saw such Il set OF
clans us are ali along the shore now:
# they all lived there would be enough
clalns to supply the world next year
Just come with me and take Il look"
The tide was about half in, and the
mud-ilats were scattered over with all
SORTS OF refuse, shells, and weeds. The
captain bent down and picked up what
looked at first like a minute, broken
Oft bit of clam-shell, but as 1t lay in
his hand. a loser look revealed it a per-
fectly-tormed clam-shelI, u beautiful
object, not as big as a baby's little
finger nail, as white as alabaster, and
the light showing pink through its
delicate substance. The least pres.
SURE would have crushed it 10 almost
invisible atoms. CHATS a clam,n
said the captain, chats maybe three
weeks old, and you'll find millions
about here. As quick as they get any
size they will begin to burrow down
into the mud. The whole shore is
covered with them, and in all nv cx-
perience OF thirty years l never saw
such a set They are so thick that
the prospect is they will not grow fast,
and it will take two or three years for
them to got big enough unless they
die off. A handful of these will make
more'n a bushel when they are grown
up A careful look over the muddy
beach revealed there beautiful minia-
ture clam-shells yet without a trace of
meat within them in hundreds, and a
microscope would have shown thou
sands where the few were visible to
the naked eye.
AS the men are paid for their dig
cling by the bushel, it is evident that
on skill and hard work depends the
amount of money the digger gets,
while ''churning" is evidently more
profitable than "raking." Every
shore resort has its thoroughbred dig
ger, who a get more clans in a
given time than any other man. One
MarceIlus Hall, a big negro, had IN
his day a record to be proud of at Dig
ging clans. Capt. Northrup says that
he IS willing to back William Kiunecum.