, 1885-06-30
ALONG THE SEASHORE.
GATHERING SEA NOISES ON THE
BEACH AT coNEY ISLAND.
Preparing Specimens for the Curiosity
DeaIer- "Mosses" Not All Nege-
tabie-"skate ~Eggs"-Giant
Moses and seaweed.

New York SOM
"Found itfr asked a short, o~dd1ooking
old man. with a lin can over his shoulder.
of u person who was wandering along the
Coney island beach.
Found WHAT" queried the latter.
"Why. what you re huntin for.
"l'm not hunting for anything. = said
the other.
Nor /. either, - said the old man, -but
that's what some one asked me Il while
ago. They aid | looked rs If was try
ing 10 find a gold mine After all. every
bod that walks along shore rather ex-
poets to lind something that has been
washed up. its natural | come down
every ycar. ~ continued the old man. ~and
collect a few odds and ends, chiefly for
tho children. Shells. big-neck clans,
make famous things for them
to dig with. and then my girl.
she's In the moss business Never heard
of the moss business1 Why. blesi you
my Oldest girl makes s. or 50 a week
pressin' moss. You see come here aud
TO Eockaway about once d week in the
season, and 60 browsin' round and pick
up the best moss ! can find. You see it's
generally all mixed up in the sand, and
most folks wouldn't notice it. and those
that did wouldn't think 1t was worth col
lectin'.
a W RAAAAa = -" HAE@N' ~ NAAI AANA
the speaker opened his can and took out
a handful Of rich green. purple. aud red
weed Look rich, don they2 But
they look better after my girl Nancy
takes them In hand. How is il doneg
Why. easy enough. She takes and washes
them in fresh water and then trims
them up in just the shape she wants
and puts on II wash Of diluted gum arabic.
then they are spread on paper, and
10 H. l.1.. A.
picked out into shape under or
just at the surface of the water with n
needle. Then she takes them out, puts a
piece of clean linen over them. then
another piece Of paper. and then puts the
whole thing in between two boards and
presses II In Il press In twenty-four
hours it's done. and the moss is dry and
pressed into the paper, so that you can
pass your finger right over 1t without
feelin 1t, and the color never fades. it's a
joy forever. She then sets them on a
stiff paper, puts on the scientific name
ami where her old father found them
habita. she calls it-and they are ready
for the market. Some she sells to
schools; others are bound up INTO books.
and shes got a fine collection, l can tell
you. She sells a good many TO the Gu
riosity dealers. and so her work and mine
goes all over the country. | guess we're
about the only ones right in the business.
Nancy's going TO branch out next winter.
She has u friend in NASSAU and another
in Ialifornia, they are goin to send her
mos, so she will have specimens from
widely different parts of the world.
-its astonishin', " said the old collector,
chow little folks know about these ordi-
nary things along shore Now. | dare
say you think that all the moss I've got
here Is vegetablefn
-Isn'l itf" asked the listener, TO humor
his new acquaintance
"Why. bless you, no. | never knew il
myself till one day Nancy said. L wonder
If ii hurts these animals 10 crush them2
Plants. you mean. said l. NO. they're
animals, she said. and she showed me the
little cells the little critters lived in
polygons. she called them, and | tell you
It takes an OK ert TO tell plant from ami.
NAL IN moss: they all look alike TO me
Take the sand collars you often find here:
what do people think they nre2 ] heard
one man say they were the print of n
horses hoof hardened Another thought
they were only sand. but if you hold ono
up 10 the light and look through it YOU
can see what ii IS in a minute it's the
eggs of the shell called the natica. GU
know these black four cornered OBJ
jecis that wash ashore? Well. they
~ biAR e VS. a. lONH
of people think they are fruit
of some kind. but they are skate
eggs. and rothiLg Gle J on see the folks
that come down here most don't have the
time or the inclination to hunt out these
things. The beauty of II soft cam is in
the cooking. and of The Little Neck in the
way il is served. They don't care about
the habits of the creature.
Sea moss is more or less valuable all
over the world. In Ireland the poorer
classes depend greatly upon the carfageen
mos. and some live upon it for months
in each year. II is imported in large
quantities, and used as blanc mango and
in various ways. The Scotch have their
dulse. and in the HebTides the tangle is
eaten. In South America the natives eat
the moss that is known as D'Urvilloea
utilis. II is a giant OF its kind. sometimes
attains u length of several hundred feet.
and is so stout that a small vessel could
anchor by one One found off the coast
OF Chill was SO heavy hat it took sixty
men to drag ii ashore. IL grows in the
breakers, aud rolling about appears like
huge snakes. and often upsets boats tina
become entangled in 1t.
anger still Is the great weed Macrocys.
It's pyrifera, that attains a length of $50
feet or more. 1t also grows in the break.
ers, and Is Of great importance TO some
coasts, as, were It not for its protection,
the sea would beat so furiously that no
fishes would 60 In shore. and SO the inhab.
iiants would be deprived Of means of sup
port This lie especially true of the south
Paiagonian coast, aud so important did
Darwin consider II that he once wrote.
Amid the leaves OF this plant numerous
species Of fish live. which nowhere else
could find food or shelter. with their de-
struction the many cormomnt and other
fishing birds. the offers. seals, and por.
poises would soon persist also; and lastly.
the Fuegian savage the miserable lord Of
this miserable lnnd-would redouble his
feast, decrease In numbers. and perhance
cease 10 exist,
The senweed collector II New England
uses kelp TO keep him warm. and in vari-
Gus paris Of Europe It is used as a medi.
cine, n greater part Of the iodine Of trade
being made from H. ! ormerly the Mkali
soda used In the manufacture Of soap.
glass, and various articles was derived
from kelp. but IL Is now made from other
sources In France the kelp Is placed In
great furnaces and dried. finally fusing
into a solid mass that is known as varec.
and In Spain rs barrilia. About twenty
-four tons of weed produces a single ton
OF varoc. that is shipped TO manufacturers
IN the bulk. aud finally used in the manu-.
facturo of iodine