Morning journal and courier., 1885-11-03
THE oxsrE . fNTEREsr.

mission in the Past Keat-ThS Map.
 ping of ths Oyster Grounds-Wflling Taxpayers-Can Non-Residentg E1 Es.1
 The work of the year of the shell fishery
 commissioners presents many statistics of
 interest Engineer Bogart and Field Engin-
 eers Sanford and Pike, jr., had very busy
 year. Of buoys 19s were set and g surveys
 were made. There were SIS 22-100 acres of
 ground designated, for which $674.5 were received; 63 applications are } now pending which will yield $4,- 912.04 Four deeds are ready for delivery covering 9, 14s lie acres, which will l yield $a,Sessi. Since June 1, 1881, the whole number of applications received is 6O3 and there have been granted to applicants AZ, ,667 S-10 acres, for which the State has re- ceived $50, ,234. 5S. Before the commission was organized town committees had desig- mated a3,eS7 9-10 acres, so that now the oys-
 ter growers hold 79, ,655, ,1-1O acres, of which
 16, ,201 7-10 acres are cultivated. The num- Der of taxpayers is 423, of whom 93 own each 10 acres and under, 33 own from Il to 9 acres apiece, 152 own each from 26 to 100 acres, and 145 own each 101 acres and up
 wards. Cultivated grounds are constantly
 increasing in extent, but many acres are held
 for speculative purposes Grounds must be
 J declared forfeited. A large area of good P l ground is still undesignated and some of it
 could be sold to non-resdents if the law as it. | now stands would permit 1t. This law the ! commissioners think should be altered so l to permit sales of land not wanted at home to 1 non-residents. The present law is also easily evaded. The State treasury would be gain I CT both from the sales and the improvement l of what is now dead property.
 I The taxes are no longer complained of 1 and this vnar1Q fay iS 17 2Q0 70 poarlv &1 k00 1 more than last years. .... It is thought that the dumping ground of l Milford will have to be changed and another l in deeper water further off taken. The ap- ! propriation from which $2 50 day is paid to
 the inspector who sees to it that oyster beds
 are not used as dumping ground, is nearly | exhausted.
 The most important work of the commits
 sioners is that of surveying and mapping the
 grounds within State jurisdiction which
 had been designated by town committees l before 1881 This has occupied much of l their time and attention from the first.
 There are 772 lots of all sizes and shapes scat
 tered under the waters of the Sound; and to
 map them properly, good deal of prelimi- l nary work had to be done.
 l The whole shore of the State was triangu- l lated and the geodetie position of every prominent object of the shore that could be l of service in locating lots was surveyed and l mapped. Twenty seven large signal struc
 
 l were erected on vacant spaces and mapped. 1 The commissioners line was then run from the east end to the west end of the water, 1 from headland to headland, which line sepa- l rated the commissioners jurisdiction from ! that of the towns. The natural beds were 1 then explored, surveyed and mapped. After long and persistent effort on the part 1 of the officers and employees list, with a l map, made up in 1882, which served as a
 basis for the tax list This has been materi- 1 ally increased and improved every year since. l The surveying of claims or occupations is 1 nearly done; it will be done the present year. The maps thus made are known 'Occupa- 1 tion Maps" They are preliminary to the final | mapping.
 l This was begun about year or more ago. i but it is often interrupted by conflicting claims.
 There has been an increase of ten per cent. I in the number engaged in oyster culture dur I ing the past seven months. Those under cultivation have also increased, and the fleet of oyster steamers has grown from forty last ! year to forty nine this year.
 FOR THE SAILORS. The Annual Meeting of the Ladies, Seamen's Friend SOciety-Reports Read and Officers Elected. About fifty ladies interested in the poor sailors attended the annual meeting of the Ladies' Seamen's Friend society, held at the
 United church chapel in Temple street yes l terday afternoon, at which Mrs. L. s. Pun
 derson, the president, presided. After prayer offered by the Rev. Dr. Twitchell, the general secretary, Mrs. w T. Booth, read
 very interesting report, the substance of l which is as follows: "While the financial condition of the society is not exactly what we would choose, there being deficit of 1
 
 tion, ask, where exists another society which ! sccomplishes such an amount of religious, charitable and missionary work at such a | small expenditure as is shown by the treasur- CTS reports We are sustaining Bethel, 8 | reading room, sailors home and shipping 1 office, besides visiting every vessel which | comes into this port in order to distribute | Bibles, magazines and papers, and per sonally to invite every sailor to avail himself l of all the privileges open to him here, all at total cost of not much over g., 800 for the past year; an amount which is justly considered very small when paid as asingle salary to any | church pastor. Last year we used $1, ,604 and left in the treasury balance of $116. Increased expenditure came with the Home and it is there that the outlay has surpassed the receipts"
 Mrs. Booth also referred to the concert given last February under the management of Mr. and Mrs. Parsons, which netted the society $202 at cost of five dollars. Mrs. | Hazlett assisted as did Miss Cady and the l New Haven Banjo club.
 After the report of the treasurer, Mrs. | Luman Cowles, had been read, Missionary | and Superintendent s. F. Thrasher read his annual report, he dwelling on the work done during the past year among the sailors, and during his reading he said: During the past year over 2, 900 vessels have been visited l in the harbor, and over 5000 magazines and 5000 papers, besides books and tracts, have been distributed among the sailors. The reading room at the Bethel has been kept open day and evening, and there are on file at the room several New York dailies, nine weekly papers and several rnonthlies. Three meetings have been held at the Bethel each 1 week and over 300 sailors have signed the | pledge, and but few of that number have broken it. Thirty-two letters addressed to sailors from foreign ports are awaiting own CTS at the Bethel, and seventeen new libra ries have been put on board different vessels and twelve exchanged. Over 400 sailors have been cared for at the Seamen's home on Water street, and sos have been shipped to their homes and ten have been sent to the hospital. In closing his report Mir. Thrasher said: Let us remember l that while our work is mostly 8 home mis- sionary work, it becomes foreign mission ary work, so widespread as to cover the earth, and no better spot can be found or de- l sired for generous Christian missionary ac- ! ton than right here at our own door, where ! number of 20, 1000 yearly may be reached.
 Mrs. Nicoll then read the report of the library committee, after which the following officers were elected for the year:
 President, Mrs, William T. Booth; vice president; f Mrs. Sarah M. MIX; secretary, Mrs. John Ncoll; , treasurer, Mrs. H. I! Cowles; finance committee. Mrs. H. L. Cowles Mrs. F. W. Pardee, Mrs J. A, l Sperry advisory committee, John C.H Hoister, F, ". Mrs Elias Bishop Mrs Samuel HalIiwell St r Lindsley; 8. Paqs, Miss Julia English. Miss Mary z Hoster; St. Johns. Mrs F. A. Bostwick; Church I of the Ascension, Mrs. c; |; Langdon, Mrs. Edwin f Peck; First M E Mrs. T. c. Pratt, Miss Agnes H. Gilbert; Trinity M. E. Mrs. Phiando Armstrong, | I Mrs C. F. Armstrong; East Pearl street N. E., Mrs. J. A. Damn. Mrs. William Johnson; Center, Miss , Margaret Townsend, Mrs. Leonard Winship, Mrs. ! Charles Caudee; United, Mrs. Henry N Day, Mrs. ! s E. Mcqueen College, Mrs. L. H. Fowler Miss ! ( Sarah J. Cowes; Dwight Place, Mrs. Charles Gray, Mrs E. F Merwn: Church of the Redeemer, Mrs. E. s. Kimberly, Mrs. Joseph Porter; Humphrey l street, Mrs. H. P. Shares Mrs William Atwater; c Howard avenue, Mrs L. D. Harrison, Miss Lizzie z Wilkinson; Davenport church, Mrs. F W. Pardee, l Mrs. Jchn H. Booth; First church Mrs. F. D. Gill bert; Second church, Mrs. W. P. Niles, Mrs. L. P. Deming; First Baptist, Mrs E. S. Wheeler, Miss | I Susie filling; Calvary Baptist, Mrs. R. w. Mills; Grand street Baptist Mrs. George Bates, Mrs Hen ry Toronto; Church of the Messiah, Mrs J. McCar- thy, Mrs James Leeds. | f