The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1885-02-06

mat gntters Tor nome Il In the sun as
the jaws of the scoop are jerked open
above the scow. Close up to the docks
the mud is not so clean, but the chances
of finding something valuable are so
much greater that the difference is not
taken into practical consideration.
Sometimes it is n silver dollar that
glitters in the sun and finds q resting
place in the scow; once in rare
while watch, made useless by long
contact with salt water, comes to eX-
cite in the dredger the blistering regret
that it cannot be sold or pawned, and
quite frequently knives of strange shape
and rusted out of all semblance to
edged steel join forces with bits of
broken glass, cut the feet of the
dredger who treads unwarily along the
bottom of the scow.
Twice the harbor dredges have
brought up, within the past year, a
bright-bladed knife, showing along its
point and edge corroded stain, as
though blood had stuck there. Once
the sharp jaws of the scoop cut off both
feet of drowned man, and the tide
carried the body beyond the reach of
graphing hooks. A human hand, with
one of the fingers bruised as though
ring had been torn from it by great
force, fell out of the scoop several
months ago. The drcdgers thought
that the man from whose arm the hand
had been torn had been led down to
dock while intoxicated, and robbed and
thrown overheard by the members of
q ''gang." 1t is n common practice,
but the dredge rarely disturbs the body.
An immense drag-net stretched
across the Narrows would catch null
titude of strange and mysterious
things. 1t would be storehouse ten
times more CHASTITY than n morgue.
There is a tradition that years ago n
murderer was convicted by blood
stained knife brought up in n dredge.
The names and dates are lacking. An
other tradition says that Il dredger once
brought up his own runaway daughter
from the bottom OF the river. A ghast-
ly bruise on her temple told the story
of her death. The dredger beat his
brains out against the barred door of
an insane asylum two years later. He
had lived sane long enough to murder
the man that ran off with his daugh-
ter, and a merciful court sent him to
an asylum for the insane.
A third bloOd-curdling tradition is to
the effect that dredger nursed grudge
against another dredger for many
years, hoping for vengeance. AT length
when the enemy got between the jaws
Of the scoop to fastcn loose rivet, the
jaws closed on him, and he was swung
out over the water. Then the dredge
went out slowly, and the last thing that
the drcdgcr saw of earth was the face
of his murderer grinning triumphantly
over the edge of the scow.
These traditions have no facts to
make them real, but the drcdgers be-
lieve in them. An old Spanish proverb
says: 'For the character of the people
look in the bottom of the canal. Now
York would not find much of charac-
ter in the bed of the East river, or in |
slips adjoining the mouths of sewers.
When the water closes over the unlaw-
full deed done in the darkness or the |
night, only the dredgc can bring it |
back to life. How many bodies weight
ed with lead lie in the mud beneath six |
fathoms of water, how many bodies
float out to sea, no man can know. |
How greatly the number OF discovered |
dead exceeds the number of unknown
dead reported by the police can never
be estimated.
Other than ghastly things, however,
cone up in the dredgc. Down the bay,
few days ago. q big crab was found |
in Il copper kettle, and an eel was found
confined in long-ncckcd bottle much
too small for him. While still young
he had made the bottle his home. and
had grown so rapidly that he could not
get out. A lizard crawlcd out of
rusted musket last summer in Burling-
slip, and big "bullhead" was caught
in q rat trap. A thrce-foot shark camo
up on the end of a broken fishing line,
and two sting rays were found dead i'll
a crabber's dip net.
Hammers, hatchcts, saws, AIDES,
pieces of ships stoves, pots, kettles,
table dishes, and various articles OF
ships outfittings seem to strcw the bed
of the river. Few of them are of use.
Only the new ones pay tho drcdger for
his trouble in fishing them out of the
mud in the scow. Those that are of no
value help fill up the channel again
when the scow is dumped. Some time
in the future they will be dredged up
again, in order that the channel may
be kept clear. Some people grumble
because the scows are not dumped far
out at sea, on the ebb tide, so that the
channel will not become choked with
the refuse. The dredger must live,
however, and to live he must work. TO
work he must have dredging to do, and
if the channel is not allowed to fill up
will be thrown out of employment.
Some people are very unreasonable
NeW York Times.
NNolStop NVaIIg &, NT;Ior ontto,,- foo-