The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1885-02-26
The Decline of the Oyster.

The United States Commissioner of
Fish and Fisheries has in his recent re-
port called the atteHtioa of Congress
10 the decline of the oyster. Beds
which formerly produced forty one
bushels to the acre now produce but
twenty-five bushels. Around New
York sludge acid. too. is doing deadly
work among the bivalvcs. and what
with reckless depletion Of the beds and
corruption of the food supply, aglUOmy
prospect is held out. This is Il serious
question. At present we consume .,
SOC. 900 oysters annually. There is no
doubt about t!c number. for Professor
Baird and Lieutenant Winslow have
counted them; and the connection of
this vast mass Of succulent bivalves
with the prosperity. the material and
moral health and progress of the coun-
try can not be ins sted upon too strong
". How closely the oyster is inter
twined with ali our deepest aad holiast
feelings; how indispensable it is to the
proper carrying on OF our politics. our
Commerce, our church festivals aud
our love-making, perhaps will never
be clearly perceived until we nave lost
this intimate and most dear friend; un-
til the face of the land is darkencd and
the gayety of the Nation is eclipsed by
the removal of the faIniur and ubiq-
uitous sign boards which today carry
cheer to the heart OF the gluumieSt by
their announcement oT oysters IN
Every Style.
For what would America be without
the oyster? A shudder would pass
from Maine to Florida, from the At
lantic to the sun kissed shores of the
Pacific, at this thought Deprived OF
her fayorite dainty, New York would
be "C.ty of Dreadful Night" Sixth
avenue and Fourteenth street would
echo no more with the shouts of the
reveler. The burden of sustaining that
region OF nocturnal festivity would fall
upon the clam. and he would sink un-
der it, and perish amid the scorn of
those whose digestive organs he had
insulted by the offer of so inadequate
snd inelastic a substitution. Nor
have we to evolve these alarming con-
clusions from our Imagination. The
sad experience of a sister nation con-
firms but too strongly our darkest ap-
prehcnsions. A few years ago ard the
drum beat of England was rs ubiquit-
Gus as the tin horn of New Year Day
her flag was upon every sea; her COM
merce was in every market; her pickles,
pale ale and globe-trollers were thick
as leaves in Vallombrosa; her diplom-
acy was successful; her colonies were
cOntented; her policy. ut home and
abroad, was admired and respected.
But there came 4 day when her Oys-
ter beds no longer yielded rs before.
First there was an oyster famine; then
the oyster ceased to be accessible to the
masses. And so the decadence of Eng
land dated from that dreadful day.
Since the disappearance of the oyster
"othiug has gone right. We have all
| marked the rapid decline oi that great
power 1t is no wonder that the Brit
ish press should have hailed the new
year deiectedly. But while some as-
cribe the unhappy state OF thing, TO
| Gladstone, and some to free trade, and
| some 10 other causes, il is clear 10 the
unbiased observer that the oyster is
! at the bottom of all the trouble. And
| with this example and warning before
| lis it behooves Congress 10 take prompt
| aud adequate measures for the rchahil-
| ;tation OF our noble bivalve, and Il
| guard zealously against the threatened
| extinction, which must involve in it,
consummation the disappearance oI
| ali that makes life worth living.-Neu
| lprS Tribune.