Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-12-05
OYSTER IN SHE'LL ANDCAN
SOMETHING ABOUTSAyANNAHS
TRADE IN BIVALVES.

TRADE IN BIVALVES.
How the Business Has Developed, ane
What savaDnahians Pay for the Deli
oacy-Where the Best Oysters Come
frOm-SOme of the Beds from which
the Local supply is Taken.
Looking at the exterior of an oyster
one must occasionally wonder how man
6rst discovered what was within the
she'll. Recent scientists have, in fact,
about come TO the conclusion that the
original discovery was not the result oil
mans curiosity at all, but Of his help
meets.
The first man that swallowed an oyster
must have been a brave one, for the
Oivalve's attractiveness is not external.
its beauty is concealed and is discovered
only by tne palate OF the eater.
A News man stepped into leading
oyster shipping house yesterday. The
floor was covered with pals, tubs,
barrels, ice and other things. Men were
iipping the oysters out of tubs and filling
bin cans from the half-gallon sizes to those
holding five and ten gallons.
The best oysters found anywhere around
here come from Wilmington Island and
Cedar Hammock, the proprietor said, Ia
reply to a question. They are larger, fat
ter, and have Il better flavor than the oys-
tiers caught at Montgomery, Isle OF Hope,
and ThundeFbOlt. The oysters that Sa-
vannah gets from Wilmington Island are
already opened, the shocking being done
near the beds. Savannah obtains almost
al her oysters from local waters. New
York ships few here, but they
are much more expensive than
the home mOllusks. They are also finer
and the epicurean who has the money to
crafty his fondBess for them pays at
least 80 per cent. more for small fry or a
dozen on the shell than he would pay for
the same quantity that could only boast
OF being Cedar Hammocks."
sAYANNAH's OYSTER TRADE.
Savannah is doing a very fair shipping
trade now IN supplying interior towns.
The business has been growing for years.
Now there is scarcely a hamlet along any
line Of railroad in two or three neighbor-
ing States where oysters cannot be had.
In many cases, to be sure, the only place
70 find the biYalye is in a room where
plate of soup is thrown in with glass OF
beer if the customer happens around at
noon.
The Chesapeake and Long Island oysters
bring nearly double the price OF Savannah
oysters, so local dealers say. In the
home market here oysters are selling
at 81 % per gallon. In Baltimore and
New York they are said to be bringing
nearly twice that.
From Norfolk all the way up the coast
there is a big shipping business done.
The interior towns Of New York State,
Pennsylvania. Ohio and Indiana buy i'm
mense quantities. By using ice the shucked
oyster can be kept fresh. In the
North during the winter months the
weather is generally cold enough to ship
without ice. Here it has TO be used, and
adds 10 the expense. Away over in the
middle Of the continent the people have
TO get along on the canned oyster, which
does very well as a substitute, but lacks
the lusci0usness of the juicy little article
that is opened and eaten right on the
shore.
THE OYSTER SEASON.
It Is not true that the oyster is not edi-
bic in the sO-called unreasonable months,
although in flavor, fairness, and delicacy
II is better in winter than in summer.
Eaten fresh from the bed an oyster in
summer is not bad to take, but they soon
deteriorate in delicacy in warm weather
after being taken from the water.
The much-cherished biYalYe does not
furnish the shell-collectOr with an orna-
mental addition TO his cabinet, nor does it
even take the trouble to build for itself a
neat symmetrical covering like that of its
not very distant relatives, the scallop and
the mussel. Most bivalves are tolerably
constant in the form OF their shell, but the
oyster, which passes its adult life at
tached to some submarine object. appears
70 leave the shape Of its shell entirely TO
accident. The form Of an oyster, like she
actions Of some examples Of humanity,
seems, in fact, to depend entirely upon
circumstances beyond its power to con-
troll.
WHERE IT IS FOUND.
The American oyster is found along the
coast, generally in waters which do not
have more than IS to 30 fathoms depth, all
the way from the northern shores OF the
Gulf Of Mexico and those OF Florida to
Massachusetts bay and in certain lOcali-
ties beyond this to the northern part OF
the Gulf OF st. Lawrence. IL does not
occur on the eastern shores Of Maine nor
in the Bay of Funday. The oyster
fhrives best in waters where
the shore is not liable TO sudden
change. 1t abounds in coves and inlets
having free connection with the sea, even
though they be almost fresh, and. indeed
seems TO prefer waters less brackish than
the open sea.
Americans do not esteem the European
oyster al all highly, and Europeans pro-
fess that they prefer their own oyster to
the American mOhusk American as
well as European oysters sometimes be-
come gIeenish, especially about the gills
and the ventricle OF the heart. This is
usually supposed 20 be caused by some
poisonous compound Of copper, but is
really due to the presence of a green col
oring matter in the blood cells, possibly
derived from the vegetable part Of the
food. Green Oysters are thus quite harm.