Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1885-09-18
THE Moss-HuNTERs.
a Curious Industry Carried on Along
CJney Island Beach.
[Pnlladeiphia Americana

Philadelphia Americana
"Sount it?" asked short, odd looking
Old man. with a tin can ovor his shoulder,
OF reporter who was wandering alonS
the Coney Island beach.
"Why, what you're hua:in' forw'
I'm not hunting for anytainy," said
Che other.
"Nor l, either" said the oil ma1, t'but
that's whas somebody asked ms awhile
ago. They said look 81 as if was try
lag TO md god nina. After all, every
body that walks along shore rather
expects TO fni something that has been
washed mp, it's natural l come down
every year." continued the old
man, aud collect a few oil Is and en- Is,
chiefly for tae children. Shells, big-aeck
CLANS, make ia nous thiays for them to
d'S with; i'd thsn my girl, she's in thu
IN 'ss business Never heard of the moss
business? Why, bless you, my Oldest girl
MAKES - or 50 a week pressing moss. You
sesi come hero an5 Il )ckaway about
once week in the season, and 90
browsin' round and pick up the best moss
can ind. You Sc, it's generally all
mixed up in sand, and most folks wouldn't
notice it, ana those that did wouldn't
think it was worth collectin'
"l've found a few iece, to-day,n and
the speaker opened his can and took out a
hand.u! OF rich green. Jurple and red
weed Look rich, dol't they? But they'll
look better after my girl Nancy takess
them in hand. How is it dones Why,
easy enough. She takes and washes
them in fresh water and then trims
them up in just the shape she
wants than and mite o,, O. xua,h of ,IJ,,S
ed gum arab C, thea they are spread ON
paper, ID, if they are delicate, they ara
picked out into shapo un Ter or just at the
surface of the water with needle. Then
she takes them oIt, puts piecs of clean
linen over them, then another piece of pa
per, and then puts the whole thing il be-
tween two boards and presses it in q
press. In twenty-four hours IFS done,
and tho m SIS is dry and pressed into the
paper so that you can pass your finger
right over it without feelin' it, and the
color never fades; it's joy forever. She
then sets them on stif paper, puts on
the scientific name AMI whore 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; an she's got a file collection,
l can assure YOU. Shs sells a good
many to curiosity deae and so her
work and nina goes all over the
country. l guess we're about the only
ones right in the business. Nancy's going
TO branch out next winter. She has a
friend in Nassau, AMI an Dther in Cali
fornin; they are gCing to send her moss,
so she VIII have specimens from widely
different parts of the worl |.
'I,'s astonish;n =" said the old collector,
show Little folks know abolt the ordinary
things along shore. Now, 1 dare say you
think that all the moss Pve got here is
vegetable?"
"1sn't it?" asked the listener, to humor
his new acquaintance
why Lord bless you'll no. I never
knew it myself till one day Nancy said:
i won Ter If il hGrts these animals to
crush them? Plants you mean" said !.
No, they'rs animals she sail. and she
showed me the little Gel the little
critters lived in-2olygons. she called
them, and l tell you it takes an expert
to tell plant from anim Il in moss; they all
look al Ike to me- Take thu sand collars
you often find here; what do people think
rhey are? heard one N IN say they were
print of n horses hoof harlsne An
other thought they were only sand, but
I you hold one up to the light and look
hrous h it you can see what it is in min
ute; 1t Is the edge of the she'll called the
.tica. You know these black four-c COR
nered objects that wash ashore? Well,
they are called sea -barrows, and lots of
peoa ale think they are fruit of some kind.
but they are skate eggs, and nothing else.
You see the folks that como dowa here
most don't have the time or the inclina-
o. soft clam is in the cooking, AMI of the
little neck in the way it is served. They
don't care about the habits OF the crea-
tilr .,