Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-03-16
HEN WHO SIIJCk OYSTERS.
SCENES AND INCIDENTS IN A BaLTi-
MORE PACKING-HOUSE.
4 Visit to the Place Where Bivalves Are
Made Ready for the Can-Movements
of the Merry Shuckers-A DeNtrous
Use of the Knife.

Use of the Knife.
Baltimore is the metropolis of the oyster
and fruit packing industry. The establish
ments are located all over the city, back of
the Hill at Canton. at Locust Point and in
ou;-of-the-way alleys. Ii is not hard to locate
them when once in the neighborhood There
is the wall of shells, and there is that unmis-
taxable odor which brings scent bottles into
active demand.
The proprietor Of an oyster packing estab-
lishment ON the south side of the harbor con-
dIcted a reporter through his establishment
not long ago. His starting point was pier
built out into the basin some eighty feet 1t
is rooted, and connects Immediately with the
Smoking house, There are sliding doors on
each side. A large oyster pungy was moored
close TO each, and the transfer of their cargo
Of oysters to the packing house was going on
rapidly. The bivalves were hoisted by ma
chinery from the holds of the pungies in
buckets that contained b,lshel and half
The moment they bodied up and over to the
pier wheelbarrow with an iron body wa.
ready to catch the contents. In a jiffy
they were dumped in, and in twinkle
whisked away by stout wheelers, white and
black
THE shocking house, announced the pro
prietor as the reporter entered an immens,
area of room. lit is 50 feet by $780, he said.
II is lighted by an immense skyiight that
arches over the whole space Row after row
of tables, or stands, extend the whole length
of the room, and a row runs around the side,
Of tie walls. Each side of row after row i.
lined with the shuckers. What bedlam, No
ceremony is observed. no restraint is felt by
the toilers. They chatter as they work; they
laugh and shout and merrily guy each other.
Their hammers and knives keep up a ceaseleSs
accompaniment Of the sharp blows and def
thrusts. Wbeelbarrows rattle in with IN
shocked oysters and rattle out with the shells.
ShIckers are darling from their stands with
full cans and returning with empty ones. The
brick paved floor is almost a torrent of oyster
liquor and slime From each suckers place
runs into it little feeding stream. All the
employees down to the poorest and humblest
shucker, wear boots.
"Nas sah,7 was the testimony of an old
colored shucker, I'VE has ter wah em. fer
suah. Ad mo an dat, we has ter put mighty
thick sole shoes on inside EN-. An den, see
whar Use stan'in'-on dis hvar plank Scr,
boss, if we did'n' TEX all desc percussions we
would'n' lib ter draw selery on de mex
comm Saddayr
The plank to which the old man referred is |
the bottom of a sort of box, open behind him |
and coming up in front almost to his waist |
Each shucker stands in a similar contrivance |
About three feet of space is partitioned off |
iengthwise and appCrtioned 10 each man. 1t
runs back about All equal distance to the high |
middle partition which separates the shucker
from the row Of workers on the other side !
Over in the left-hand corner of his |
space are piled the unshucked oysters |
To his right, confined in place by { /
compartment of jus: the right width
are two cans Of one-gallon capacity
each. Immediately in front of him is a round
block, raised from the surface of the table
about four inches Rising perpendicularly in
the middle of this is short, stout steel or iron
blade, ike the sharp end of a wedge. Just be
low the round block to the right is round !
hole iii the table. Through this the shells are
swept, falling TO the floor in the space between
. box in which the shucker stands and that
of his neig hbor on the right
MOVEMENTS OF THE sHUCKERs.
There ROW about 800 men at work,
said the proprietor, land fully 800 of them are
colored. In about the same proportion we
employ them all the time. The colored shuck-
ers are easier to get. and are, perhaps, more
easily managed. The sbucilers are a hetero-
geneoiIS mass. is shown by most remark
able collection OF hats adjoining 800 heads.
The whole costuming and attire are striking
enough. being such a medley and motley of
dilapidated, mud-bedraggled, oyster-stained
garments of every hue and style, and cut as
never could have been surpassed.
"The movements of the shuckers are very
dexterors: with his left hand he seizes the
=, 1,s
in the block Like a flash, the hammer in
his right hand leScends and chips off an end
of the shell With an inconceivably swift
motion, the hammer is exchanged for a knife
with a short blade Almost invisibly the
keen blade darts between the shell of the
oyster, and simultaneously the biyalve flies
into the bucket and the shells into the escape
oriiice in the stand. Instantly the process is
repeated, and over and over again. If the hi
valve Is a large, fat one, il goes into certain
bucket; II it II leaner, into the other. The
colored shucker has a singular habit He
keeps his body in a constant nervous agita-
ton. IL is a half dance, an effort to 'hcft'
himself and keep his energy up. At one of
the stands is curious row of left-handed
shuckers, and they appear to work awk-
warily and slowly.
"lIark work. | should say So In a few
DAYS after = shucker begins he has To tie his
hands up in red flannel Ii is terrible strain
upon the wrists. After awhile they become
somewhat accustomed to il. hut all of them
as yoa s,e. still wear gloves upon the left
hand-that with which they pick up and hold
the oysters. They are peculiarly liable 10 rheu
matisln; but in the right arm rather than tn.
left, because, in lifting the hammer TO strike
the cold slime is constantly thrown from it
Il
iect Ia rheumatism can not work at the bust
hess at all. A long days work, indeed-from
q in the morning until $50 or Il O'Clock in the
afternoon. There are no set intermissions
\ shucker can stop to eat whenever he
chooses. hut few stop 10 eat at all They eat
between blows. some Of them not at all
Their chief concern is 10 make as much
wages a. possible They are paid up every
Saturday afternoon. An envelope containing
the exact amount Of his weeks wages is
brought TO each shucker as he stands at
work. The colored men often sing and
among them are voices which with cultiva-
ton and proper opportunity would net a
fortune Baltimore Herald
Eating Ants Instead of Pickles.
Ii is curious what an appetite for something
sour men have who eat a great deal of fat
food Generally IN the numbering region
large quantity of raspberries or blueherries
are picked and put down iii tubs TO sour for ,
winter use. But that year had been poor
berry year-Scarcely any had been gathered
Pickles, pickles. was the cry. morning,
noon. and night. There were twenty -siN
choppers of the camp, all calling for pickles
An ef yer can't git US roz-briz git ants So
the cook sent Al Churchill and 1.-The two
youngest members in the camp-oH into the
woods after great ants-for pickles
IL may seem rather odd, 10 say the least,
that anybody could have the stomach 10
eat so ugly an insect a big black
ant. But il is not infrequently done in the /,
numbering camps Of northern Maine and ,
Canada | did muster courage 10 chew one
up once 1t had a fine. acid favor. by no
means unpleasant if one could keep his eyes
shut Rough fellows, like the lumber
men, are not very fastiiioaS. The ,
cock gave us six-quart tin pail and cover to
get the ants in Al took an old gun which
was kept at tine camp to shoot partridge> and
other game. and l took ak TO cut open the
old logs and stumps with. We set off for a
tract where fire had run years before, and 7,
where old pine trunks lay scattered in decay