Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-06-29
oYsTER.sHUCKINo.

Establishments are located all over the city.
II IL no, hard TO locate them when once
In the nsighbOrhooi Th;rs IL the wall
Of shells. and there Is that unmis,akab!e
odor which briggs scent bottles into ae-
tive demand.
The proprietor Of an oys,er.paeking
establishment on the south side OF the
harbor conducted reporter through his
establishment, no, long ago. His start.
ing poin, We. pier built out into the
basin some eighty feet. II 10 roofed'
and connects Immediately with the
,hueking house" There are sliding
doors on each side. A large oyster pun
~ was moored close to each. and the
transfer OF their cargo Of oysters TO the
packing house was going on rapidly
The biyalves were hois,sd by machinery
from The holds of the pungies In buckets
tha, contained . bu.hel aud half. The
momeh, they are bodied up and over TO
the pier a wheelbsirow with an iron body
was ready TO catch the contents. In
jiay they we're dumped in. and In a twin.
kle whi,ked away by s,ou, WHEELER
white and black.
"The shucking.house. announced the
proprietor. As the reporter entered an i'm
men.e alea Of room. "lt SIS fee; by $50,
he said. I, IL lighted by an immense sky
nsh, tha, arches over the whole space.
Row after row Of tables. OF stands. extend
the whole length Of the room. and fos
run. around the sides Of the walls. Each
eide Of row after row Is lined With the
.hueker VIVA, q bedlam. No eere'
mony |, observed. no restraint u felt by
the ioilsr-. They chatter as they work /;
they laugh and shout and merrily guy
each other. TIER hammers aud knives
keep up q eesseless accompaniment OF
the sharp blow. aud def, thrust, Wheel
barrow. rattle In With unshueksd oysters
and rattle ou, with the shells. shueksrs
are darling from their stands With faIl
can. and returning with empty ones
The briek.payed floor - almost 'orren,
Of liquor aud slime. From each .haes'
err. place run, into /, little feeding
stream. All the employee. down to
the poore., and humbls., shaeksr. wear
boots.
"Yu. sab" Vas the testimony u an
oli color,d shueker. "~e has ter Yah EN-
FOR .uah. An mo an Dat. We has ter
pa, mighty tick sole shoe. on inside EN-
An den. see whr Use sianin'-on Dis
hyar plank. Sof. boss. II We dida', tea
all desc percussion. We wouldn't lib TO
draw no ,slery on de nel' comm Sad
day"
The plank TO which the old man re-
f,rrd i. the bottom OF sor, Of boz, open
behind him ard coming up IN from, al
mos, 10 hi. waist, Each .hueksr stands
ina similar Continuance. Abou, ,hre'
fee, OF space /. par,i,on,d OF l-ns,hwi''
and .pportioned to each man. !, run'
back sboa, an equal distance to the high
middle partition which separates tbs
.hueker from the row Of workers on the
other side. Over in the lsf.hand oornei
Of hi. space are piled the un.hueksd oys'
,s.. A, hi. right. confined in place b,
q compartment, Of jus, the nigh, width
are two can. Of one-gallon capacity each.
Immediately in from, Of him !. round
block, raised from the surface Of the Ia
Die abou, four inches. Rising perpen'
dieularly in the middle Of this i' short,
stout steel or iron blade. like q wedge
Jus, below the round block to the night
i. round hole in the table Through
,hi. the she'll, ATE swept, falling TO the
floor in the space between the box u
which the .hueksr stand. and thA, Of hi'
neighbor on the right
There are about 800 men a, work.
said the proprietor, and fully 200 Of
them are eolored. In abou, the same
proportion We employ them all the time.
The eolored shueker are easier to se',
and are. perhaps, more easily managed.
The ,huckers are a Heterogeneous mass,
As IL shown by q mos, remarkable eollse'
ton Of hats Adorning 800 heads. The
whole eo.,uming and attire ATE striking
enough, being such q medley and mot
ley Of dilapida,ed. ud.bedrsgglsd, oy'.
ier.s,.ined garments Of every hue and
style. and Gu, a. never eoull have been
surpassed.
The movements Of the shueker are
very de,ierou.; with his left hand he
.eire. the oyster. and It's edge !. laid up
on the iron blade in the block. Like
flash, the hammer 10 bis rish, hand de-
.cend. and chips Off an end Of the shell
With an ineonoei,ably s~if, motion. the
hammer !. exchanged for knife with =
short blade. Almost insisibly the keen
blade darts between the shell Of the oys'
ter. and simultaneously the biv.lve fie'
into the buckle, and the shells into the
escape. orfce in the stand. Instantly
the process il repeated. and over aud ove'
again. II the bivalve Is a large. "a, one,
il goes into certain bucket; II Il u
le.ner. into the other. The eolored
shucker has q singular habit. Tie keeps
hi. body in . constant nervous agitation
IL Is = half dance. an effort 10 "heft
himself and keep bis energy up. Alto
Of the stands is a curious row Of left
handed shuekers. and they appear to work
awkwardly and slowly.
"Hard work | should say 80. Ia q
few days after . shucksr begins, he has
to tie his hands up in red flannel. II i
q terrible strain upon the wrists. After
awhile they become somewhat accustomed
to II, bat all Of them. /. you see, still
wear gloves upon the left hand-'hs'
with which they pick up and hold the
oysters. They are peculiarly liable to
rheumatism; bu, in the rieh, arm rather
than the left. because. in lifting the ham
mer to strike. the cold slime Is constant
ly thrown from |, over the nigh, shoul-
der. A man already subj,c, to rhsuma.
tism cannot work At the business 1t all.
A long days work. indeed-from 9 in
the morning until $50 or o'clock in