Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-07-06
ALONG THE SEASH0RE.
GATHERING SEA MOSES ON THE
BEACH AT CONEY ISLAND.
DeAlers-"Mosses' Not All Nege-
table-'Skate Eggs"-GiRnt
Moses and Seaweed-

New York sun
Found it?" asked a short, odd looking
old man, with "A lin can OVcrIls shoulder
OF n person who was wandering along til,
Coney island beach.
Found what" qucried the latter.
why. what you re huniin for
I'm not hunting for anything. saiC
the other
Nor |, either " said the old man. "bu
that's what some one asked me a while
ago They said looked a. if was try
ing TO find a gold mine After all. every
body that walks along shore rather cX
, poets 10 lind something that has been
wa'hcd up, its natural | come down
every year, continued the cd man, and
collect few odds aud ends, chiefly for
the children Shells, big ne K clans.
make famous things for them
TO dig with. and then my girl.
she's in the moss business Never heard
of the moss business: Why. b'esS YOU,
nv oldest girl makes 81 or ST a week
presSin moss You see come here and
to koCkaway about once week in the
season. and go bTowsin round and pick
up the best moss can find You see il :
generally all mixed up in the sand. and
most folks wouldn't notice it. and those
that did wouldn't think it was worth col
lectin
i've found few pieces 10 dav. and
the speaker opened his tan and took out
handful of rich green. purple, and red
weed Look rich. don't Iheyy But
they look better after my girl Nancy
takes them in hand. How is it done
Why, easy enough. She takes and washes
them in fresh water and then trims
them up in Just the shape she wants
and puts on a wash of diluted gum arabic
then they are spread on paper. and
I if they are delicate they are
picked out into shape under or
Just at the surface of the water with a
needle. Then she takes them out. puts a
piece of clean linen over them, then
another piece of paper and then puts the
whole thing in between two boards and
presses it in a press In twent, -four
hours it's done, and the moss is dry and
pressed into the paper, SO that you can
pass your finger right over il without
feClln IL, and the color never fades it's a
JOY forever She then sets them on a
stiff paper puts on the scientific name
and where her old father found them
htbita she calls iI-and they are ready
for the market Some she sells to
schools. Others are bound up into books
and she got a fine collection. | can tell
you She sells a good many to the Gu
rSity dealers and so her work and mine
gpes all over the country guess were
about the only ones right in the business
Nancy's going 10 branch out next winter
She has Il friend in Nassau and another
IN alifornia they are goin TO send her
moss so she will have specimens from
widely different parts of The world.
L. 1 Il 4
how little folks know about these Ordi-
nary things along shore Now. dare
say you Ink that all the moss I've got
here is vegetsble?"
Isn't it?" asked the listener, 10 humor
his new acquaintance
why. bless you, no. ! never knew it
myself till one day Nancy said. I wonder
if it hurts these animals 10 crush them!
Plants. you mean. said l. NO, they re
animals, she said. and she showed ME the
little cells the little critters lived in
polygOnS she called them. and tell YOU
il takes an eNI ert TO tell plant from ami
NAL in moss: they all look alike TO me
Take the sand collars you often fin d here.
what do people think they areY heard
one man say they were the print of u
horses hcOf hardened Another thought
they were only sand. but if y"u hold one
up TO the light and look through il ou
can see what it is in a minute its the /
eggs of the shell called the natiCA You
know these black four -cornered ob
jects that wash ashore? Well. they 7.
are called sea barrows. and lots |
Of people think they are fruit
Of some kind. but they are skale |
that come down here most don't have the |
time or the inclination To hunt out these
things The beauty of a soft c am is in |
the cooking. and of the Little Neck in the /
way it is served, They don't care about /
the habits of the creature.
Sea moss is more or less valuable all |
over the world. In Ireland the poorer |
classes depend greatly upon the carragecn |
moss. and some live upon it for months /
in each year. Ii is imported in large |
quantities and used as blanc mango ami |
ia various ways. The Scotch have their /
dulse. and in the Hebrides the langle is |
eaten. In South America the natives eat |
the moss that is known as D'UrvillOea |
utilis. Ii is giant of its kind. sometimes !
attains q length of several hundred feet.
and is so stout that a small vessel could /
anchor by one One found off the coast
of Chilli was so heavy that il took sixty
men TO drag il ashore. II grows in the
breakers. and rolling about appears like !
huge snakes. and often upsets boats that
become entangled in it.
arger still is the great weed NaCrOCys. |
It's pyr:fera, that attains a length of 90 |
feet or more. 1t also grUws in the break |
ers. and is Of great importance 10 some
coasts. as, were it not for its protection
the sea would beat So furiously that no |
fishes would 20 in shore, and so the inhab
,,a, yry.,,ll lsa la,,riyal Of nF
port This is especially true of the south
Pa,agonian coast. aud so important did
Darwin consider it that he once wrote
Amid the leaves OF this plant numerous
species of fish live, which nowhere else
could find food or shelter with their de
siruCtion the many COrmOrant and other
fishing birds the offers. seals. and por.
poiSeS would soon persiSb also. aud lastly.
the Fuegian savage the miserable lord of
this miserable land would redOuble his
feast, decrease in numbers. and perhanrc
cease 10 exist.
The seaweed collector Of New England
uses kelp To keep him warm, and in vari
Gus paris of urope il is used as a medi
cine. q greater part Of the iodine OF trade
being made from it. | ormerly the alkah
sofa used in the manufacture Of soap.
glass. and various articles was derived
from kelp, but 1t is now made from other
sources In France the kelp is placed in
great furnaces and dried. finally fusing
into Il solid mass that is known as varec
and in Spain as barrila. About twenty
four tons of weed produces a single ton
of varec. that is shipped TO manufacturers
in the bulk. and finally used in the manu-
facture of iodine
One Way to Keep Credit GOOD.
The clearing house exhibits Of the vari-
Gus cities of the United States are looked
upon as very good thermometers of trade.
They are TO some extent, but not To the
extent generally estimated. Many OF them
are doctored had a good illustration of
this several years ago. was director in
one bank and had an intimate personal
friend in another bank, and We often com
pared notes.