Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-12-18
MATHEWS COUNTY.
4 cHAPrIR ON OYSTERS AND THR
OYSTER TRADE.
How the Bivalvee Are Grown. Caught, and
Karketed-A Coon story-A
War Romance.
correspondence Of the Richmond Dispatchl

NHKtukd NeNt Uttn mNiN 'hsh W. 'h
pressed With The truth Of that old saw.
This good old county Of Mathews Is almost
surrounded by salt water. The creeks aud
bays that run into IL from the noble CheSa-
peake cut {, up like the fingers OF glove,
so that there Is not house In the county,
am told. that Is over one mile from salt
water. This prcdominance OF brine IN the
atmosphere makes II one Of the hcalthiest
sections in Virginia.
The Dispatch containing this win go 20
many houses IN the Valley, In the south
west. III Piedmont, and in East Viz
gipia. where the splash OF the tide
or The roar Of The surf was never
heard-whcrc a boat under Slil, the
smoke Of a steamer. or the simmer OF
the moon on the broad water was never
seen, and where 1t would be hard to I'M
dersisnd how people could 1--we a. they do
here from morning till night, day in and
day out. week after week on the water and
by the water Here hardly man YOU mcet
but has some interest on the water or IN
the oyster and fish business. Nearly every
landowner hiss an oyster shore, while
others rent shore, gather from the water
Of some one else, paying royalty. or take
their oysters from the waters oil the Com
moDwealth. The negroes a. well a. the
whites tong UP oysters all day long from
the bottom Of the bays and creeks. sleep IN
the boats or in their houses on the
islands and near the shores, and are
at II again by sunrise. The carpen-
ters build bOals and oystcr-vessclS, The
blat ksmItbs make and mend OySter-tongs.
the merchants buy and ship oysters, the
steamers get their chief ladlng from oys-
tiers. the lawyers their best practice from
oyster suits and oyster law. breakers, ths |
doctors their best practice from oy,termen,
and the preachers tie bulk OF their pay |
from thu same source. while the drummcrs |
oyerrun the land hunting the bushes. OF |
oyster-sbippers and selling whisky with |
which 10 warm up the wei and cold oyster |
men. and We eat oysters three times dag |
(the very best aud talk oysters between |
times.
WHERE THE BEST CONE FROM.
Just now there Is unusual activity in the !
market on account Of the approaching |
Christmas. A Philadelphia drummer, Just |
in at our hotel tonight, reports 1000 bar |
rels going To his home alone from the Rap |
pabann0ck this week, and the market brisk, |
- per barrel for far and $3.50 TO - for |
good. From the Eastern shore and all this |
tidewater section this year the crop i fine. |
From the seaside il is poor; there they get |
good in The spring. The dealers from these |
ports ship their oysters in barrels or in |
bulk in schooncrs and Sloops and sell 10y |
the busbel in market, but from the Jersey |
Shore they ship in sacks and sell by the |
thousand, counting every oyster in the |
sack. The best oyster that goes from
the northern shores is gotten i'm the
Morris river cOycS, on the Jersey coast
The best from the Virginia waters
are the Lynnhayen. from LynnIayen bly, |
ON the coast of Princes Anne /; the Cherry
stone from Northampton; the Cbncoicagle-
hay oysters from Accomack, and the Horn
Uarbor from a little bay OF that name on the /
Mathews coast. The Lynnhaycn has the
widest roputalion-thCrc are so many more |
Of them. but never saw anything To equal
the Horn lIaTbOT oyster for plumpuc>S.
tenderness, and flavor. The Eucycl0pW
din SAWS that Mathews county furnishes
the best oysters in the world, ard | think
the author must have had a bait ut Horn
Ilarbors. They always bring fancy prices,
and are used for saloon counter, in Bait.
more and Philadelphia. 4 tine shipment
Of SO barrels from Yorktown, N0rthamp.
ton county, is talked about here tonight.
II WAS made ten days ago, and brought
- per barrel.
LOADING AND saN1iNG OYSTERS.
CEckett Hill is a busy little wharf on
Piankiank river, Whcro the Baltimore boat
lands. ! drove out there the other day.
ThcIe was natty little 3, j00-Scho1uJr al
the haTf loading with oysters for BATH
more, and / walked on, on the wharf 10
learn something. There is q beautiful IT.
tie harbor there between the main lad aul
Gwynh's island. Ii was dotted over with
small boats, and, being a bright day. a!l
bands were busy longing up the oyster,
from the good bottom. There were seyc.
raj other schO0ners also anchored about in
the harbor, each with its Dig llyin.,
which means. under these circumstances,
1--WE want to buy OYSTERS When "a
little boat would get lis lOld il would pad
die up to the big ones and commence
trading. A little boat filled with oysters
soon came alongside the schooner at The
wharf. The captain jumped down int
the little boat, Oy stCr.knlfe In hand, Op neil
and sampled, Away, eating the oystIrwhen
good and tat, and throwing It away when
poor. This load was good. The captain
offered forty cents bushcl; the bargain
was struck. and a pair Of hooks and has.
bet lowered by rOpe and policy from tn
vessel Ia the boat, and the tan fer oi
cargo niucteCn bushCl>-at once com
meDced. That was soon effected. The
FISHERMAN had counted out TO him 500 in
silver ~ The result Of bis aud his boys mOm-
inc's work, and padded of, apr arenty well
satisfied. This seemed TO b. the m0dVI
OperOpdi as far a. | could see over the mar
boz, being little varied at our vessel by the
presence Of visitors; for the captain, see
ing that we were landiubbcrs (grcenys). |
invited US aboard from the wharf and
asked us il we would not try some oysters.
We resdily accepted the unexpected treat.
wondering, though, how they were to be
served up. He sent bucket down into
the boat, and il was soon drawn up fall Of
picked ones In the shell. The captain sat
down and commenced opening them dcN-
tcrOusly, handing them In H. on the halt
shell, one by one, a. he opened. Nothing
was said about crackers, sauce, or cat.
sup, and our host apparently thought
nothing OF II, 50 we ate with the
salt water for our sauce and the salt air
for our crackers, and we ale until we were
filed. the bucket emplied, aud fragments
to tell the tale. We expressed ourselves
afterwards rather yauntiDglV OF the feat We
had accomplished IN cleaning up the buck.
Ct, two of Us, when a Mathews man @: am
Pile frontage standing 10y quietly remarked
that when he was hungry he had often eaten
a haf. buSbel that way. 4 half bushcl
shells out over half gallon. We subsidized
and felt humbed IN that presence. and the
words OF Solomon the Wise, Pride gOcth
before fall" which came % our mind. did
not comfort us.
How COOKS LOVE THEM.
l never knew till to-day that 'coons,
which abound on these shores, are very
fond OF the toothsome biyalves. They go
down to the water when the tide Is low and
pull them of the rocks, managing to open
the shell with their claws enough TO scratch
out the oyster. An old citizen tells me
that coon was found one morning |
with his paw held fast by a big oyster,
which was attached so drmiy TO "a log that
the coon could not pull him OF nor get his
paw out Of the she'll which had shut down |
on II like a steelirap. So the yarm,nt wa |
captured.
now THY KEEP THEN FOR The TABLE.
AT the hotel where am stopping the |
proprietor has an oystcT-house and keeps
au'Oysier.shueker. He always has on baud /
supply OF oysters In the shell, and has
them shueked for each meal; so we knog
We will always have fresh oysters. These
hotelmen are oyster.epicures, aud will have
none but the best. which they pay 81 a
bushel f0r-that is, about gallon aud
quart shucked, though | saw
boat.load OF very tine ones, which had
been planted and cultivated, sell to. day at
eighty cents per busbe The natural or