Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1886-09-11
THE RHODE ISLAND CLAN.
It's History from the Ocean Mud to the Tai

prepared TO I'LL. as it often Is. from
i've TO fifteen or twenty thousand peo-
ME in the course Of few hours, Is
4 stupeudous affair, and from The DOT
tom M is a work to be admired as
whole and wondered at il its details,
and few of the thousands who IN The
course of the summer season sit down
10 clam dinners appreciate the work
cntailed IN It's preparation. First and
foremost. saws The IrariTCRce J0Hr1a.,
there is the clam. Most of the clans
used at the shore resorts OF Narragan-
selt bay come from the Hats across the
bav from Navart. on the Conlmlcut
shore and on Green Island. As lar
up as raWtuNet and abont Sabm
point the ciamS are considered hard,
clue SHIELDED and gritty; but across at
Bullock's point they are good, and
the Bullock'S pointers get their CLANS
right at home. Two-lh.rds OF the
clans are got by "churning.' The
clam-cang wadcs ont over the bed and
.hoye.s up mud and clans and every
thing that comes along into big wire
baskets. which, when about full, are
lifted ont OF the water, and a rlnslng
and shaking washes out the mud and
leaves the CLAIMS. Two men and boy
attend TO each basket, one man shovel
inc in the mud. the second getting out
the clans, and the boy ''cullDg' them.
ChUrninr can only toe done at about
half-tide, when the water Is two or
three feet deep, as, 10y the time the
workman has 10 put his head under
water when he bends over ut shovel
ing, he soon has 10 give up the job.
The suction on the shOvelS i tremen-
dous. and they are made exceptionally
strong. When there are good tides,
on the full and change OF the moon,
| the CLANS may be rahed out after the
manner of professional diggers;
shoveltul of mud is turned up at the
/ time. and the CLAIMS it contains are
raked ont with the ciam-hoe. Con-
| sideration OF either of the above meth
! DDS is sufficient for true understand
/ ing OF the happiness of the clam at
/ high water. The clam ordinarily lies
/ in the mud from two 10 eighteen
/ inches: clam that would bury itself
much deeper than eighteen inches Is
not TO be looked upon with favor. 1t
| is wearing life that the clam dlSgcrs
! lead, working rs they DO five or six
| hours at a time in the water, and so
/ hard rs TO be constantly wet with per-
| spiratiOn.
Capt, j. II. Northrup, who has been
the captain Of the Rocky point clam
/ gang for some eleven years, and has
probably handled more clans in his
| lifetime than any other man in Rhode
Island, gave THeJ0"rnal representative
some interesting facts about the bust
ness. He said that at Rocky point
alone last wear some 1000 bushels OF
CLANS for the bake alone were used.
His regular clam gang Is seventeen or
eighteen men. but on big days 1t Is
necessary TO increase the force 10 fifty
or sixty men. This year the CLAIMS on
Green's island are only one year old,
and are ready for the bake-a remark
able case OF clam growth. 1t appears
that when the clans are in great
abundance they grow very slowly, aud
those used last year from Green 5
island were about three wears old; but,
being few of them set one year ago.
they grew large enough 70 use very
rapidly.
do the CLANS ever run out before
the season is ended?" was asked the
captain.
"Oh. yes; and then we hSve 10 look
somewhere else FOR them. Now, this
wear, before the season IS over We
shall probably have 10 leave our pres
ent place and dig over in Coles river
and in the kickemuit river. Those
Will be Massachusetts clans. OF course,
but they are favored with Rhode
Island water. Already the clans on
Green's island are thinning out, and
on the lst of August / shall raise the
pay of ny men. They get 80 cents {
bushei now, and their pay Will bt
raised to 81 per bushel. Do ! expect
the CLANS will get run out entirely!
Well, not just vet, and at present The
prospect is something wonderful fol-
next wear. | never saw such a set o.
CLANS as are ali along the shore now
if they all lived there would be enough
CLAIMS TO supply the world next year
just come with me and take look.
The tide was about half in, and the
mud-flats were scattered over with al
sorts OF refuse, shells, and weeds. Tn,
captain bent down and picked up wha
q
off bit of clam-shell, but as II lay il
his hand, a closer look revealed it per
fectly-formed clam-shell, a beautiful
object, not as big as a baby $. little
finger nail, as white as alabaSteft. ant
the light showing pink through il
delicate substance. The least pres
sure would have crushed it to almos
invisible atoms. That's clam,
said the captain, ''that's may be three
weeks old. and You'll find millions
about here. As quick as they Get an
size they will begin TO burrOw dow
into the mud. The whole shore j
covered with them and in all my ex
perience of thirty years / never saw
: such set They are SO thick TIA
, the prospect is they viii not grow fast
q and it will take two or three wears TO
) them to get big enough unless the,
, die of. A handful OF these will MAX
more'n a bUshel when they are grow
I up" A careful look over the mudd
beach revealed there beautiful NINA
: ture clans shells yet without trace q
meat within them in hundreds, aud
microscope would have shown thou
sands where the few were visible (
the naked eve.
As the men are paid for Their dig
n ging by the bushel, il is evident tina
on skill and hard work depends tn
a amount of money the digger get.
while "churning" is evidently NOR
profitable than ''raking." Ever
= shore resort has lis thoroughbred die