Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1888-02-26

= auonra 0used = - bay b ~
-. TSie neans sAak ~ - se-
esufs 10 the oynefuaa thi1 sea1oo VA
: sAss mach xhcst Of yhas ny
Nod hsss bssa bad the NUA ma I
eearrsd. Il = ta4psolhaa 70 voas [
g elecs vii BE On ~ crop which VA
,oue INTO masbek next year. bat - !
,vaermen ShemAtlves feel very Rioo1ys Il
easine thas Il viii entirely kili oar me
,eds ID many plseeA
Several rsstdenss Of OymptA remen-
ser the time when the uud nasa y
Boadss Inlet fso0 the bridge nearly
3own a. fas - she bar exten0s we're
,ovxred vtsh oysteRs vhsch had An en-
,iabIe regulation vhsFevef knovn-
william Ban, IN old resident OF tns |
Scurd country. and Who nou mas .
tore al Oyssee Bay, sac b fememoen
rell thai pPevicus 10 the severe fsee1e,
vhich be thinks ccc1rred ahous the
vinfer OF le61-a The Oats here vese
severed With cyst<rs Of N exceuens
favor. and that scos thereafter tney
Sled out Apf0pos of this u may oe
aid that, a Low tide, . solitary hioosoo-
man is sometinss seen upon sne mas
here on the vese AIDE, gathering o. sssfs:
snd he has been Observed 90 several
occasions TO get Q sackfnl 81 one psck-
ing.
ACQUIRING rIIL1 70 DxD2
A before stated. the beds begin
about ons mile from the head OF sne
bsy, the firss one being owned BY M.
samuel K. Taylor. whose name y
familiar one to cid residents Of the
sound country. Both M. Taylor and
Nj. Bran vill remember that the beds
extended almost TO the head Of Oyster
BAY until there came . sevtre free1s
some eight years ago. which killed them
all cot above this place, ~ veil -
majority OF those below. And u 10 upon
tel, despoliution Of the natural oysters
that the oy ssernen base the CHIEF claim
TO their titles, for there can be no Ques
fiou tut that this is q natural oyster
ground. section 11e9 Of the code says
that "Any person being citizen OF this
territory. Who has planted, or vho may
heseafses plant oyssers. in any bay or
arm of the sea where there are no nat
oral beds of oysters within or boroefina
UPON this territory. may acquire, By
conforming TO the requirements OK this
title, an exclusive right for such pur
pose to that portion OF sueh bay or arm
Of the sea 40 he shall 30 occupy, not
exceeding for any one person an area OF
more than twenty acres" The sections
following provide the manner IN which
any person desiring to take advantage
OF this act must proceed, which IL by
marking the boundaries OF his claim BY
stakes, BY EakIng an af6davit that he
has taken said premises for the purpose
of planting OF etefs thereon; that said
premises are not upan and do not In
clude any natural bed of oysters, and
shat they are not occupied and claimed,
in accordance with Law except ~ him
self, and lastly by fling With tae auditor
OF the county IL which the beds ere sit
uated the affidavit as above with de-
scriptiou OF the claim. The beds owned
by ous person med not all be in one
place, provided they do not in the az
RYeaate exceed twenty acres.
Ibis in substs noe il the Law OF the
territory relating TO this matter and the
oystesu en- claim that no matter IL il Is
q natural oyster ground, II by natural
causes she oyssers have been de troyed.
they may rep.ant and claim under the
statute. Il will be noticed that the sec
ton Of the code quoted says any person
who % ay plant oysters wtsrs tAsrs are nc
natsr1f beds of oysters. This would
seem to allow the construction given.
II it does not the cultivation Of oysterl
in shs territory might as well be given
up, bes,ause il cannot be made a success
unless undertaken upon natural oystei
groand There are a fes scattering
oy steRs nov in ths oay at Olympia, and
within the memory of man it once
abGunded with them, placed there J
the God Of nature. and it seems reason
able to suppose that ii these mud fiatl
we're, by ihe hand Of man feplantet
with this most l1eious OF sea foods tn
sole right to enjoy them would not b,
denied the person doing this work be
cause, forsooth, the land was natura
oyster ground.
Possibilities OF OYSTER BAY.
From the beat estimates which could
be obtained, the amount OF ground IL
Oyster Bay which could be successfully
devoted to the culture CT oysters !,
about 1000 acres. As the oyster Should
be at least three years old before being
marketed, only one-shird Of this ares
could be counted as IN actual prodao
ton. Those in the business estinatt
that each acre should, II folly planted
produce one saek for each week Of tht
year. This would make the annua
possible output of the bay IN round
numbers 10000 sacks of 100 pounds
each. and hav. ing q probable cash va!us
Of $4,000.
On the other hand, let us look at TIE
bay as II Is, with an estimated acreage
OF 20C0, which,, before the recent freeze
; Ar ID ~ uaka
week. Estimating the area in bearine
would give less than one sack per weel
for two acres, which shows that ever
the area nos! in cultivation IL not pro-
ducine one half of what il might, With
proper effort, be made to bear IL the
calculations of the oystermen in sela.
ton TO the possibilities OF proancticn
are correct.
Daring the late freezs the industry
vas entirely stopped, as the bay vas
covered with ice which compelled the
removal of the host houses TO the beach
IN order TO prevent their being carried
away by the 100 which would form
around them. This stroke of Ill
sortuue seemed. for the time being, to
entirely demofalizs the majority Of tie
oy s,ermep and for several weeks after
tue freeze the 0afput was bot two OF
three doZ Ems OF sacks per week. For
the past two or three weeks about 15O
sacks ger week has been the output and
the oystermen do not think IL will ex-
eeed this durir z the remainder Of the
season.
Ar. Taylor. Who IL an enthusiast in
the business, and Who sees q great
future in store for the industry upon
The Sound, took rs in his rowboai TO
the bead of tte bay where some parties
bad At some time in the past made con-
siderable excavations with the expecta-
,ion of nudsng copper. These exoava.
tions, or popd holes. a. Mr.. Taylor
called them. we're below high tide. and
therefore y ater always stands in them,
and We picked oysters out Of their
depths from the mature ones Of three or
four years 10 the tender one Of not more
than six n onths' growth. NOT one Of
which Was the least bit touched By
frost. Wien upon the beds in the eve
ming my ATTENTION vas called to the fact
that IN cert In places, although the tide
vas ons and there vas no hollow 10 re-
tain the wafer, there v as wafer enough
70 cover cot oe Of the oysters, and IN such
places they were not ffcZ ESQ.
This Is fresh water spfirgipR oontin-
uaily from the eronnd," said Mr.. Tay-