The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-12-25

battie between the MONITOR anu tue hei iii''1i
! is HOW, in tho year Ammo Domini eighteen
hDdre aud eighty eight infested by pirates
| Not pirates Of the Morgan or Capt KIDD
type, however Not heroic cutthroats, sener
Gus thieves. with athletic figures handsome
bronze1 features, long hair, piercing black
eyes and gay Spanish cos,umes-fearless fel-
J lows. who snap their fingers at the fury OF
. the wind bare their breasts 20 the lightning
and confront all the elements with immortal
defiance They are not picturesque corsairs
with zone virtue linked 70 "a thousand
/ crimes, these Chesapeake bay pirates And
T ;heir vessels are not "long, low, r2siSh
/ crafts rs which spread their white wings and
ipted away 70 tire horizon with the speed al
: tie wind The pirufes Of Chesapeake bay do
not s,uttie ships or sack towns arHi they have
meter been inown 20 make captured young
women, Vainiy pleading, walk the barbSrous
plank. Thfs Is no, due, however, to their
scrupulous moral principles, as will lie seen
further on.
The Chesapeake bag pirates are oyster
pirates nothing more nor less than men who
uuiaafully dledge oyster beds that do not
+ telong 70 them. tlie term pirates, by gen
/ eral usage. is therefore somewhat stretched
/ In its application 10 them BIT the booming
! Of Cannon and the crack Of rifles are now tue
frequent sounds that disturb the quiet that
brooss over tie beautiful waters Of the
Chesapeake.
/ Several battles have been fought between
the oyster police and the oyster pirates and
many lives have been lost in the undocisive
war tErs far this season. But II stu con-
tinues. and will no doubt continue indefin-
tely The police arc at disadvantage The
pirates know il. They have combined, and
are now n leet Of many hundred san, manuel
by desperate characters, to whom conscience
and humanity sssm to be unknown quanti-
ties
The causes and nature Of tie oyster war
cannot be understood without some knowl-
edge Of the lays on the subject and Of the
methods ei-Iurpains the business.
Il. 1868 the Maryland legislature assumed
control over the-oystei beds Of Chesapeake
BAY sni all it, estuaries, channels, creeks aud
the rivers deb6nching into it, The law was
designed 70 protect the industry by placing
b it. under. governmental supervision, for even
At that dav the growth OF the oyster business
Threatened 20 destroy the oyster beds faster
than they could BE- naturally replenished
By the Law the oyster gatherers were divided
into three glasses and the territories within
: Nhich each class might operate were defined
a. skcrply az possible. An appropriation
vas made for the purchase Of steamer to
act rs a police guardian OF the laws.
OF the three classes into which the oyster
men were divdoli arst in tho order OF origin
come the ionger4 This class is usually com
I posed OF the poor1 men, AMI they take Their
name from the. CHEF implement ~ their
work, big PAIR Of rakes- with handles
usually about twenty feet long joined to
gether by bolt hinge near the lower end.
Tue teeth OF the rakes are set facing each
other. so that when the handles are brought
together the teeth shut up like pair Of
Jaws, and whatever Is grasped Is them Is
bound to come up. Tongers, ms rule, use
rude canoes sloops aud ''pungies' for their
work, and generally work In pairs. They
have not the capital necessary 70 provide
themselves with large boat and dredging
machinery On TO employ large crew, there
fore they are tongers. These men are usually
inohensive. ignorant, hard working men and
respecters Of the law.
Next 90 the tongers are the scrapers, aud
the only difference between them and the
dredgers, who constitute the third class, lies
in TIE tonnage Of their boats Their methods
are the same, but as the scrapers arc re-
strictei to the shallower waters their
machines are built upon smaller scala
Tho scrape or dredge consists Of Il heavy
rake without handle. A net Is attached to
it In such way that whatever Is torn up by
the teeth is caught in IT, In place Of q
handle long rope runs from the rake to the
deck of the boat aud TO q windlass. Every