The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1888-08-31
mi, sYE At THE BRAN
:. r.,ls Of the Soft-shell Crab
snd How He Is Caught.
- crabs and Their Tdiesyn-
r.eses-Bogus Joy, Red Ants
sud Gloom.
rsew York World. /

-,u,ruy women and ostracisea ch1idFen
i bc found here now in great
-r.usit;es. All classes, except young
-. are 10 be found. Several attract
=. voung men wsuid certainly do well
=. his summer. As it is now, even
- bows who are large enough to
srsake half a cigar without getting
III are greedily snapped up
Grabbing Is one of the sports along
80 SEA girt shoreso Long Branch and
ps..sure bay. The straw ride, crab
Ing and faro serve TO give zest TO life
M make the season pass pleasantly.
usny varieties Of crabs are found In
a, bo.om Of the Vastly deep, from the
European hermit crab to the speckied
pachydern Of the Red fea.
The generous growth known as the
.o.s;sc crab il not edible.
Along the coast of the United States
.arth Of the Chesapeake, we find the
Iupes cicantha, which is very tooth
so,ne Wand when cooked with his con-
s>pts. He has a figure somewhat like
tbat OF an overgrown tarantaIa. but
snlike The latter Is absolutely destitute
4 name and tail. He sheds his shell
4 certain seasons, during which time
II i called shedder, ana he does not
sing while moulting. The soft shell
erab. which is fried in butter and de-
vpured by the epicures OF New York,
has q unique way OF shedding the hard
sheH when he outgrows il. He begins
81 extending himself to his full hight
N such way as TO rupture his wrap
pings In very slight degree, when he
heeins gra.ually to work out n little at
time until he has successfully shnck-
ed himself. 1t Is apparently about as
easy a. 1t would be for large man to
remove his collar button and then
emerge gradually through the aperture
thus left. or for Mr.. Jay Gould to
enter the kingdom of heaven accom-
panied by round house and the roll
ing stock OF his various roads.
The crab OF commerce differs from
the land crab which lives in the in
terror, only going once year TO the
sea coast 10 deposit its eggs. At these
seasons the land crabs frequently
form In hugh professions. $50 feet
wide and over three miles in length.
In Jamaica the land crab il regarded
as extremely edible.
The Long Branch crab loves to
hover about the bathing resorts and
bite the lambs of beauty. The male
crab has no sense of delicacy and very
often by his abrupt ways gives much
needless pain. The female crab lays
the eggs for the family.
Grabbing Is done in several ways.
Yon can tie the head OF a fish to q
tHine string and succeed just as well
as you would with an expensive rod
and reel.
went grabbing last week in Pleas
ure bay and enjoyed IL very much. Ii
;sdifferent from hunting elephants or
pulling a tiger out OF his lair by the
tail. being safer and less exciting, |
have hunted the coon in the South
with more or less success, stepped on
the trail OF the Indian aud apoioglzed
ior II afterwards, supplied the regular
army for two weeks with buffalo meat
llain by these fair hands, shared a1ek-
,rs in Illinois, hunted anarchists,
'pent the evening with vigilance
played bean bag with some
u our hest people, and been ARE ted
IN the Bowery by a round man with
! Ss-Ten- Nights-in-a-B arfoom breath,
)ut | never enjoyed myself better in
NY life than I did grabbing on the
'mooth surface OF the bay with a cot
.on string and fish head
James Whiteomb Riley also soaked
he cold aud pulseless features OF n
lead fish in the calm and crab-infested
waters. Ever and anon he would burst
orth into song. The low refrain
would start up kind OF easy. like the
BEGINNING of an anthem. and then 1t
would swell ont in places, and. arising
% a height of seven or eight feet, IL
would then safely Gle away like the
vail Of the damned. Sometimes he
would tell me what he had been sing
ng, and could see by The words OF
he song that Il was so, and that he
sas iiant about II.
The sweet smell OF the hay field came
lightly across the water ana kissed the
lolce farinn iineamentS OF our sleep
ng sail. The low plant OF the cuckoo
lock and the gentleman from New
York who had Just been presented
With his bill was horne across the
iimpled bosom Of the tide.
Then James Whitcomb Riley again
burst forth into SON. lie has good
voice. IL is rich anu full, with notehes
cut in IL SO that when he gets up to =
high note be can hold on without sip
ping cog or dating. | tried to sing
with him, bat eoui,i not do 50 success
fully ut all. Our party said that had
more soul than voice, while Mr.. Riley
seemed 10 run largely 10 voice. II |
could keep my soul out of ms song
more / would he less apt to give
oitense 10 sen tive people. Bat Mt.
Riley's notes Ti.e ike those OF a lark.
mature rapidly and end In q glad hieai
which shakes the green apples OF the
trees for miles around. ! Oii not sue
coed in reaching the aitiiute which
Mr. Riley oid bat once, and that was
when | was trying to explain to a
young lady. bv means 81 large ultra
marine crab. how it was that the ani.
NAL could catch hold OF anything and
retain il in his possession for a long
time.
Mr.. Riley composes rapidly while
easily inventiug, construct
ing improyi>iBg. correcting and revls-
ing as he goes along. lie also con
struetS an accompaniment OF mu te
while keeping his eve al the time on
his sport lie l. certainly a very YER
satiie and ambidextrous man | pge-
suHe be wouldn't care to have me
speak OF it here, bat to show how
easily he cpmpo es | viii say that he
arranged Tor the pianoIegte while We
were grabbing soft OF Tonnceau or
renade elite et ~ the air OF Marching,
Through Georgia" which made the
hot tears vel ~ In my eyes, and taeY
have been So dry that for years they
save squeaked III their oekets. | can
oAlT recall now few live al The song,
but they show that the writer Is born,
not m8lie. They are a. lo.lows;
scarcely could we I've restrained fsonl
buNtiug into tears
When We saw those good old crabs We
hadnt caught fdr wars,
While We went grabbing through Georgia
Long Branch Is aid 10 he the Monte
Carlo of Anne lea this summer. de-
oieed thst this vas the c8se when !
saw several gentlemen here who are
generally louua around prosperous
mining camp Where money l. plenty
there you and the man with he Tar.
away hook which goeth with the hlafi
ami him that ,tandtth psf
Along he beautiful dive ope sees
Tue glad suile ~ youth and the sad
ana aHSl0sIS face Of age. la every
tosSiblc vehicle tap, carriage or con
yeyance, from the bav wagon ot the
Jerseyman to lhe soit|y linesi and gent
" sMaNlnE eanVNNaf q. u the MeaithN