The Penn's Grove record., 1888-02-25
RAYS FROM THE sunny soUTH
BruslIy PIT. Fla,

February l2th, 1855.
Nix. EDIroR.-The catch of fish the
past week has been fair, Sparks and
Lee having captured the most. The
weather has been foul since the 3D.
Sparks was caught III squall oil the
10Th and had his sail split from head
to buuin.
Yesterday workmen began laying rails
un the trdmway out into he bay,
the ermiuu, OF the South Florida
railroad. DAILY trains now run III the
l;rusiiy Point division and by March LIST
direct communications will be had
%tri-wtekly nom Bushy 1T. TO Havana,
Cuba. We will be- able Il ship fish
over the road next week.
Feniy and HARRISON caught some
drum fish, weighing from 40 to 20
pounds, aud brought TO camp. MI.
Brown served Suine III chOwder. One
sci out ~as enough rs they were too
coarse aud unsayUry. Next to the
sword fish, jew fish, and halibut the
drum is perhaps the Ifgesl food fish of
our coast.
They are coInIlOH eStiyWters eyen
to the southern boundary Of Texas, but
me most plentiful in Florida. The
adult is known rs the black drum, tie
young rs the striped drum. The tnii
grown fish sometimes weigh 50 lbs; are
sluggish sW inUlleis and are especially
adapted to life un the bnttum where
their hong sensitive, BARRELS aid til IN
in their search ini food.
Their teeth are ~rNtitntl, heavy and
pavement IKE. Their Jaws are Yer,
powerful. as they can crush with great
eas,. the shells III the most strongly pro-
Ieclt,l invertebrates. 1t i. clMmed tual
the drum is very ieSil aCtivt Ia oysters
which air ilien taNuritt food. At
ApaIachicui -. Andrews, Mobile.
Tampa, and Galveston Bays the oNS-
tr piauieIS attribute the bulk 81
iiit,I luSSrs 10 drum liSil. Several i'll
stances ave uu record WllrIt vessel
loads OF oNsItrS thrown overheard to
De- better IitseI we'd have been entirely
consumed Ia < oI ~ days by them
leaving Il Il llral oi broken shell.
While drum leeds upon oyster rs well
as clal,S aud ShrImp>, il is probable that
the extent ui lhrir drsiluctiNeuess
has lttli oulnew lat exaggerated. Ii
Was claimed aieM Years ago that oysters
IN y. \. Bay, 10 the volumes oi hun
dredS Of thousands OF dollars were de-
stru,tu IL, drunl~. This seems quite
unlikti, since the drum is by no means
:, common fish 81 far north as New
York.
'illt H:ilnp drum alliudtS Ia the loud
Drumming moi e whri Is iteai,l "sIts.-
lallS in tie hcrding season and is
douh, less Iiie signal lay which the iiSli
call T. iiirir luitts. Git'>' sounds
,lrp,n nd IHig,i /, upon rhr action OF The
an. Rlani,Iel, The male drums Nei, load
while tin. icunal, in Il softer tone.
Fisl, under ~ H. do not breed. la
the Chesapeake region its llesli Is iuicli
esteemed and its roe is II great I" iicd-
Is. Considerable quantity is sold IN
Baltimore markets III tie spring and
fall. III the taf0limiS II Il customary
Tor the residents al the coiSi 10 salt
and drN them aud SEND them up cbIi-
try to their .rirndS Is Il very acceptl-
Bile present. The small fish are excel
lent pan fish. Tie larg- lisli are often
eaten, but are not y" good perhaps
lpcau>p they are liable to lie infested
with NurniS and often 10 IL, drum
Will bc completely riidldi by them.
soine : feet long with heads larger than
buck shot. In Florida the flesh Of the
dium is not greatly ~,>tteuned. They
are sometimes salted hut are chiefly
usrd ior compost.
Tlr scales of the drum are x
tenSivcly used in the manufacture of
of the sprays ol the flowers and other
articles f fancy work which are sold,
rSperiaiiy in Fla. under The name of
llsI, scale jeweiry. They are larG" and
silver, and sn hand %tlratsil IL necessary
io remove them from the fish with AN
aX ur hatrli-t. fiI- drum hts but lit
tie intrinsic value. TINT the fish is OF
linancial interest aud concern To the
oyster c%,ilturist. y siloal of them Of
ten destroys whole beds Of oysters.
wnrIl, thousands Of duilars, shy crush
in and leaving tfrm}um;.,trd ~ the
bottom. j, II, E.hhf