Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1888-03-09

and left till the cullers are ready for
them.
The reporter assumes that a great
many people who will read this article
are as unsophisticated as himself, and
for the benefit OF such he will say that
sink is composed of two logs placed
parallel and fastened few feet apart,
and having planks nailed to the bot
toms so as to form floor few inches
under water, the logs forming the
sides. In this sink the oysters will
keep fresh much longer than if left
upon the float. 1t also serves the
further purpose of washing the mud
from the shells, much of which is taken
up by both rake and fork. The oysters
within pitching distance OF the float
exhausted, it is moved to another
place at the next tide.
There is another means of gather
ing the oysters, called tonging,"
which is simply going along in boat
and picking the oysters up with pair
of tongs made expressly for that pur-
pose. This method is, OF course, only
used when the beds are covered by
water at all times, as some of the best
ones are.
EFFECTS OF THE FREEZE.
The effects of the freeze which oc-
Cured during the cold weather of
last month are just becoming fully ap-
parent. The coolest time was just
when the beds were bare at night, and
the tender and the helpless oysters re-
ceived a chill from which large per
cent. of them have since died. Sew
eral oystermen with whom l talked
and who were fully conversant with all
the circumstances put $4,000 as
low estimate of the damage caused in
the bay by the freeze. This means
that the net receipts to the oystermen
this season will be that much short of
what they would have been had the
freeze not occurred. 1t is impossible
to tell what the effect will be on the
crop which will come into the market
next year, but the oystermen them
selves feel very gloomy, fearing that it
will entirely kill out the beds in many
places.
Several residents of Olympia remem-
ber the time when the mud fats in
Budd's Inlet from the bridge nearly
down as far as the bar extends were
covered with oysters which had an en-
viable reputation wherever known.
William Bran, an old resident of the
Sound country, and who now has I,
store at Oyster Bay, says he Relic.
bers well that previous to the sevcl
freeze, which he thinks occurred about
the winter of 1862, the flats here were
covered with oysters of an excellent
flavor. and that soon thereafter they
died out. Apropos OF this it may be
said that, at low tide, solitary
klootchman is sometimes. seen upon
the flats here on the west side, gather
ing oysters, and she has been observed
on several occasions to get sackful
at one picking.
ACQUIRING TITLE TO BEDS.
AS before stated, the beds begin
about one mile from the head of the
bay, the first one being owned by Mr..
Samuel X. Taylor, whose name is a
familiar one to old residents of the
Sound country. Both Mr.. Taylor and
Mr.. Bran we'll remember that the beds
extended almost to the head of Oyster
Bay until there came a severe freeze
come eight years ago, which killed
them all out above this place, as well
as majority of those below. And it
is upon this despoliation of the nat
ural oysters that the oystermen base
the chief claim to their titles, for there
car be no question but that this is a
natural oyster ground. Section 1,187
of the code says that Any person be-
ing citizen of this Territory, who has
planted, or who may hereafter plant
oysters, in any bay or arm Of the sea
where there are no natural beds of
oysters within OF bordering upon this
Territory, may acquire, by conform
ing to the requirements of this title,
an exclusive right for such u urpose
to that portion of such bay or .'rm of
the sea as he shall so occupy, not ex-
ceeding for any one person an area OF
more than twenty acres" The sec
tions following provide the manner in
which any person desiring to take ad
vantage of this act must proceed,
which is by marking the boundaries
of his claim by stakes, by making an
J affidavit that he has taken said prem
; ises for the purpose of planting oysters
thereon; that said premises are not
upon and do not include any natural
bed of oysters, and that they are not
occupied and claimed in accordance
with law except by himself, and lastly
by filing with the auditor of the county
in which the beds are situated the af-
fidavit as above with description OF the
claim. The beds owned by one per-
son need not all be in one place, pro-
vided they do not in the aggregate ex-
ceed twenty acres.
This in substance is the law of the
Territory relating to this matter and
the oystermen claim that no matter if
it is natural oyster ground, if by ma
tural causes the oysters have been de-