Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-06-13
FISHING FOR SPONGES
now TAE WORK IS CARRIED ON ON
 THE FLORIDA COASE

THE FLORIDA COAST
 The Supply as Insxhaustible-How
 They arc Cured-The Hard Life of tho
 FIshsrm mAn-The Hsason Best Adapted
 Tor the work-Ths Prices Paid for
 Various Varieties.
 Nearly ali of the sponges used in the United States were brought from tho Mediterranean until 1852, when attention was called to the immense numbers that were growing in Florida waters. As soon as it was found that the quality of these compared favorably with those of Europe the merchants and fitters-out of vessels of Key West engaged very ac- lively in the business of placing them on the market. At first the best qualities were bought from the fishermen at the rate of 10 cents per pound. As Mediter- ranean sponges became scarce and costly the Florida sponges came into moro and more demand, and their value increased !. approximately. After about eighteen years fishing upon the known ground the supply began to fall. Then, in 1879, a new area of ground, larger than the old impetus to the trade. In that year Ap- palachicola sent out a small fleet of sponge vessels which has since been largely increased. During tho past eighteen years the business has been en- ergetically pursued with good results. The methods employed in 'the fishery | differ greatly from those employed in the | Mediterranean, where divers go down and | bringl up the sponges. Small vessels, l carrying crews of from five to fifteen men, are fitted out at Key West and Ap- l palachicola, for trips of from four to eight l weeks on the sponge grounds. The crew 8 are paired off into small rowboats, or ''dingies," to catch the sponges. One man stands in the stern, sculling the boat, while the other kneels in the bot l tom amidships. with tho upper half of his body leaning ::over the side, and scans the bottom of the sea. To aid the eye an in- strument called a "water-glas which Is | a common water bucket whose wooden bottom has been replaced by one of glass, is used by setting it in the water and thrusting the face as far into 1t as con- vcnient. When a sponge Is sighted the boat Is stopped, and the kneeling man uses two-pronged hook, attached to q slender pole thirty or forty feet in length to secure it. Considerable dexterity Is required of both men. To cure the 1 sponges they are first spread about the vessels deck in their natural upright po- sition, so that they will die, and while decomposing allow the gelatinous matter to run off freely. When they have been 1 several days in this position they are taken to the shore and thrown into the l water in little pens, called "crawls, where the remaining substance Is soaked and squeezed out.
 The spongers thus work on, day after day, under tropical sun that burns and browns the skin until one cannot tell a white man from negro. It Is despcr- Ately hard life,ss more severe than any other that one can think of, and 1t re- quires men of no ordinary constitution to stand up to 1t. The spongers. therefore, are an exceedingly muscular set.
 Tho principal season for this fishery is the summer, from May to August. but the best conditions of the water are In winter, and great deal of the fishing Is then carried on with success. During the hurricane months of August, Sep tember and March the vessels are nearly all laid up. The state of the weather greatly affects the result of the fishery. When the water Is made rough and rolly by long continued strong winds sponge years the fishery has been 8 complete failure, while in others 1t has been very profitable, always owing to the weather
 As the natural beds of sponges have be. come scarcer prices have advanced, sc that even If 8 vessel does not secure as
 large quantity in a given time as form
 erly the financial result is about the
 same.
 There are several varieties of sponges
 caught in the Florida waters. There art ] first, sheep's wool, which sell for S1 tt :, $5 pound; second, yellow sponges which sell for 20 to 60 cents per pound and third, grass sponges. which art
 coarse in texture, and not durable, ano
 sell for 10 and 20 cents per pound When these are marketed they arc trimmed and cleaned of sand and shells and then pressed into small bales of 10( 8 to 120 pounds each, in which form
 they go to the wholesale dealers
 Some attempts have been made durins the past three years to cultivate the more , valuable kinds of sponges, and in some instances the experiment has met witt success. It seems probable that the flu
 ture supply of tho sheep's-wool variet. l will depend upon some such action a this. Besides being scarcer along thu , sponge reef, this variety grows slowe
 than the coarser kinds, and the demand . for it Is always greater than the supply
 IN. Y. Times.