Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-01-06

Sl.sx-U the scene Of the decisive
battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac,
is now. III the year Ammo Doniui eighteen
hundred and lightweight, infested by pirates.
Not pirates of the Morgan or Capt. Kidd
type, however Not heroic cutrhroats, gener-
ous thieves with athletic figures, handsome
bronzed features, long hair piercing black
eyes and gay Spanish cos umes-fearess fell
lows, who snap their fingers at the fury Of
the wind, bare their breasts to the lightning
and confront all the elements with immortal
defiance They are not picturesque corsairs,
with ''one virtue linked to a thousand
crimes" these Chesapeake bay pirates. And
their vessels are not long, low, rakish
crafts, which spread their white wings and
speed away 20 the horizon with the speed OF
the wind The pirates Of Chesapeake bay do
not scuttle ships or saca towns, >and they have
never been known TO make captured young
women, vainly pleading, walk the barbarouS
plank This is not due, however, 10 their
scrupulous moral principles, as viii be seen
further on.
The Chesapeake bay pirates are oyster
pirates. nothing more nor less than men who
unlawfully dredge oyster beds that do not
belong to them, the term ''pirates," by gen
eral usage, is therefore somewhat stretched
in its application to them. But the booming
of cannon and the crack Of rifles are now the
frequent sounds that disturb the quiet that
broods over the beautiful waters Of the
Chesapeake.
Several battles have been fought between
the oyster police and the oyster pirates, and
many lives have been lost III the Undeclsive
war thus far this season. But it still con-
tinues, and will no doubt continue indefin-
itelv The police are at disadvantage. The
pirates know it, They have combined, and
are now feet of many hundred sail, manned
by desperate characters, to whom conscience
ard humanity seem 10 be unknown Quanti-
ties
The causes and nature of the oyster war
cannot be understood without some knowl-
edge of the lars on the subject and OF the
methods O! Eursdlng the business.
In 1858 the Maryland legislature assumed
control over the oyster beds OF Chesapeake
bay and all its estualies, channels, creeks and
the rivers debouching into it. The law was
designed to protect the industry by placing
it under governmental supervision, for even
at that day the growth of the oyster business
threatened to destroy tie oyster beds faster
than they could be naturally replenished.
into three classes, and the territories within
which each class might operate were defined
as sharply as possible. An appropriation
was made for the purchase of a steamer to
act as police guardian OF the laws.
OF the three classes into which the oyster
men were divided, first in the order of origin
come the tongcrs This class is usually COM
posed of the poorer men, and they take their
na .b; Of ir,o,,1a,,,o-,t Of thar
work, big pair Of rakes, with handles
usually about twenty feet long, joined to-
gether by bolt hinge near the lower end.
The teeth of the rakes are set facing each
other SO that when the handles are brought
together the teeth shut up like a pair Of
jaws, and whatever is grasped by them is
bound to come up Tongers. as rule, use
rude canoes, sloops and ''pungies" for their
work, and generally work in pairs They
have not the capital necessary to provide
themselves with a large boat and dredging
machinery, or to employ large crew, there
fore they are tongers. These men are usually
inoffensive. ignorant, hard working men and
respecters of the law.
Next 30 the tongers are the scrapers, and
the only difference between them and the
dredgers, who constitute the third class, lies
in the tonnage of their boats Their methods
are the same, but as the scrapers are re-
strcted to the shallower waters their
machines are built upon q smaller scale.
The scrape or dredge consists Of 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 a
handle long rope runs from the rake to the
deck of the boat and to a windlaSs. Every