Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-01-26

CHESAPEAKE OYSTER BEDs-How THEY ARE
pREDeED.
Everybody knows, if not, every one will
eventually know, that Washington carries the
palm for the preparation and service of that
most luscious dish. the steamed oyster. Only
recently one of the best known Of New York's
epicures drew on this city for dinner of
oysters and terrapin and spread table that
delighted and fairly paralyzed the fastidious
palates Of a dozen or more of Gotham's most
noted connoisseurs.
The steamed oyster is essentially Washing
tonian. duly accredited the world over, having
been discovered, cultivated. and raised to that
sublime degree of excellence for which it is
famous right here at the national capital.
Like most great men or things he began life
under adverse circumstances, but by perse-
verance and strict attention to the progressive
tastes of an adniring public succeeded in max
ing a reputation rivaling that of the diamond
back terrapin or canvass back duck.
The recent and somewhat humorous warfare
between the Maryland navy and the oyster
dredgers on the Chesapeake bay, and the fact
that Congressman Bourke Cochran, of New York,
recently arranged with Mr.. Geo. W. Harvey. Of
this city to furnish a dinner-steamed oysters
especially included-in New York city. led The
STAR TO investigate the oyster and its business
in Washington. 4 reporter dropped into Har-
and piled its proprietor for information con-
corning the invention of the steamed oyster
and the local oyster trade.
Mr.. Harvey has made not only the oyster,
but its cousin. the clam. and Its poor relation,
the muscle. study anatomically as well as
gastronomieally. In his Office hangs a large
cardboard on which is painted anatomical
designs of the oyster from various points of
view. the mouth. heart. liver. spinal cord
nervous system. &c. just physician has his
articulated skeleton and diagrams of the human
body.
THE STORY OF THE STEAMED OYSTER.
NV brother said he, assisted at times by
myself first carried on the business in what
was an old blacksmith shop. in which a we'll
known old Washington citizen named Buck
ingham did business. 1t was on the corner of
18th and streets, near the old canal 1t was
opened in 1858, for the purpose of supplying
families and hotels with oysters. The business
small and limited for some time. and as
an afterthought the idea of cooking and serving
the oysters was conceived. At that time two
small sloops one commanded by Captain Spar
row and the other by old Rueben Pruitt
brought once a week all the oysters that could
be used here and even then they sometimes
got stuck by 'glut' in the market These
old fellows would go around to the various eat
ing houses and peddle out their cargoes, twenty
five bushels or so at place.
AT first the oysters we served were boiled
only. but later on the idea of steaming them
small baskets and letting them down into the
cauldron. The scheme took at once and the
place soon became a general rendezvous of
Senator's Congressman, and all the dignitaries
and leading lights of the day. | can remember.
though it were a month ago." said he.
when old Mr.. Douglas Wallach. then the edi-
tor of The STAR-if not its frst-was a daily
visitor. Such was the success that in 1861 it
became necessary to increase facilities, and
kettles with twenty-horse steam boiler were
put up with capacity for steaming fifty
bushels at a time. The oyster trade of the city
had increased from two sloops a week to five
hundred, and our sales ran up from $50 to 800
day to 81 500 to "a. 0O0 daily During the
first years of the war l have seen nearly a
whole regiment standing outside waiting to
get in. 1t was in the days of the ''shin-pl
ter" and we had to put them in sack under
the counter during the day and then spend
nearly all the night asserting and counting them
over.
We had TO increase our space. and by erect
ing one shed after another, as occasion re-
quired. we came to occupy one-half the block.
In 1867 this house was erected, and the bus-
ness moved up here on the Avenue, and here
am alone. and doing pretty well thank you
my brother having died some years ago."
THE WAY THEY DID THEN.
Tableware and cutlery, did you say? Well,
we didn't have any to speak of down at the
canal place. Anything We could get answered
in the way of crockery; stamped tin spoons,
which could even then be bought for Is cents a
dozen. one small print of butter to one-half
peck of oysters, no bread, and condiments in
champagne, ale, and pickle bottles. TASKS, or
jars. whatever could be had. Up to that time
oysters were eaten mostly raw, fried. or boiled
The old 'oyster-roast' in vogue. but be-
tween the ashes that got onto them and the
burnt edges, which had to be taken off, it was
not a popular way of cooking them"
THE WASHINGTON OYSTER TRADE.
There are now about five or six hundred YES
sells of one kind or another engaged directly in
the oyster trade of Washington These bring
them principally from the Chesapeake bay
and its tributaries. where they are purchased
for the most part from dredgers and tongers
who get them from the public grounds or
from private beds owned by Residents along
the shore or small creeks, or from the pungeys
and other small craft that are continually
depredating upon the grounds without license
Hence the navy wars" we read about. The
best oysters brought here are from Pocomoke
river, CherrystOne and Occohannoc creeks
Tangiers sound. York and Rappahannock
rivers, and Milford Haven. The once much
sought-for Lynn Haven has greatly deprecated
in consequence of the closeness with which
the beds have been depleted year after year
without time for recuperation. The famous
Saddle Rock, like the Lynn Haven. is possibly a.
thing of the past, and for precisely the same
reason Their names, however, have not
gone with them, but remain to be assigned
10 Otner hlnus possessing tnOSe nne QUANTITIES
and delicacy Of flavor which singled the LYNN
Haven and Saddle Rock out for preference
The Cherrystone now. perhaps, holds highest
favor, but the natural beds OF small extent and
their production is limited. The Cherrystone,
in fine condition, retains its shape and plump
ness when cooked. which is that Of a cherry
seed. and cuts as finely as a tender sirloin.
The present season has been pretty fair for
the Washington trade Notwithstanding the warm
weather, which Is not considered conducive to
the consumption of oysters. About half a
million bushels have been brought here so far.
not counting the higher grades, which are
usually brought in barrels and on steamers and
generally on contract. In fact these are most
ly purchased for delivery by the tony
restaurateurs, who engage the output of some
specially fine grade for the season, or the
crop of a private bed, from which by the
way, some Of the very finest tid-bits are
obtained These have to be packed in barrels
and treated with great consideration, inasmuch
as good shaking up in a storm would DESTROY
the last one of them. The usual price paid bv
dealers for these higher grades is about IS a
barrel, but certain rare and unusually fine
ones have commanded as much as 81 barrel.
AN OLD RULE GROWING OBSOLETE.
The longing season has generally been con-
6ned to the period ranging between the first OF
September and first Of May, under the old be-
lief that oysters were good only during the
months which have an in them but this rule
is fast growing obsolete from the fact that deep
water oysters do not feel the chanCa of saasor