Morning journal and courier., 1889-01-14
Safety Mutual Aid.


 On Saturday evening last Safety Mutual Aid association held their annual meeting. Among those present were: Most Worthy Templar William O. Buckley, of Hartford; P. G. 0. of O., J.H. Decker; w. H French, of Hartford; w. H. Blakeslee, of Hartford, be- sides large delegation from other towns.
 The following brothers were elected for the offices for the coming year: President, George H. Field; first vice president, W. H. Blakeslee; second vice president, George P. Otis; secretary and treasurer, ". T. Pickett. After the usual order Of business speeches were made by William o. Buckley, w. T. Pickett, Otis, Blakeslee and others and an unusually good time was enjoyed by all present. The association is side degree of the Temple of Honor and is intended to pro- vide for the members who may be sick or in distress. The membership is limited to members of the order and is one of the best Mutual Aids in existence. The Temple of Honor is open to all men of good moral hab- it's The initiation fee is four dollars which includes the first three degrees. Come ore and come all and we will bid you hearty welcome.
 THE OYSTER ENEMY
 The Millions of misunderstanding to
 Conquer Them-URcle Sam to Render
 Vigorous Aid.
 For some time Collector of the Port Wal ter Goddard has been actively at work, in bshslf of the oyster growers, to secure the aid of the government for the elim instion of starfsh, the pests which for the past two or three years have menaced and threatened to destroy every oyster bed in Long Island l. l. Al ford were attacked in force by the stars two years ago, and it was then thought the only way of operating for their removal was by dredging. As readers will recall, the Stan dard recorded the struggles made by dredg- CTS to that end, of their capturing from fifty to two and three hundred bushels of stars daily for many days, and of the apparent check such captures afforded; also of the ces- sation of the star ravages here and off Strat- ford, and the sudden appearance of the whole star family on the beds off Norwalk and Westport. But the deadly element was not alone in western Connecticut. Milford, New Haven and all the beds east of them, including New London, were visited, and to day along the line these five fingers" doubtless numbered by mills lions, are, could the truth be known, each slaughtering an average of one oyster daily. By this, the prospect of total extinction of oysters on the deep sea beds is imminent, and will be complete unless steps are imme~ diately taken to prevent it. With very limited knowledge of the habits and incIina- tions of stars, owners of oyster beds and scientific men have hitherto been baffied in their efforts to arrest the ravages for the reason that further research and study was necessary to afford data upon which to base operations and to provide appliances for their extinction.
 What the State fish commissioners knew was good, but limited, and even the United States commission on fish and fisheries had to tacitly admit there was much yet to be learned on this important topic.
 Colonel Goddard, in response to the urgent desire of many growers, applied him. self to the work with the idea of paving the way for an appropriation by Congress to tackle the evil. Many letters on the subject have been written by the coll ector to Wash- ington officials, and by H. J. Lewis and oth- CT bed owners in the hope of securing aid of some sort looking to the solution of the prob lem. The replies are very satisfactory, espe cially one by Edward T. Lee, clerk of the committee on territories, to MT. Lewis, in which he says: ''By direction of Senator Platt I enclose letter from the commissioners of fisheries, from which it seems that no further appropriation is required for the in- vestigation of the destruction or oysters by SIAT~ubu. In6 IOlIOW1u& Dy dO0. Mar shal Mcdonald, the commissioner himself, addressed to Senator Platt, forwarded to Mr. Lewis, and by him mailed to Collector God- dard, will be read with great interest. It is of date January 3, and in substance as fol lows:
 ssThe investigation of the destruction of the oyster beds by starfsh is provided for in the regular sche me of inquiry to be prescott ed by the U. s. fish commission, and no special appropriation will be needed for the purpose. Asyo are aware, beginning was made in this direction during the past sum- mer, study being made of Naragansett Bay and it's tributary streams. A reconnaissance of the oyster grounds in the Sound in the vicinity of New Haven was also made The investigation will be resumed the ensuing summer, and will be made as thorough as practicable. The steamer Fish Hawk, with | her launches. will be assigned to the work; l also such scientific assistants as are necessary | to cover exhaustively the different branches l of the inquiry to be pursued"
 The commissioner goes on to say that he | appreciates fully the importance, from an economic standpoint, of the investigation