Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1890-12-04
AN OYSTER FAMINE rHREArEYED
The Wilmington Appetite for the Ri
valve Increasing Internationally,

valve Increasing Internationally.
The Baltimore correspondent of III,
New York Times reports an oyste,
famine threatening in Baltimore. Tho
report saws:
An oyster famine this winter loola in,
certainty. Prices are now the highest
ever known. They run from 50 cents te
Sl'lO per bushel, an increase of more than
o. pei cent over the price at the same
H. ,as. Nil ael ny iast q Decembei
"a On XXI date tba law, r LILY olIe,Iiall
Sound against the dredeers This l. ~ H.
finest oyster ground in the Chesapeake 81
great is the competition that boats are paw.
ing licenses for an entire year, so as to be
aloweu 10 work there during December.
A. l.. Ainscow, the largest oyster
dealer OF the city, was interviewed on
Monday by GAZETTE reporter in re.
gard to the matter
Yes, Mr.. Ainscow said, that's true.
There is an increase of so per cent in
the price OF oysters over that of last
year.
The cause is that the demand is
very farm excess of the supply. They've
been dredging oysters out of existence
In Chesapeake and Delaware bays.
They've got patent on what they call
the wired oysters A light piece of
wire is passed around the bivalve's
mouth. II closes it Theoretically, this
preventing the escape of the Juice.
Inc retention of that saline fluid was
the great problem for oyster whole
salers. II that method could be dis
covered it ensured to the fresh oyster
trade at once an unlimited extending of
its trade. The fact that the juice gradu-
ally evaporated from the biyalve, shy
with week or so, prevented dealers
from making safe consignments beyond
the neighborhood of the beds. Now
with the new process the moluscs will
stand months journey without recog-
nizable depreciation in flavor. The
wholesaling trade has recently on this
account developed to immense proper
tons. With this fact and the conscience
less system of dredging the beds on the
Chesapeake are becoming fast depleted
even of the seed oyster.
There is one of these wholesale
'wired-oyster' companies that shins
during the season as many as six to
eight carloads day from Cape Charles
to remote points, such as San Fran
cisco.
independent of all this, as | have
said, the beds in the two bays have been
depleted even of oysters the size of
mans thumb nail. A new law has re-
Gently been enacted in Maryland which
provides that oysters less than two
inches in measurement must be thrown
back into the water. The law is, how
ever, of too recent enactment to meet
the existing paucity of bivalves and TO
ensure the growth of the seed oysters.
The mischief, | understand, is too far
gone.
TO show the shameful wastefulness
in the management of the oyster trade
i Is reported that few days ago when
there was a sudden spell of a few hours
warm weather in Baltimore several
thousand bushels of oysters had to be
thrown of the wharves. There should
be some arrangement by which such
large quantities of stock are not wasted.
THE oysters supplied here this season
are the Morris Cove. 1t is the best
brand on the market, here or anywhere
else"
Mr. Ainscow has six boats arriving
here each week, one a day. Each boat
unloads from $50 to 200 bushels of oys-
tiers and in addition $4,000 to $4,000
primes.
The weekly import of oysters to Will
mington inclusive of what is wholesaled
is about 5000 bushels of all kinds. All
but 800 of these which are exported, are
consumed in this city
"How is the Wilmington appetite for
the luscious bvalve--is ii as solicitous
as last season p the reporter asked.
without exception Mr.. .Ainscow
quickly responded, "there is no place IN
the United States of the size of Will
mington where there are more oysters
eaten, and | know what | am talking
about"
"What do you do with all the shellsgn
sob, we get about two and a-half
cents bushel for them. They are used
in the gas house. The lew court also
uses loads of shells in road making"
"What are the prospects tins winter
of decrease in thetprice of oysters?"
"None-but they'll be going UP all
the time"
Mr.. Ainscow says there is about Is
miles of dredging ground at Morris
dredo;,,1- 80 ~ stsaseu u
AZ the AVERAGE dav,s ca3o ~ ny S hant f
t5n h,,.bai- o,s,i ..st, ~ po"t go, "