Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1892-12-19
As EXPERIENCED By A NEWS
REPORTER.
They sail a Little, They Gun a Little. They
Fish Little aad Have Good Time
Generally

They sail Little. They Gun Little. They
Fish Little a"d Have a Good Time
Generally.
The Baltimore NesoS Annapolis cor
respondent who Is quite fond OF aquatic
sports, gives the following account OF a
four days trip on the oyster police
schooner MAY Brown" which left An
napolis last Sunday afternoon on COM
bined trip of pleasure and cruise of
her beat After referring to the daily
life and duties of the officers and sea-
men; of the dangers aud hardships: the
qualifications necessary for good sea
man. and the present force of the navy,
aud the beat that the May Brown" Gov
ers. he proceeds to give some Of the
harlsh!ps Of the oyster navy mems
lives, as follows
The May Brown, with the Neics cor
respondent on board, left Annapolis AT
$50 o'clock last Sunday afternoon and,
after clearing the bar at the mouth of the
Severn, headed up the bay for Magothy
river.
1.-The crew consisted of Capt @. 4.
Martin, Mate l.. p Kelly and Sesmen
Washington White, William Campbell,
Thomas Sherlock and William Mitchell,
all of whom are thorough seamen, with
an exhaustive knowledge of the waters
on the beat which they patrol and COM
plete understanding of every phase of
the oyster industry as obtaining on the
oyster grounds. There were also on
board beside the Me,cs represent alive by
special invitation OF Deputy Comman
der Martin, several of his personal and
political friends.
ON A WILD GOOSE CHASE
The weather falling calm Just as the
Magothy was reached, 1t became neces.
sary to anchor, and the early part of the
night was spent in futile attempt to Sc
cure few OF the geese that frequent
the river. This is noted cunning
shore. A searchlight was securely fas
tened on the bow of one of the boats,
and well armed party secured the shores
for couple of hours with the only re
suit of frightening up couple of iiocks
at too great distance to get shot.
yIoLAToRs ALLOWED TO 60 SCOTT FREE
1.-The May Brown went up from Thorn
as Point, and little before noon reach
ed Sandy Point Light. The oyster law
specifies that no dredging shall be done
within one and one-half miles of Sandy
Point. On approaching the light three
boats were found dredging within mile
of the point. They were rounded up
and notified that they were violating the
law, and warned to get outside the linn
its as fast as possible The captains of
the boats stated that the police had new
er previously notified them that the
IL or MI nd
ly they did not know they were yiolat-
ing the statute.
The correspondent says 1.-THE excuse
was fiimsy one, but as they evinced a
willingness to get on their 01n grounds
they were allowed to move of "
Now. If this was a 'tlimsy excuse"
and violation of the law. why were
they not arrested2
LITTLE MORE DUCK SHOOTING
Monday afternoon and the greater
portion of the night were calm, so that
both dredgers and their watchers were
forced to lie at anchor. During the af-
ternoon the passengers killed few ducks
by going after them in the yawl boat"
DUCKS, FISH AND OYSTERS
Tuesday was rainy and calm, but
those on board ran a net and secured
handsome string of pike and yellow
perch. got few oysters and made them
selves as comfortable as possible.
TIE PEOPLES INTEREST.
Tuesday night brought heavy wind
with an increase of rain. and then the
terrors and discomforts of u seaman's life
made themselves clearly apparent, The
blackness and dangers of the night caus
.lxr ~o1Aphla1 frfl -,
the peoples interests.
sUsH OF THE TERRoRs OF THE NIGHT.
The Nssos man then gives the follow
ing gush of the terrors of the night and
the hardships of an oyster navy seaman;
"Encssed in rubber clothing, your cor
respondent stood beside the veteran mate
as he directed the course of the beauti-
full little vessel through the ever reced
ing wall of blackness Standing at the
wheel the only evidence that there was
q forward cabin was the ray or two OF
light that filtered through the closed
doors. The yellow-coated sailors stand
ing five or ten feet away were visible
only as their figures were outlined against
the foaming phosphorcsence of the rush.
ing water. A vessel, excepting her lights
had been invisible. patch of blackness
WOutu udfc SNdliOWcQ up III a. SEA Oh
darkness at 100 feet distance And yet
no mile of the Browns beat escaped the
keen scrutiny of her crew that night"
THEIR POOR PAY.
And in conclusion, the Nescs man
makes the following appeal for better
pay for the crews. Another thought
is that the men are not sufficiently paid,
and with oysters as plentiful on the
longing grounds as they are, and bring
ing the prices they are bringing, Ii Is
hard to keep good men. The men are
paid only $40 month, out of which
they have to provision the vessel Add
ed to this, they are kept away from their
families almost all the time, and ii is q
wonder that any can be found TO man
the Oyster Navy. The efficiency Of the
fleet would be greatly increased If some
inducements were offered for long and
faithful service
The MAY Brown" returned on We'd
nesday. and reported no violations on her
beat The Neps man says he never had
a better time in all his life and thinks
of applying for the position of correspon-
dent of Maryland's Oyster Navie."
Linen Hemstitched and Embroider-
ed Handerchiefs for ladies and gentle
men at JAMES MUNRoE's