Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-09-10
LARGE PROPORTIONS,

! accustomed TO Sea-taIlng ire IL was
natural that 1t should take the lead IN the
Florida sponge fishery.
LARGE PROPORTIONS.
Year after year the people of Key West,
! who have engaged liz the industry, added
to their fleet OF sponginG vessels. and TO
their packing houses, until now the bust
ness has assumed large PROPORTIONS, has
become q source of great profit TO Key
West merchants. and ranks IN importance
next after the cigar industry. More than
| 70 per cent in value of all that Florida
sponges marketed are of the finest IN
"sheepswool variety. The sponging fleet
| OF Key West is the pride of the place, and
with good reason, for the vessels compos,;
ing 1t are trim, sea- worthy little craft, and
fast salers. There are about one-hundred
| and twenty OF them now IN the trade,
| ranging IN size from five 10 forty-hye
tons. The crew. number generally from
| five to ten men, the majority of whom are
| Americans but there IS, however. large
| per centage OF negroes. many Bahamlans'
or COUGHS, as they are called, and few
| Cubans. The sponge fishery OF Florida
may be carried on throughout the entire
! year. providing the weather permits: The
| principal season for work Is from May 20
| Septemb Der. for during that season the
water is smoother and clearer than &c
! other times.
GATHERING sPoNGEs.
The process of gathering the sponges is
very interesting. Upon the arrival OF the
| vessel on the spongIng-grounds. the spon-
| gers pair OFT INTO dInghe!s, while the COOK
remains on board to look out for the YES
sci and prepare the meals. OF the two
men who occupy each dingbey, one IS
| called the hooker" and the other the
"sculler." The latter stands IN the stern
| of the boat and souls it steadily and very
/ slowly ahead. holding himself III readiness
/ to stop and keep 1t exactly IN place at
moments notice from the hooker.
who kneels down amidships. or at the
! bow, with his head in water-glass.
through which he carefully scans the bot
| tom. The water-glass is wooden
| bucket with a glass bottom. 1t is some
times hung around the neck and some
times held by the " hooker. Through 1t
very small objects can be distinctly seen
on the bottom, even at u considerable
depth. Simple as 1t is, 1t Is absolutely in
/ dlspensable to the sponger, for, without It,
/ the least ripple in the water would prevent
him from seeing the bottom even IN mod
/ crate depths. BY Its use, no matter how
rough the surface may be, the bottom can
| be distinctly seen in any depth of water
! that the sponge hook could be used, pro-
vIding the water is clear. OF course, thick,
muddy water is fatal to sponglng. As
soon as a sponge of sufficient value comes
into view. the hooker signals to the
"sculler to stop the boat, and by means
| of long pole with iron teeth on the end,
called "sponge hook. " he detaches the
sponge from the bottom and brings 1t to
the surface. The marketable sponges that
are secured on the Florida coast are the
sheepswool, boat. yellow. grass and glove
sponges There are several worthless va
rietles. known by the ames OF loggerhead,
bastard sheepswool, bastard yellow. and
finger sponge.
OIL on THE WATER.
Sponge fishing goes on at oil times when
the water IS smooth enough for the men to
work IN their small boats. and when 1t is
sufficiently clear. Some of the Key West
spongers have partially removed the in
convenience of rough water by the us4 of
oil, teaspoonful of which Will produce
smooth surface for as long a time "a a
small boat cares to work In one spot.
Shark oil IS considered the best for the
purpose. The work of gathering the
sponges is continued all day with only an
hours respite for dinner. As soon as the
sponges are brought on board they are .
spread over the deck of the vessel in their
natural upright position, In order to allow
the Shiny matter. called curry by the
spongers. to run of easily. When taken
they are far from being the clean. delicate.
light colored things one sees IN drug
gist's windows: on the contrary they look
and feel more like a piece OF raw liver
than anything else to which | can COM
pare them. In their natural state they ore
slippery, Shiny, ugly, dirty, and have
most offensive odor. Their color is gener-
ally dull brown, somewhat darker than
gulf weed. Having been taught that the
sponge is an animal, people often come to
hey West with the expectation of seeing
sponges swimming about the harbor. If,
indeed they do not surprise the more attn
letic ones making little EXCURSIONS over
the Island or even climbing trees. 1t is
indeed true that the sponge is classified
by naturalists as belonging to the animal
kingdom. They regard it as of the water
of q compound animal. and place it III the
lowest OF the five, divisions IN which the
animal kingdom IS divided. under the
name OF O protozoan.
DISAPPOINTED.
But animal though it Is. those who ex-
pect 70 see 1t swimming or even III motion.
will be disappointed. The sponge is at
tached to rocks. shells. roots. &c.. on the
bottom. and is absolutely incapable of the
slightest motion even when freed from
these. The animal part disappears long
before the sponge reaches market, and
the part used for hopping up fluids Is only
ure. Sponges kept on Geek will generally
die and lose the greater part of their gela-
tlnceous matter ID one or two days. 1hey
are then put into "crawls." (enclosures of
stakes eight or ten feet square. situated
in water two or three feet Deep where
they remain for about week, when the
outside skin or covering falls of. They
are then beaten with short, heavy stick.
called brulser, after which they are
squeezed as dry as possible and strung on
rope vans six feet long, in the form of
punches, which are hung up to allow tho
sponges to bleach and dry. They are then
put through process called "liming"
that is they are dipped in weak solution
of lime and sea-water. when they are
again dried in the sun. After this process
is completed, sponges are trimmed, sorted
and packed. Preparatory to being trim
med, boys beat them once more with NAL
lets. to remove all particles of stone. shells,
OF other hard substances. The trimming
Is done with sheep-shears, and all the un-
even parts and ragged edges are cut on.
PACKING AND SHIPPING.
After this an experienced sorter picks |
out each variety and quality. They are
then put into crockery crates. in lots
weighing from 100 to l20 pounds. These
lots are then placed under hydraulic press I
and formed into compact bales, measure /
ihE epVhb " AuCuCs iOues 40 luCutS Wlut, |
and is inches thick; these bales are cover |
ed with bagging, corded securely and |
shipped to New York. The best Of all |
sponges Is the " sheepswool variety; its |
texture is fine. soft. and ve-y strong. and |
IT sells for from Si.25 TO $500 per pound |
In the Key West market. the average price |
being about Si.75 per pound, for the best. I
The yellow sponge is of finer texture, 1
but is mother SO soft nor durable as the !
variety Just named. 1t sells for Is TO 40 \
cents pound. The "gIass" sponge ia /
very fine end frm, but is not durable, aud /
IS usually so irregular in shape that II is
torn easily. and the few that come to |
market are sold by the lot for Q or IA |
sales OF sponges at Key West amount TO
about quarter OF o million dollars per
year. The entire output OF tho Key West \
sponge market Is shipped BY stsamcr d.
rcctly % New York. from which point II