Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-09-08

eu py Duoys or any other form OF signal,
and 1t has happened very often that the
dredgers have come into shallow water for
their catch. Then they are not only OBJ
5ects of attack for the tongers.f but they
lay themselves liable to the law and the
oyster police. The oyster war of 1883 is
historic in Maryland. The boats, fof the
oyster navy were not well equipped for po-
lice duty then. and a number of dredgers
combined to defy the representatives of the
law. They not only resisted the attacks of
the authorities, but attacked the police
boats themselves. But the state authorities
armed the oyster navy with better, guns,
and the dredgers were soon brought to
terms; not, however, before several 81 their
boats had been sunk and some slives had
been lost. 1t was in the war Of 1888 that
the oyster navy learned the trick Of ram
ming. Their chief mode of attack now Is
to sink the boats which violate the law by
dredging on shallow ground.
The BOun>Sary Line Dispute.
The work Of the E>yy. however. is not
confined to regulating the Maryland oyster
men,, There are grave questions of ter
ritory unsettled between the states Of vir-
ginia and Maryland: and the Maryland
navy has been called sometimes to defend
the rights of the Maryland fishermen
against the fishermen from Virginia. Vir-
ginia' too. has an oyster navy. and several
state wars have been avoided only by
hairs breadth. The chief point undeter-
mined now Is the place where the POGO
meke river ends and the Chesapeake bay
begins The waters of the river are COM
mon property: but where the river broadens
to the bay are the principal oyster beds:
and Maryland claims that a string of small
Islands some distance from the apparent
mouth OF the river marks its boundary
while the Virginians contend that the real
mouth OF the river is some distance above
TINS place The question must be determin-
ca eventually by the Supreme Court of the
settled the boundary line in the Potomac
river between Virginia and Maryland and
declared that the whole of the riyerbed as
iar as low-water mark on the Virginia side
Deionged 10 Maryland. But both states en-
JOY the right OF taking oysters in all parts
OF the river by virtue of an agreement made
IN iioo, when the boundary line was first
IN dispute. About S1UOOOO worth of oysters
IRE taken every year in the Potomac
Inc canning trade uses from two to three
InliilOn or bushels of oysters every wear
II had It's beginning in 1864, and it was a
very prosperous industry until 1870 when
some dishonest Steamers began giving
snort measure, and so brought the business
INTO disrepute. But since 1881 the Gamers
nave been required to stamp on each can
the weight of the solid oysters within. and
enforced honesty has revived the cauning
trade and the canning business Ii ia of
course. necessary that the oyster be treated
ana smut up In the can as soon after being
taken from the water as Is possible So
the oysters as they are taken from the
vessel and measured are dumped into a
car SIX or eight feet long, made of iron,
INTO the steam box. This is am oak box
nfteen to twenty feet long, lined with sheet
non. The vertical doors at each end are
pulled down, and the steam is turned on
At the end of ten or fifteen minutes tho
steam Is turned off. and the doors opened
and the car is run into the shocking room
Ihere the shuckers work on the oysters as
tney lie In the car. hooking their cans on
the edge of the car and emptyinC the meat
from the opened oysters with their knives
Inc oysters are then washed with ice water
and taken TO the filters table. The cans
are niied, packed in a cylindrical iron crate.
and lowered into tub. where the oysters
Undergo another steaming. When the cans
are cool enough to be handled, they are
taken to the camping" table. where the
tops are soldered on. Then they are la eled
and packed In boxes for shipment In an
hour from the time the shell-oyster leaves
the vessel 1t is ready to go on the cars.
Future of the Industry. "
MI. Charles II. Stevenson of the fish COM
mission. who has made a special study of
the oyster, and to whose admirable reports
am indebted for much Information, says
that he has no fear that the, Maryland
oyster will become extinct. And still he
does not recommend the private ownership
OF the oyster reefs. But that planting
oysters Is an industry 10 which the Mary
land oysterman must turn in time Mr..
Stevenson Is convinced Is u
asked MI. Stevenson IL he believed that
artificial propagation would not solve the
question. not only for Maryland, but for
the other oyster fisheries. "a
"A number OF experiments have been
made in this direction he said, but
though the possibility of gathering the eggs
and fertilizing them has been proved its
practicaoility has not. The money which
might be spent In oyster propagation could
be used more proftably in some other way
One regulation which regard as important
to be enacted Is for the return to the BAY
of the oyster shells. If these shells were
returned to the bay. they would rapidly
disintegrate. furnishing the material for
the shells OF other oysters. 1t Is a serious
question how long the supply of carbonate
of lime Will hold out in the bay"
GEORGE GRANTHAM Balm.