The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-12-29
TAKING OUT COLOR
The Worry Latest Fad u Cor
Bleached Bivalves.


white Ones Are Probably Decesrea -cyp
sernen Who Ought to Know Say rasy
Are Mythical = Natures Own Shell
nsA Not to Ne Improved Cpoa.
"Bleached oysters is the latest and
. rapidly growing fad The fashionable
uptown restaurants ara catering 20 IL.
An oyster tina. does not peer forth
snowy white FROM tho depth - is .snsIl
Is considered bad form. 1t Goas -cs
appear that the Albino-hued 5.,S.rs
Is improved by the blanching proccse.
In fact. it is held by all fa:--za;zsiea
people who have tried them that tbs
HaSor winch gives orr oysters thc:,
superiority over all the sivelvcs of the
world is destroyed entirely. But they
are said By self-constitu:ed authori-
titles to look better, and il is tho
fashion to have them served that way.
The course of treatment to which
the luscious shellish is subjected Ia
brings about the pale and ghostly hue
Is the secret of the restaurant men.
The wholesale oyster dealers know
nothing about it.
A reporter for the New York worla
went aboard floating warehouse, Oh
the North river. the other day, and
made an inquiry as to the best method
of blanching oysters 1t was apparent
that oystermen do not relish the news
paper notoriety which has been thrus.
upon the innocent and iuoffensive
sheilish-
If could meet the man who start.
ed all this talk about typhoid fever and
malaria in oysters, said one old salt.
I'D chuck him in the bay and hit him
on the head with a boathook when hc
came up the first time. and there
wouldn't be no second time
As il 1t amt bad enough that this
has been one of the worst oyster years
we ever had. but on top OF that some
crazy fool up in Connecticut tries to
fatten his oysters in a creek into which
a sewer empties. What's the result? A
lot of college students and professors
get sick and four of them die. What
follows? The newspapers publish 10
all over the country. typhoid fever liz
oysters, and the business is almost par
alyzed In some places. Forty million
people eating oysters and four Of them
get sick and die! How many people
die every day from eating pork and
beef, yet does that scare anybody
No, sir.
Now, on top of all this, some fool
restaurant men GO to making their
oysters white. which God never intend
ed they should be, or He would have
made 'em so. ! don't suppose that the
oysters were hurt any by il, but some
fellow gets sick. after knocking about
the Tenderloin oil night. and remem-
bers that he ate dozen bleached oy-
sters, and then he hollers that he has
been poisoned.
Some one writes TO . newspapep
that sulphate Of zinc will bleach an
oyster. l don't know whether 10 will
Dr. not, but q chemist told me that ID
would not But the oyster trade gets
It in the neck all the same Thank
goodness that these stories did not get
'ut two months ago. or the oystermen
would all be in the hands Of the asso-
lated charities Our season Il over fo-
heap oysters, in which tho money II
made. Nothing goes out of New York
low but shell oysters, New York
counts. and culls. The oyster business
lfter the middle Of November goes To
Baltimore There are no oyster cam
ieries in New York.
This fad for white oysters never
,eard OF before this year. There ara
10 pure white oysters The oyster
II. 4 L.
md an old oysterman can tell at
lance which one Of the beds herea-
,outs an oyster comes from. The Blue
'oint is often silvery In appearance.
There Is no way THAI know of to make
n oyster white
when the weather Il not too cold
ysters, after being taken up. are sunk
u floats for from twelve totwenty.
our hours In brackish water generally
ear the mouth Of a fresh-water creek.
his water they will drink freely and
II up so that they look fat This has
he effect of washing out the sea water
nd mud that may have been taken In.
know every oyster bed In New Yors
ay, Long Island sound. or the rivers
Z New Jersey, and know Of no oyster
hat Is what you might call white.
ersonally, I would let such alone 10
Hered me.
Nature cannot be improved upon In
ne matter of the oyster, except 20 give
q chance 20 wash out and fatten M
a some half-salt water. When tho
eople understand that the bleschsd
ysters are unnatural and artificial
hey win become suspicious Of them
I'D be satisfied with the plain, un<
variety"