The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1895-03-22
OYSTERS Up TO DATE.
The Very Latest Fad Is for
Bleached BivalVeS-
White Ones Are Probably Doctored-Oys-
termen Who Ought TO Know Say They
Are Mythical - Natures Own she'll
fish Not to Be Improved Upon

.'Hleached oysters i the latest and
a rapidly growing fad. The fashionable
uptown restaurants are catering 10 it
An oyster that does not peer forth
snowy white from the depth Of itS shell
il considered bad form. 1t does not
appear that the Albino-hued bivalve
i improved 10y the hlanching process
In fact. it i held 10y all fair-minded
people who have tried them that the
flavor which gives our oysters their
superiority over all the bivalves OF the
world i destroyed entirely But they
are said by Sclf-conStituted authori-
tites to look better. and IL i the
fashion To have them served that way
The course OF treatment To which
the luscious Shcllti>h i subjected to
bring about the pale and gho>tly hue
is the secret Of the restaurant men.
The wholesale oyster dealers know
nothing about it.
\ reporter for the New York World
went aboard a floating warehouse. ON
the North river. the other day. and
made an inquiry "a to the best method
of blanching oysters. 1t was apparent
that oy~termen do not relish the news
paper notoriety which has been thrust
shellfsh-
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 he
came up the first time. and there
wouldn't be no second time.
As if il amt bad enough that this
has been one Of the worst oyster years
we ever had. but on top of that some
crazy fool mp in Connecticut tries to
fatten his oysters in creek into which
sewer emptieS- What's the re>ult2 4
lot of college students and professors
get sick and four Of them die. What
follows? The newspapers publish 1t
all over the country. typhoid fever IN
oysters. and the business il 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. vet does that scare anvbodv2
No. sir.
Now, on top of all this. some fool
restaurant men 90 to making their
oysters white. which God never intend
cd they should toe or He would have.
made en- -. / don't suppose that tht.
oysters were hurt any 10y il. hut some
fellow gets sick. after knocking about
the Tenderlnin all night. and remem-
bcr> that he ate Il dozen bleached ov-
sters. and then ne hollcrs that he has
been poisoned
Some one writes to a newspaper
that sulphate Of zine Will bleach an
oyster. don't know whether It will
or not. but a chemist told me that II
would not. But the oyster trade gets
II IN the neck all the same. Thank
goodness that these stories did not get
ont two months ago. or the ovstermen
would all be in the hands Of the aSSo-
ciated charities. Our season l. over for
cheap oysters. in which the money l.
made. Nothing goes out OF New York
now bat shell oysters New York
counts. and culls. The oyster business
after the middle OF November goes to
Baltimore. There are no oyster can
neries in New York
This fad for white oysters never
heard of before this year There are
no pure white oysters. The oyster
takes his color from his surroundings
and an old oy>terman can tell at a
glance which one of the beds herea-
bouts an oyster comes from Th, Blue
blilA - DITCH >lNtTA III appearance
There X no way that l know of To make
an oyster white.
When the weather i not too cold
oysters. after being taken up. are sunk
ON floats for from twelve To twenty
fuur hours in bracIIish water. generally
near the mouth of a freSh-water creek
This water they Will drink freely and
fill up 50 that they look fat. This has
the effect of washing out the sea water
and mud that may have been taken in.
/ know every oyster bed in New York
bay. Long Island sound. OF the rivers
OF New Jersey. and know of no oyster
that Il what You might call white.
Personally. l would let such alone if
offered me.
Nature cannot be improved upon in
the matter of the oyster, except to give
IL chance To wash out and fatten up
on some half-salt water. When the
people understand that the bleached
oysters are unnatural and artificial
they viii become suspicious of them
and be satisfied with the plain, un-
bleached variety"