Evening star., 1897-02-20

headquarters always having been at Riley's
wharf at the foot of 11th street, where my
father carried on the same kind of business
before me. / have, therefore, seen the river
front when 1t was at its best. / have seen
1t when times were very lively there, and
have seen 1t when it was very dull. I was
wharfing long before the iron horse made
lis appearance with long trains of cars. in
the days when nearly everything that
came to this city necessarily had to come
by water. and 1 handled great deal Of it.
Fifty years ago the river front. all the
way from the Arsenal grounds up to 18th
street. presented very busy appearance, /
assure you. Every wharf was busy, and
ships from all lands, flying every flag
known to civilization, could nearly always
be seen here. The ships not only came
here. but many is the ship that was bull.
On the river front and sailed from here to
all parts of the world. Great steamboats,
that is. greIt for that day-were built at
the 9th street wharf. and many were re-
built and repaired. The Signet, the Sydney.
the Joe Johnston. the Chesapeake and
many others were built there The ship
building business carried on by an
Englishman named K. H Lambell. His
foreman. Charles Edmonston. who died
only week before last, with deserved rep
utaticn as the best house builder ever
Known. managed a great deal of this busi-
ness Mr.. Edmonston carried into the ship
building business the same care and hon.
esty that made him reliable and re-
spected as a house builder. Ships, large
vessels. by the hundreds were built and
rebuilt by Mr.. Lambell- Many of them
are afioat yet At Easbys wharf near the
Naval Observatory. many vessels were also
built and rebuilt. Mr.. Easily. like Mr.. Lam
bell. was also Englshman.
But the steam horse proved that busi-
ness could be done at 4 more rapid rate
than the water could feat ships or the
wind blow them, and since the day when
railroad ,dy md
proved itself able TO move goods the ship
ping business began to decline. i have seen
the day when there were twenty thirty
steamers running regularly from this city
10 New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and
Boston.
story of the Oyster Trade.
Probably 1 have had a closer and longer
connection with the oyster business from its
start in this city than any other and indeed.
than all other men combined. Originally all
the oyster business was done in Georgetown,
and ii took nearly twenty years to get the
trade moved to the 11th street wharf,
where ii has been ever since. 1t was small
enough in early days. the arrivals seldom
ever being over one boat load in week,
and oftentiLneS IL las been even less than
that, sometimes being only one load in
month In those days oysters were only
got down in the Chesapeake bay, and one
or two of the sounds adjacent thereto.
Such thing as taking oyster from the
Potomac nifty years ago was not even
dreamed of. Now nine-tenths Of the oys-
ters which are brought here by the oyster
fleet, for there about fifty boats in
the business. large and small. are taken
from the Potomac at various localities be-
tween here and the Chesapeake bay.
The custom of many persons GO
ing TO the wharf. selecting their
oysters and eating them on the spot, as
II were, seems TO be growing. though it has
which ever arrived here. There are also
hundreds Of heads of families who send
their buckets regularly to the boats for
their oysters, preferring to buy them di-
rect from the boats rather than from
dealers. i don't think. however, that
ever saw a lady on the oyster wharf until
during the war. Since then there is scarce
1y a day during The oyster season that
ladies are not to be seen there.
The fish business has always been large
here, especially during the shad and her
ring season. though the special branch of
II known as struck fish has almost en-
tirely disappeared. By a struck fish 1
mean cleaning. saltins or smoking them.
OF course. the fishermen and seine men
always preferred to sell their fish fresh,
but when they could not there was always
market for them after they were salted
or smoked. Men who owned large numbers
of slaves. from all parts of Maryland, vir-
ginia and elsewhere. were the buyers of
struck fsh, for they were used very largely
as food for slaves. l have seen hundreds
of large slave owners drive to the wharf
and buy struck fish by the wagon load. The
principal users of struck fish now as be-
fore the war, are colored persons, though.
as L said before, the trade has dwindled
down to almost nothing in comparison to
what it was years ago. The enormous busi-
ness OF cleaning fish. or something else
that + do not know of, was q source of
great attraction to wild ducks. In my boy
hood days / have seen the river literally
covered with ducks. My father, / remem-
Der, had a blind rigged up just of where
the Independent Ice Company wharf now
IL, at the foot of 9th street and he often
enot ducks by the dozen without going
nifty yards away from his own wharf II
any one took any trouble at all IL was
easy to kill hundred wild ducks within a
radius of a quarter or half of a mile from
any Of the wharves In a half day.
Sold the First Coal Here.
'Nrhe wood business was also the cause Of
. great deal of shipping in early days for
even as late as fifty years ago there was
not a pound of coal to be had in this city,
and there was not a stove which could burn
II. even II coal could be had. Ny father
inaugu-ated the coal business and / per-
scnally sold the first load of coal ever
burned In Washington. The wood always
came up the river In fiat bottom boats, and
they were run up into Tiber creek, which
made In from the river at 17th street. The
Is now b street. from 18th down to 9th
stree. and II was increased very consid-
erabIy when the canal was built to that
point. For years / owned and carried on
q wood yard on the exact ground on which
the Baltimore and Potomac depot is now
located and every stick Of my wood came
up there by water. either In Tiber creek
which was natural stream or the canal
which was afterward constructed There
were at least twenty-four wood yards along
the banks OF the creek or canal. So also all
OF the lumber used IN building up this CITY
came When the canal was first construct
ed II allowed boats OF heavier draught to
pass up. though In a few years II began to
nj up. and forced the larger vessels to un-
load on the river front.
AT my wharf all OF the stone and ma
terial arrived which was used In the con-
etruction of the Smithsonian Institution
the Soldiers Home and several other pub
He buildings. Besides this. contracted for
and hauled the lumber and every stone
TO the building sites IL is hard to realize
the wonderful changes that have taken
place In those days there was q mall on
the maps. but IL was only on the maps
There was not one tree between the White
House and the Capitol. The mall Of today
with Its elegant structures and attractions.
was then simply COW pasture used by
everybody IN common. There were no
dairtes then. and every one either kept a