The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-01-31
(GJ10dlG00 the Dome
L there Oyster,

Il there OYSTER
1t is one OF the naradoxes Of life that
there is no sweet without its bitter.
Take the Oyster, for example. ] spell
it with a capital o because it is Il CAPT
tai article, and to indicate my respect
for it, Now it is pity that this sue
culent bivalve should ever bring trouble.
even nnocently They lie quietly in
their beds--saying nothing to nobdy and
not harrning anything, and yet no Leg
islaturc can assemble that the Oyster
does not become source of trouble and
the subject of debate.
1t is as knotty a question for the
average mind to master as the she'll
shat encloses the oyster would he
hard to digest Ten years or so ago the
law allowed dredging for oysters. 4
few years later when Col w. H. Lucas.
of Hyde, was in the Senate. the law for
babe dredging. Two years ago the law
was changed again and now the law
permits dredging in water not shallowcr
than ten feet. And now Representative
Davis. Of Hyde, chairman of the Oyster
Committee, has introduced a bill to for
bid dredging, and Mr.. Williams. of
Dare, has introduced bill to allow
dredging. provided it is not done within
two miles OF the mainland.
Last week there was a delegation
from Newbern to ask the Legislature to
permit dredging under certain restric-
tions. Yesterday a committee, composed
of Mayor w. NJ. Chaunccy.
Captain A. w. Styron and Mr..
j. NJ. Spencer, of Washington. and
Mr.. \. u. Miles and Oliver Lnpton. OF
Bell Haven, came up to Raleigh To go
before the committee in opposition to
the bin forbidding dredging.
Now. Won must know, you Highlander
that there are two ways of taking oys,
tiers. One way is the old fashioned way
of the fathers-they call it ''tonging" or
tongueing," which is the method pur-
sued in water less than eight feet deep.
Dredging is when you grab the bivalve
by wholesale in deep or shallow water.
When no method except longing is per-
mitted, the output is comparatively
small. When dredging is allowed, there
is enough to supply the market with
more than $4,000 bushels Of fresh oys-
tiers daily and to keep dozen canning
factories in operation. Before the
Lucas law was enacted, there were fac
tories at Elizabeth City, Newbern.
Washington, Beaufort, Bell Haven and
other points. The law forbidding dredg-
ing shut mp the factories because the
''tongers" could not or did not supply
enough oysters for canning. When limit
ed dredging was permitted two years
ago. the canning business re-opened.
Keep in mind that as rule the
'tongers" are the small men. those who
have their own boats, and depend upon
the amount Of oysters they get for their
daily support. The ''dredgersr operate
on 4 larger scale. The complaint of the
''tonger" is that the ''dredger' not only
gets the oyster in deep water. but that
he also goes in shallow water, taking
everything in sight, and taking away
his living. The honest 'Glredger' says
that the '.tonger" cannot get the oysters
from deep water, and that il all dredg-
ing is prohibited it will be throwing
away Il great source Of the States
wealth. They say that dredging in
creases the number OF oysters year by
year. increases the area of oyster rocks.
builds up eanneries, and when confined
to deep water does not iniure the
longer The. s'tongcr'' to all this re-
plies that no law las yet Kept the
"drcdger" in deen water, hut that he
takes oysters in bays and creeks and III
shallow water as well as in deep, thus
cutting him and his co-workers ont of
Il method of making a living they and
their fathers have enjoyed from the
time whereof the memory of man run
meth not to the contrary.
Mr.. j. NJ. Spencer, of Washington.
who says he is here to advocate Il law
that will help the industry and protect
alike the longer 'dredger" and the
canning industry, says the trouble all
lies in the fact that it is hard to enforce
the present law. The law forbids dredg-
ing in water shalower than ten feet.
Who can tell looking at boat, whether
il is in ten or eight feet of water. He
says that some dredgers go into the
bays and creeks and take oysters in shall
low waters, and that it is that dishonest
kind of dredging that has made many
.tongers'' hostile to dredging. He sug-
gests that the law ought to be changed
in two particulars:
/. Al dredging should be prohibited
in bays and creeks, no matter what the
depth of the wafer.
2. Instead of ten foot depth of water
limit in the sound, a boundary line
should he established and marked, and