Evening journal., 1899-03-22
OYSTERS ARE NOT KILLED.
THEIR sUFFocATloN BY ICE
FlSHERMAN'S GHOST STORY.


PROMINENT DEAIJDR, WHO WAS
ONCE "a TONGER. TALKS INTER-
EsTHNGIY ABOUT THE LUSCIOUS
RrvAavE. SAYING TT is AS BAD
NY KILLED Ns THB PEACH
CROP.
Oxford. March 21.--A prominent oys-
ter deaer, who hats lbeen a tonger, a.
soraper and a dredgor, and Is thor
ouehly wei. acquainted with every oys-
ten ground I'M fhe Chyptank river and
adiacGra waIaes. Glrd wlhclse IinltelM-
gcr5 observation and practical eNpem-
ence runs thruelh th.rty years and
mere, Says
Newspapers ccrrt5pcnient5 are
making misleading statements about
the oystels in dIhe deep water or THE
Chcrlanll1 ani Miles, rJvWs or amy
other Chesapeake river, being Winter
Killed. They are mot i'm water deep
emuugh 10 keep them from fcsezing.
What the fsheumen are Saying about
oysters being asphyX.ated, or SUMO
Gated, because ice covers The sulilace
or tlha waiter, lis a myth, If not a super
edt.Cn. Tlh-se that have perished have
baen killed tV tlhe cold, ami have mot
died fer want cf air. when a freeze
such ais we have had a.h,s Winter. be
gins cn the waiter, many CyEteus Cn THE
fats and shallow bars are caught In the
ica amid ars frozen 10 DEATH Wlheu THE
Ice bneaks up and colmss aelh-ge in
pieces many 90 theae dead oysters,
caugIht I'm the ica while making, come
with NJ. This is all hhIe hanm tlhe SUR
faCe fcrmaalCn docs to the oystms,
and ib Is comparatively insignificant.
"Oyarrs whon ua OF The waiter and
leNponcd to the air. are as stnscsp5ltile
10 imCst as awcut potato or tomato
fONa2e is. They win 'ne,ze at a higher
temperance fliln m-nts, eggs amid most
vegeoables The past Wln5er cgSiere
lll 1e 'n dfy O4.u1e, even when COVER
ed with baeging, wIh,n unlrH1teCtJh po-
tatcds, luunips and paian1ps did Mot. n
una stgl1ace ibe ils q t0Ct thl.k oysters
ON the bottom IN elxllOclJ waiter are
lsafe al Winl n, IL THE f.gsze lasts sil
| long. Blts Oystens get poor durLng a
ltueeze. THE food supply rs scant, be
cause ehe currents THAT transport at are
lsMgglsh, or stIilp, and thle upland sup
lply, brought down by dIha fresh water
lriv5us, Is Cus off. Possibly. df ths
frdeza cmlalnmed a great while. thC
loystsrs might etarve to death 1f this
cHatumem and fishermen who make
thtse REPORTS have found a considerable
numbsr OF dead oysters I'm deep waten
1t is more plausible that they died IRON
lstarvation than fr~m suffocation. Wink
Ir.L.1
, lof air last Winter at depths cf twonlB
and th.aty tor ls telling a ghoeb stony
These same people viii graye.y tel
you that many thousands CT bushels o
Z lcVstails were smotheu5d last Winter b,
,he ice sinking and covering them mp
Did tho ice sink W wowd "a cslitaihly xiii
the oylsters. THESE pcopre DO aotuall,
believe that field ice sinks. notwith
standlng % canlOnl sink, lb1au itl
specific gravity is 50 much lses thai
that Of waiter. They cannot account
for ITS rapad dlsappe in any othe
way, and, therefore, II sinks as sits tim
has come Sc, counting the oyster,
that suffOcated Ter want of air durim.
Y THE freeze and thclaa smcthered b.
e sinking Ice when dhe freeze broke.
g would secm that THE oyetsr oulCp IS a
: badly Winlter-kiIed as the peach crcI
4 I'M ain THIS stun There lis a laugh. ami
s nct an alarm. THE fact is. THESE ogs
T termen and fishermen 'repcrturs' ma
nclt examined oyster grounds i'm waite
n twenty or tlh9rty feet deep. or amy ouh6
!: ldsIlih, when they udpcrtgd thIlir olbsel
" vath-ms. Just before the ice-break b,
q, gam, while the freeze was on dts lae
N leeis, as W were, they would gather tC
, giethsr about a sunny bank or canr
r. landing and comfort their pessim.st
l. souLs amid ada another chapter Ito IN
IS bcok of the 'Oyetedmen's Woes Z
le reaohimg THE mOurmful conclusion th;
m most OF THE oysters had been suffocats
e, by the ice while afloat and othel
smothkred by ice when It sunk. Tn,
y is all these is ian it,"
le