Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1899-02-09
COLONY or SHRlMpERS,
A Peculiar Settlement Near New Or
leans.

/
leans.
Hidden away In the lahyrinthine
of hayous OF lower Jefferson parish and
scattered about the margins OF Grand
lake, Little lake and the unsteady
named Chentore Caminada Is strange
colony, the bare existence OF which Is
practically unknown. II numbers, { II
told. at least 1000 people, three
fourths of whom are Chinese and the
rest Manilamen and undesirable
mongrels, They live In hrushwood
camps near the edge Of the water,
their habits are Incredibly simple
and Semi-savage, and their business
is the catching and drying of shrimp,
This singular settlement recently
came to the surface In some litigation,
on the calendar OF the local courts
over the ownership OF piece OF adj
iacent property, but the industry has
been quietly pursued. from time out
of mind, in almost unbroken isolation
It's product Is never seen In the New
Orleans market, but is shipped direct
to SAN Francisco and New York and
consumed entirely by the Chinese
At certain seasons the shrimp are
caught by the millions In rude hand
nets and spread In layers on plat
forms, built over the surface of the
water. The hot sun soon shrlvels
them up and they become disirrated,
When thoroughly dry they arc brown
and brittle and have sweet, nutty
flavor that Is far from disasreeahle
la this condition they are packed
loosely In barrels holding about
pounds each and sent to native mer-
| chants on Mott and poycrs streets
IN New York and tn the famous China
town of Frisco, At both places they
arc in lively demand aud are eaten
either as candImenta. without fur
Their preparation. or with curry of
rice Even American barharlans
lind them very good,
The scene at the shrimplng camps
IL so strangely oriental that II Is hard
! for visitor to realize that he Ii In
the neighhorhood Of big American
| city. AS Il matter OF fact the indtia-
try Is imported, and exactly the same
process of fishing and drying Is pur
sued on vast scale In China. AL
most all the colonies come from fami-
| lies of shrimpers and when they
save sufficient money return to the
! ilowery Kingdom and send back roll
atives to take their places. There are
thousands of common Chinese fans
~ the stores of New Orleans bearing
pictures OF shrimp fishers and divers.
and. no doubt many purchaser has
puzzled over the queer aaubs and
wondered what II all meant. The
same thing precisely could be wilt
messed by making Il trip to the ontly-
ing bayous OF Grand lake.
Secluded az they have been, the
litigation already referred to ls not
the first event that has brought the
Chinese shrimpers to the attention OF
New Orleans officials. About II years
ago n tremendous row was raised Mt
the post-ofiice over some unknown
matter that was talnting the malls
| with n peculiar and vllainous odor.
The trail being as evident as the aura
Of soap foundry, the government
aIeuths we're not greatly overworked
IN following It's to certain mysterious
parcels, decorated all over with Mon.
golian hleroglyphlcs. The bundles
contained dried shrimp, prepared after
a special and odoriferous formula, and
sent as tidbits to friends OF tho colony.
Needless to say, they were promptly
nonfiscated under the rules OF the
postal service, but the mailing went
on to wild chorus OF public pro-
test, until 1t was stopped by a peculiar
incident One day the superintendent
was passing his window Just as n
| IN the slot The official was a man
Of action Grabbing the package, he
hurled IL instantly at the retreatlng
Celestial, who turned just In time to
| stop 1t with his nose. The Chinaman
emitted howl of anguish, aud from
hat day to this not single shrimp
has ever perfumed the malls.
! but the most remarkable story con-
nected with the shrimpers ls that OF
! the Chinese prince. II is true
story, and 50 curious In It's details
and 50 grotesquely sinister in It's de-
movement that 1t might easily be
elaborated into a striking romance OF
Anglo-orIental life. However. the
plain facts are these:
| About seven years ago Chinese
prince Of the blood came To New Or
leans for his health. He was not III,
but he had reasons for believing that
he might live longer II he removed
himself temporarily from the neigh
borhood Of the court and enjoyed a
complete change Of diet. Exactly
what these reasons were nobody
knows, for. like all orlentai5, he kept
his own counsel strictly. but he was
regarded at pekin az an offensive par
| tI6an
Strangely enough. the news OF bis
presence here never got Into the pm