The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1899-01-27
FLOWING FOR CLANS.
A PECULIAR INDUSTRY OF THE CAL
IFORNIA BEACHES.

An Old Mans Novel and Practical
Method of Getting the BivnIyes-His
Adventure with a Chinese Junk |
and Some Celestial smusgIers.
Tho California beaches consist, as
rule of long stretches of white sand,
backed by dunes, where tho curious bright
hucd ice plant and musical grasses abound.
The wind plays strange pranks with the
dunes and has carved them into various
shapes and chiseled singular figures in
BIAS relief. For miles these dunes and
sands breast tic sea and wind, here and
there reaching inland in rivers of sand
and again broken in by some disappear
ing rivera river only in the winter time
which has formed a broad lagoon where
tules flourish and wild ducks and geese
congregate.
At such places are sometimes found
strange characters, perhaps rounding out
a decade of degcneracy. Behind tho dunes
in such IL bay floated a curious nondescript
craft half boat, half ark, half aground i'll
the mud and connected to the shore by a
shaky, dilapidated bridge that by a series
of ropes and blocks could be drawn up,
isolating the dweller. Anything might
be expected here-an ancient and retired
plate, n Chinese smuggler, a counterfeiter
only clam digger's. The ark was n sum-
mer resort and used at odd times, and
mado the acquaintance of the owner in a
neighboring town ono hot summer day
when the wind had hauled off shore and
cumulus clouds were piling high ovor the
sierras.
The cid man was driving an ancient
horse attached to n dilapidated wagon of
Anticipated type, upon which was plow,
and net him passing through q sandy
cut in the dunes leading to the sea. Won
dering what there was to plow down the
long stretch of sand, 1 accostcd him and
| passed the time of day He refined in his
horse and asked if l was going his way,
offering me scat. No, ho was not q
farmer, and when looked inquiringly at
the pillow he laughed softly.
$50 you reckoned 1 was goin down tho
doons to pillow, ell? I'm goin clammin."
with plow?" queried.
"Sartin," replied the old man, peering
ct me from beneath heavy eyebrows. Il
reckon you don't come from clammin
country"
But 1 do" I responded, recalling Il
long muddy tract ON the New England
coast where The picturesque figures of the
clammers could be seen in early mornings
digging in tho black mud for the elusive
quahaupg.
"Wcll, it's queer you never see man
| plowin for CLANS"
l never had and expressed the belief that
| clam blowing must be peculiar to Alami-
tos and California, at which the clammer
looked but to sea and said, "P'raps it
| was"
We crept on through the dunes, turned
out on to tho sand and down the shore I'M
| til we came to little inlet that led to an
inner beach. Here wo stopped, and, TAX
| ing out the plow, the old man embarrassed
| tho patient stccd and transferred him to
| the rlow. He then turned him down 70
| the edge of the water that was in the ebb
| and began to plOw, cutting deep furrow
in the black oozing sand When 100 fees
| or so had been plowed lie left the horse
| sinking gradually in the sand took II
| basket from the wagon and went over the
furrow, picking up the unfortunate CLAIMS
| that had been tossed so unceremoniouSly
| out into the world That this was novel
| and practical method of claiming was at
| once apparent, and the basket was quickly
| filled with shells that rescIEbled tho Lit
| tie Neck CLANS of the east, but were twice
| as largo.
Works right smart" said the old man
as he dumIcd bushel basket of CLAIMS
| into the wagon as a result of his picking.
| I've always been fond of CLANS" he add
| cd after IL Pause .'I'm from Rhode Island
| or was once, and that's the fatherland of
| CLAIMS. put in my time gcttin EN-, and
my sOn-in-law he sells 'cm up in the town.
Once" continued the clam digger, -
| branchcd out and came mighty near get
| tin into trouble. In winter the demand
for CLAIMS lets up here-the Ieoplo leave
IL.
| I'd 90 to collCctin ataloncs-that' IL kind
| of clam that sticks to the rocks closer than
Il revenue stamp. The shell is beautiful
insidc--pearl of all colors, that sells at
| fair price to lie made into buttons and
curiosities; then in the meat, which the
| Chinese buy, you sometimes find pearls
sometimes black ones that bring II good
price in tho east. They find these abalones
| all along shore, but specially at San Clio
mentc, big island about 40 miles away.
So went over one winter with my tools
and camped out there.
after I'd been there week Chinese
junk ran i'll one day and six or seven Of
| the men began to camp in the sand pits
! and among the dunes They were after
abalones, and as had call for all could
get offered to buy the shells they got.
They sometimes brought in three or four
bags day. But there was one curious
thing about it, they kept ohangin men,
| and the junk would call once in two weeks
to take them off l spoke to tho boss
Chinaman about it, and he said, China
man no good; get tired heap so0n.' So
thought they came and tried it, then threw
| up the job in a few days, and he had TO
get more. But l was gcttin Il heap of
shells and everything Went on all right
until one day vessel sailed in ard sent n
boat ashore, and two of the men came up
to me and handed me a paper. | never
was so took hack in my life. 1t was an
order for arrest, for smugglin Cinnamon.
They carried mo up to the city and come
near maxim n case against me, for them
pesky Cinnamon were only catchin aba
lones us blind, and the island was head
quarters for smugglin. They brought the
men up from Mexico in the junk, landed
'em on the island, where they tshed for a
week or SO to give 'em citizenship, then
the boss would discharge them for some
bogus reason, and instead of goin back to
Mexico they'd run into the mainland at
night Some one was maxim money out
of it, but it wasn't nc, " said the old man
as he started his clam pillow down a new
furrow.-New York Commercial Adyer
tiser.