The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-03-29
ACCUSED OF OYSTER PIRACY.
TWENTY-FIVE NEGRO OYsTERMEN
ARRESTED IN SHAD RIVER.

They Are Charged With Crimihhl
Trespass Upon the Oyster Beds OF
can't. A. OelnIer-The Arrests Made,
pcoceab1v and Quietly and With
out EncOunteriDg Resistance ny
Deputy sherifs O'COnnor and
Uestcott-Nen Arrested Had Over
400 bushels of Oysters-They Claim
They Had Been longing Only
Above Low water Mark and Thni
They Had IL Right to Do.
Twenty-Five negro oystermen were ar
rested yesterday by Deputy Sherihs
O'Connor and Westcott, while engaged
in longing oysters in the waters of Shad
river. and have been committed 20 jan
on warrants charging criminal trespass
upon the leased oyster beds of Capt Gus
Oemler.
The men claim that they have done no
wrong and that they have taken oysters
only from the marshes along the banks
of the river. to which it is contended,
neither Capt. Oemler nor anyone else
has a title. 1t is contended on the other
hand that they have deliberately taken
oysters from the beds of The streams, De-
tween low water mark on either side ana
within the leased premises of Capt. Oem-
der. In the view of the prosecutor II
makes no difference whether the oysters
came from the bed of the stream, from
the banks above low water mark or from
the marshes, as he claims that all OK the
beds are equally his property.
Tuesday and yesterday more than
score of the oysteTmen have been nara
at work in Shad river and oyster creek
gathering, while they were not mofesteu
all that they could. They came in every
variety of craft. from a bateau 10 a
schooner, and they worked steadfastly
and, as the loaded condition of their boats
showed, to good advantage. one of them
is said TO have forced Capt Oemler TO
leave him alone and 10 permit the depre-
cations, if depredations they are, upon the
oyster-beds. Jasper Holmes, against
whom this offense is charged, is an eX-
convict. having served a seven-year term
in the penitentiary, and is said to be
desperate man and a leader among the
oystermen who have banded together at
and near Wilmington.
The arresting party consisted of Depu-'
ties O'Connor and Westcott, Capt Gem
Ter and some of his men, all heavily arm
ed. The oystermen have seemed in the
past not too prone to obey the law, and
armed, as they were, with their counsels
opinion that they broke no law when
gathering oysters from the banks above
low water mark and from the marshes,
they We're likely to be uglier still II
was through the firm demeanor Of the
officers and the show of strength that
they made that no opposition to arrest
was made by any of the men and that
they all submitted quietly enough. The
warrants under which they were arrested
were sworn out by Capt. Oemler before
Justice McIntire.
TIL officers who made the arrests say
that there were about 400 bushels of oys-
tiers in the boats whose occupants they
arrested and that there were others in
the vicinity likewise engaged in gather
ing oysters whom they could not arrest.
This was due TO a lack of accommoda-
tons for a fgreater number of prisoners
on the little tug on which they made the
trip to Thunderbolt'
The men say they have committed no
wrong, but that they have been advised
by their counsel Messrs w. p. LaRoche
and G. w. Beckett, that they have a right
to gather oysters from the marsh or from
the banks a any point above low water
mark This contention is based on the
ground that there has never been a grant
OF the marsh lands from the state TO any
individul or corporate and that the ne
gro oystermen have as much right to
gather oysters from them as has anyone
else, even though the some one else claim
title to the property.
This is a new point in the oyster litiga>
ton that has never been heard in the
courts. 1t will be made and urged when
the oystermen arrested have been indict-
ed and are on trial and the result will
be closely watched If the contention is
sustained they will be acquitted; if it is
overruled they will be convicted. Upon
It's decision rests the determination of the
validity of the title owned by a number
OF parties to marsh lands in Chatham
county, which are claimed under quit
claim deeds from the Board of Educa-
ton.
II is said by Messrs. LaRoche and Beck
EFT that a commission was appointed bv
an act of the Legislature, fifty years and
marsh lands for the use of the Board of
Education and the Bethesda Orphan
School, but that this commission never ex-
ercised its powers. The last member of
the commission to remain alive was Col.
John Screven, and as there was no pro-
vision made In the act for the succession
OF the commission, there is no authority
on earth to-day, and has not been since
Col. Screven's death, by whom its powers
may be lawfully executed. Therefore the
counsel for the oystermen say, these
marsh lands are stll public property.
never having been set apart for any other
purpose, and the public has right to go
upon them and gather oysters or anything
else whenever it pleases.
-S-e-s
-"O0m Paul is n man Of faur vror5c ,,