The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1901-02-02
FRANKLIN, La, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1901

lies in the sun, raked over day after
day, it assumes green. brown and red
dish tints. After washing, however it
becomes uniformly yellow, with a sort
of translucent appearance.
Under some conditions the moss can
be cured in ten DAYS, and at other
times the process may occupy three or
four weeks. Each mosser has near his
cottage or shanty a lot of patches
whose varying colors show the diff
ferent stages of the process. At some
stages rain is likely to seriously delay
the curing process, so that at night the
moss is heaped up like haycocks and
covered with sailcloth
After it is dried, it is thoroughly
washed and then dried again. The
washing is done in great tubs made
OF hogsheads which are bought for 81
apiece and sawed in two. These tubs
are lined along the beach at high water
mark and filled with moss from one
side and water from the other, the
water being scooped up at high tide
by means Of small barrels with handles
to them. Just like clothes the moss is
souZled and scrubbed and rinsed until
1t gllstens in the sunlight, amber
colOred, and Is again spread upon the
clean sand. Ordinary wooden hay rakes
are used to turn the curing moss. ard
the work is done by men, women and
even children, whose bare feet are
tanned and wholesome looking Dur
III in CT cho11
bits Of ordinary seaweed or infected
moss are picked out Then, when it is
cured the moss is stored in large sheds
like hay barns.
A few years ago moss brought seven
cents pound. and proved a bonanza
but today its gathering is only fairly
profitable at half that price. If man
pulls two barrels, or 200 pounds. in
half day that sounds like good busi-
ness at 81, but the moss must vet be
cured. and the stormy days accounted
for. Still, there is one man at Scituate
a surfman in the winter who has the
reputation of making $50 week moss
ing IN the summer season, which lasts
generally during the three summer
months. At the end of the season, the
buyers for the breweries come round
and make their bargains with the
mnssers. who must then barrel their
product and then ship it to Boston
The sowing Of 100 pounds of dry,
springy carrageen in an ordinary flour
barrel is about the hardest work that
the mosser has to do. In some cases
the moss is shipped in bales. but the !
buyers prefer to have it barrelled. and
allow 25 cents a 100 pound for that
purpose.
Naturally the man who is mosser
in the summer is a fisherman in the
winter and the rule holds good in
great many cases. Yet at Scituate par
ticularly there is younger generation
growing up who are willing to pull
moss all summer, but who want some .
thing more exciting than fishing for
winter occupation. Some Of them ship
on yachts or other vessels bound for
Southern cruises. Some take foreign
voyages, and Others become brakemen
or motormen for the season.
1t is estimated that there are over
200 men gathering moss in Scituate
and Plymouth whose seasons product
will amount to something like 1000
tons or $4,000 worth Of marketable
moss This estimate gives to each man
10000 pounds Of moss for his seasons
work. or $3.50, which is really low, as
many mossers calculate on making S.
or Sc day for the whole three months.
But with their tubs, their big wheel
ed carts. their swinging dories and
weather beaten houses, the mossers are
pleasant to see upon the coast of Mas
and there is nobody to be-
grudge them the money.