The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-04-19
TROUBLE OYER GULF OYSTERS
VARIED EFFECTS or THE NEW
LAW IN LOUISIANA.

Has Nearly Provoked . Physical Clash
WIN Aississippi-May Destroy the
Manila MeH's Picturesque Colony
--EDsrmeus Value Of the Oyster Fields'
NEW ORLEANS. April is.--The discovery
that the oyster fisheries Of Louisiana are
one Of the most valuable prr per ties OF
the State promises TO ca,-ss a revolution
along the Gulf coast. OF the value OF
these oysters nothing was known a few
years ago. and they were sold almost ex-
clusively In the New Orleans market, the
trade being In the hands Of Austrians
Oslmau ans,) Manila men. CFilipinos) and
Acadiana.
The Legislature at the last session ore
ated an Oyster Commission. and passed
q very rigid law which prohibits any
except citissns Of Louisiana from engaging
in the oyster fisheries. This law has had .
most remarkable combination Of effects.
It started, first Of all. . war between
Louisiana and Mississippi over their watef
boundary which, has, at times, nearly
reached the stage Of q physical struggle
The matter 10 before the United States
Supreme Court In an original suit between
the two States, and 1t has been agreed that
until the suit u decided the disputed tor
Htory shall be open to the fishermen Of
both States.
This compromise. however. has not as
sured complete peace. The Louisiana
Oyster Commission has . gunboat which
has been warning away some Of the MIS-
sissippi fshermen-or pirates, as the Lou
isianans call them; and In Biloxi and other
oyster towns OF Mississippi, this action
OF the commission has been denounced
In the most violent terms and calls have
been made upon the fishermen to resist
these acts by force.
II has not yet como to q skirInish, but
II is likely to do 70 unless the Supreme
Court soon passes on the boundary case.
As Q matter OF fact. tho Mississippi can
ners have been depending largely on
louisiana oysters for years. and 10 supply
the trade they will have to get them by
force. II necessary.
In Louisiana the law has revolutionized
tho oyster industry and has made a great
many people uncomfortable. The first
to feel the effects OF the change were the
amateur hunters and fishermen.
Stretching from New Orleans to the
Gulf, on the east aide OF the Mississippi.
is the great Gulf marsh. II II . magnif
cent bunting field for snipe. becassines.
papabottes and ducks Of all varieties from
tel TO canvasback. Its lagoons. bayous
and inlets furnish all varieties OF fish known
on the Louisiana coast. except the red
fab, pompanoes aud Spanish mackerel.
which are caught further out In the Gulf
in deeper water.
Scattered through the marsh. especially
on the banks OF the bayous and their
streams. are comfortable hunting or flsh-
ing lodges. belonging to social clubs Of
New Orleans, where the members can run
for an evening or Sunday. certain q rest
from the city's busy clamor. and OF a good
game or hsh dinner. But since the new /
law went into effect. requiring the oysters |
caught In Louisiana to he canned or pre- !
pared In the State, there have sprung up |
In this marsh big canning establishments, |
which have been removed from Missis- /
sippi or Maryland, with hundreds Of cab |
ins for the Bohemian shuckers aud can /,
ners, and the marsh y redolent with the |
odors Of spoilt oysters.
The Austrians were ths next victims |,
No one knows exactly whom they came to !,
but they ha We controlled the |
oyster industry Of the State for fifty or
more years. They are Dalmatiane Of pure |!
or nearly pure Slavic type with distinctly ,
Slavic rames-Abrsmovlch. Jacobovich. |
Nicolavich and the like, but speaking good ,
Italian. and ss.c,cia.inf mainly with the
81 temperament and character they are a. |
non-ltalian a. people can be.
Although living here for half century
or more. and accumulating property. very
e. Of them have become nns,. ra asn;la
citiDens OF louisiana has made the entire
colony run for the United States court \
to become naturalized. Although they
have lived here SO long, they had not shown
Of the United Sistes--ard their citizenship
To- founded entirely on oysters.
The new law IN very distssteful to them,
and they are raising fund to try to break
It. fearing that the oyster industry will
pass under y into the hands OF two or three
But even worse victims are the poor
Filipinos Of Lake BorRne. The blow has
not yet fallen upon than. and they do not |
even know that II ID coming, but whom
picturesque settlements in Louisiana.
The Louisiana Fiipipos have been much
written up. especially since the battle Of
Manila Bay. Previous to that event.
strap gers were frequently taken to this
setilement % one OF the curiosities OF
Thers are between 1000 and l,s00 Fill
pinos near New Orleans, and they have
been there 20 long that memory runneth
not the contrary. No one lmows, not even
Inc Nliptnos themselves. whom the settle
mcrt was established.
About one third OF them are gathered at
he island and settlement OF 81. Malo, not
more than eighteen or twenty miles from
New Orleans. 1t is an ideal picture Of
Filipino fishing village. The houses are
built on poles over the swamp. and matched
with palmetto leaves. The Inhabitants are
pure Filpinos. or Manila men. as thcy are
,a1ied In Louisiana.
Most Of them speak Spanish. but they
frequently drop into the Tagal tongue.
They live o semi barbarous life, frequently
eating their food raw and depending mainly
IN ash and nee.
For amusement they have cock-Aghtins
or gambling. No women have been adj
mttsd to the colony for some years, because
formerly women caused several bloody
ARRAYS, and those Who want wives 70 Oh
10 some OF the neighboring settlements.
Tho Manila men are sQuatters who built
heir palm huts In the midst Of an almost
lrocklsss marsh which had no possible
vnlue, II seemed nj the time, and devoted
themselves to ashing. The fact that their
huts Ne Oh oyster reefs has given the land
/ sudden artificial value, and one or two
big companies, anxious 10 control the
oyster industry. have been entering ali the
marsh linda In the State. and among them
The 81. Malo settlement.
Tho Filipinos may be evioted any day.
They ere too far away from homo to 70
~ - sknv v.rih v..<,ko his v,n~a l.