Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-04-16
ON THE RIVER FRONT
SHELLS TAKEN TO SEED BARREN
OYSTER GROUNDS.
Preparing Pleasure Craft for Service
-Overhauling Excursion Resort
Wharves-General Matters.

The little schooner Centennial loaded a
cargo Of oyster shells day or two ago.
sailed for the lower river with them.
These shells will be distributed over oys-
ter beds that have been worked out, and to
them the embryo oysters will attach them
selves. In about three years these now
barren beds will have a good crop of Oys-
ters on them This policy Of seeding bar
rem oyster beds is being followed by plant
ers along the river, especially on the Vfr-
ginia side, with the most encouraging re-
suits
Experienced oystermen say that almost
any oyster bed on the river, II allowed to
lie unworked for three or four years, will
at the end Of that period be found pro-
ductive again, and can be easily kept pro-
ducing good grades of oysters II any care
is taken in the way the beds are worked
and the bottom is kept covered with Shells
The dealers in fish at the wholesale mar
ket at the 11th street wharf are
becoming much alarmed at the scarcity
of shad and herring coming to market ami
are fearing another poor season. Ihey
saw that by this time the season should be
in full swing and that all the shores should
be catching fish in large quantities, when
the fact is, except In the lower end or the
river few shad and herring are being
caught. In the past twenty-four hours
less than 800, 600 herring and 1900 shad
have been received here. Prices have ad-
vanced, the herring selling at $3.50 to So per
thousand, and the shad at 30 to 30 cents
each for roes and IA to IL cents each for
bucks. Perch, rock, cats and other bunch
fish are on the market, and the demand for
them is fair.
The stock of oysters in the shell on sale
at the 18th street wharf market this morn
ing was good but prices were high and the
demand small
The steam launch Cygnus. owned by Mr..
Gus Forsberg, has been Handsomely re-
&C. fnr inay vii h yNlp
ure parties aboard at any time. The launch
Joe Blackburn. which has been acting as
the tender to the army post at Fort Wash
'ington has been released from that service
and has returned to this city.
Work is being pushed on the conversion
of a large whaleboat, at Heagans boat
yard, into power launch. The engine VIII
be installed in the boat shortly. and 1t Is
expected she will be ready to go into the
water early in next month. The new craft
is building for parties in this city.
General Port News.
The United States army tug Gibbon, the
tender to Fort Washington and Fort Hunt
which has been out of service for several
days. has gone into commission, and is
making regular trips between the forts and
this city.
The wharf foot of 7th street used as
the. landing place for the River View and
Colonial Beach steamers, is being over
hauled and put in thorough order for the
summer excursion season.
The rebuilding Of the wharf at Motley
Hall, Nd, damaged by drifting ice during
the winter. has been completed, and the
wharf machine has gone down the river
to repair the piers at River View, Mar
shall Hall and elsewhere.
A shop trial of the new tug Neptune,
built at Baltimore for service on the bay
and its tributaries. developed the fact that
the vessel will pass all expectations as TO
speed, and will be one of the fastest YES
sells of her class on Chesapeake bay.
The two-masted bay schooner Rover, we'll
known here, has during the past winter
been rebuilt at Sharpstown, Md. and has
gone into commission again practically a
new boat. The Rover is owned and COM
manded by Captain G. Frank Seward.
The building of the approaches to the
wharf of the new morgue on Water street
is being pushed, and the building viii be
ready to turn over to the District authori-
ties by the end of this week early in
next. The painters are laying on the I'm
ishing coats to the interior of the new
building.
The Spanish barkentine Antoni DAB
sailed from Alexandria IN ballast today
for Portland, Me-. where she will load lum-
Der for Buenos Ayres. She carried away
several hundred tons of sand in her hold
as ballast Under the marine laws of the
United States the barkentine could not
load at Alexandria for a port in the United
States.
The steamer Dan'l NJ. jackson. laden with
pine boards from Aqua creek. has arrived.
The steamer E. Jas. Tul. with wood and
two scows laden with railway ties for the
dealers, came into port yesterday.
The schooner Marvel has been taken to
Alexandria to complete the unloading of
her cargo of North Carolina pine.
The schoon Grace G.. Bennett has sailed
from Edenton, N. c.. with a cargo of iurn-
Der for this city
The schooner Charles H. Darger has ar
rived laden with pine lumber from Virgil
MIA lumber port.
RE c.. Pinto, Goldie C. and Uriah Hur.N&