The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1904-03-25
STORY OF An OYSTER
TOLD BY fiiMGELF ABOUT HIMSELF
AND HIS TRlSE.

and HIS TRiGG.
The Trials and Tribulmticns of the
SU"CuIcnt EiyaiS" Frnia the Time
OF Planting tntiI His Appearance
on the EishnGnrcr's Counter.
There were about 100000 Of US when,
As Tiny flakes o. >pawn--or "spat." III
| the oyster spawn is called we rloatcti
cat into The water one day on the
fats
At first we were White and apparent
~ lit"l"SS. Then We turned gray and
finally black. Al this Stage we became
| NiSibly alive. For several days we
1ioatcd, The sport al waves and tides.
| Some Of my brothers were carried out
10 sea and 81 vanished: others were
swallowed by fish. Al last we all be-
gan inStinciiv"iy TO sink toward the
! bottom.
Then began again terrible dastruc-
ton. Many fell on mud-thc most fa-
tai thing young oyster can do These
| persisted at once. Others attached
| themselves to plants and weeds which
| grow at the bottom of the sea. They
| lived for time-So long at least as the
| plant remained alive. Then. when the
! plant died. they persisted as well.
Fortunately for myself, | driftcd on
| to hit of "cultch''-that il TO say, one
of the old shells which the dredgrrS
and oyster men so carefully scatter all
over tho sHa floor of an oyster bed.
settled with my deep shell uppcrmoSt
AMI my fiat or right shell nearer the
! ground. At the time | did not know
why | did This. | have since realized
that it was because in that position |
should hr more easily able to eject tho
sand and -rit which Il rough sea- some
times StirS mp in shallow water. | at
tached myself firmly TO my anchorage
of 'cultch'' and felt myself at last fair
" started in !ifr
Soon | noticed that every single NOR
sci Of shell or stone around ne was
tenantcd by tiny oysters, all lying in
the same position rs myself and all
firmly anchored
There | lay, unmovng. for nearly Il
year Food. in the shape of tiny ami
malculr. which an oyster loves best,
was plentiful When the water was
thick with it. we ali opened our shells |
wide. and. making currents III the wa
ter hy means Of The tiny hairs which |
fringe our ellis and which mon call our
boards VI" washed the daintirS into |
our mouths. Our choicest drIicacieS |
were the minute green algT, which |
give to full grown oysters that Gr"eniSh |
tingo that is the mark of the ariStO- /
cratic native.
When | first anchored myself. was |
but the twentieth Of an inch in dame |
ter-so small. indeed. that microscope |
would have been necessary 10 examine |
me. At that stage my shell was per- t
fcctly transparent.
At the end Of ten months l had in |
creased i'll diameter 10 fully the size
of dime and become what is called |
brood"
During all TIL time had been learn
ing many things. l found out that 1t
was necessary 10 close my Shell tight |
when dangers OF various kinds threat
ened, when the tide was low or. in Win
ter, when frost was severe. YOu may
perhaps imagine that an oyster is a |
creature of such low organism that 1t
cannot see or feel much of what is 60
ing on round about it. But you are
wrong. The mantle fringe of an oyster
is very sensitive. II you watched us
from IL boat i'll calm water, You would
see that the mere shadow of the boat
crossing an oyster bed will cause those
of us upon whom it falls 10 close our
shells Immediately.
1t was necessary to be most careful.
Dangers were many and terrible. Sea
urchins prowlcd among us and de-
vourcd many. But OF all our foes the
worst is the five fingered StartSh. One
of nv sisters, anchored not a yard
away, fell victim 10 this terror OF
the oyster beds. 1t clutched her with
lis long fingers. She closed her shell.
But the creature was not 10 be shak-
en- off. Hour after hour it C,.lng there
until on the second day after its first
grip she. poor thing, opened her she'll
10 get Il mouthful of food. AT once the
starfsh injected into her Il fluid which
stupciiCd her 50 that she could not
close again. Then the monster turned
itself inside out. shot itself into the
open shell and dcynurcd her.
Then. one day year after | had
tioatcd as "Spat,' came startling
change in my existence. Something
huge and heavy came out of The shad-
CIV of Il boat above and approached,
raSpinG and grating along the bottom.
1t WAS Il great. triangular drCdGe Of
wrought iron. At the bottom was
hat bar with Il blunt edge, known 10
the drciigrrS as the bit
As the bit approached it scrapcd
the hottom of the sra clean. and next
instant |. too found myself lifted and
dropped into the net together with
hundreds like myself and Il missed
lancous collection of small SolcS and
other things.
One of the men sorted over the catch
and. having selected all the oysters
and Spat. shaded" the rest back into
the sea through IL portfolio.
|. in com any with enormous quan-
titles of other brood, was put into a
"waSh"-a measure holding five and Il
quarter gallons and rclaid. Here life
was less cvcntful and food most plcn-
tiful. TO fattCn we'll an oyster must
have certain amount of fresh water.
In this snug retreat | passed from
brood to half ware and from half ware
10 ware, or full grown oyster. But |
still went on growing and developing,
until one day the drcdge swept me UP
again. and was raised once more into
the upper air and rapidly brought in.
| was tncn dropped into Il Ercc bag
and suspended in Il tank of fresh sea-
water which is constantly rCncwCt
There | await my final fate, which
will, fear. he fishmonger's counter.
New York News.
The PhotOEraphcr's Good work.
"Maud's latest Photograph is just
lovely
rs it,"
Eyes. had to ask who it was
Cleveland Plain Dealer.