Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-10
ON THE RIVER FRONT
WATERMELON TIME ABOUT TO
OPEN AT THE WHARF MARKET.
Poor Prospects for Tomato Canning
Season-Schooner Hill Goes Fish
ing-Harbor Notes

The dealers at the oyster wharf. which
about this season of the year becomes the
watermelon wharf. are looking for the first
cargo Of melons from the neighborhood Of
Norfolk within the next day or two and
by August 1 watermelons from the lower
Potomac should be arriving here in vessels
in large quantities from the Coan river and
other points the river near its mouth.
The reports coming from down the river
state that the melons are growing finely.
| and that the outlook for a large crop Is
| excellent. The melon season should be in
full swing within the next two weeks. and
from that time until cold weather comes
the nth street wharf will be a busy place,
as it is the wholesale melon market of the
city. and is daily crowded with buyers and
| sellers OF the fruit. Early in the fall It Is
not an uncommon sight to see oyster and
| watermelon laden boats lying side by side
at the wharf. and the uptown dealers BUY
ing both melons and oysters for their trade
| The supply of fish received by the deal
ers at the nth street wharf market has
| been quite heavy since Saturday. but the
| demand. as usual on a Monday, was very
light. Prices remain steady. Trout. mack
ere tailors and other varieties were on
sale from the bay fisheries, and their was
also a small supply of river-caught fish.
| The receipts of crabs, both hard and SOFT,
from the lower Potomac, have been light
for the past day or two. while the demand.
particularly for the hard crabs has been
good, and they have been selling at $l-J0
and $3.50 per barrel. according to size
| CLANS are coming In quantities ample to
meet a good demand and the supply OF
oysters on sale Is also ample to meet the
| demand
The Italian cruiser Dogah has arrived at
Newport News from this city. and will re-
main there for several days to obtain
| supply of about 300 tons of bunker coal
before sailing for New York. Capt. John
Barclay OF the Maryland Pilots Association
took the ship from this city to Newport
| News.
Many of the tomato and fruit canning
factories along the lower river are now in
operation, but the prospects are that the
output this season will be small. as 1t will
be difficult to obtain sufficient supply to
keep the packing plants working on full
time. Report coming from down the river
state that the cloudy and rainy weather
has kept the tomatoes from maturing prop
erly. and that much of the crop will be In
| ferior and not suitable for packing for
winter use. The bulk of the canned to-
matoes used in this city come from the
| lower Potomac canneries and are fire fruit
| The schooner Ella HILL capt. FRANK
| Dixon has sailed for the lower Potomac
and will engage in summer fishing. capt.
| Dixon will put his nets overheard about
Potomac creek and will work down the
| river wherever the fish are TO be found.
| Perch. rock, catfish. mulets and carp Will
be caught and will be sent to the market
here The schooner will remain on the
|
ing season opens. She will make occa-
sional visits to Alexandria for ice and other
necessary supplies.
General River Matters.
The new tug Edward Gummell of George
town Saturday night took party from
| this city to Matthias Point. the lower
| river. on fishing trip. She also carried
| light barge down the river to be loaded
for this city. She returned to this city last
night with the pleasure party aboard.
| The two-masted schooner Annie Camp.
which was hauled out on the marine rail-
way at Alexandria for cleaning and paint
ing of her hull. completed repairs Satur-
day evening and was put overheard She
sailed yesterday for Chesapeake bay port.
| 1t IS stated that a sand-carrying barge
owned here will be hauled out on the big
| railway at the Alexandria yard today.
| The tug Neptune, which is on her way
from Baltimore to San Francisco. where
| she will enter the marine hospital service,
| has arrived at Pernambuco, where she
called for coal. Captain Mcleod. in his
report to the American Towing and Light
| ering Company, the owner of the tug,
stated that the port of call of the tug was
uncertain, as 1t was expected the supply
of coal she had would give her longer
steaming distance than was estimated. The
Neptune left Baltimore June %.
The little tug A. j. Hoole. which was
raised after sinking at Wilkerson'S wharf,
on the lower Potomac, was taken to Balti-
more for repairs, and not to Solomon's
island as stated. The tug is owned
by the Chesapeake Sand and Gravel Com
pany of this city and was being used to
bring sand from the lower Potomac to this
city when she sank.
| The bugeye Kathleen has arrived at
Georgetown from the lower river with a
cargo of grain for the mills there. This is
the first cargo of grain, 1t Is stated, to
rive here this season.
The barge Annie E. Embry has been
taken from Shoots wharf at Alexandria to
Bryant's wharf to complete the unloading
of cargo of fertilizer material.
The tug D. M. Key has taken a large
barge to river point to load a cargo of
| oak piing for the Crawford Paving Com
pany of Georgetown
The tug Marion Cameron brought the
| barge Juniata into port today with a cargo
| from Baltimore.
The tug Camilla has sailed with light
| c. c. c. barge in tow for Baltimore. The
| barge is to load coal for a northern port
The schooner barge Daniel of Alexandria
is loading oak lumber on the York river
| for at the Pope's Creek station of the
Pennsylvania railroad. in Maryland
| The schooner Charles Richards has com
pleted the unloading of her cargo Of lum-
Der. and has sailed for a Virginia lumber
port to bring. 1t is stated. cargo of boards
| back to this city
| The ram-schooner Grace G. Bennett
laden with lumber and shingles has sailed
! from Newbern, n. c., for this city, and
| will arrive this week.
| The Baltimore tug DauntIess Is reported
| in the river. on her way to Alexandria, with
the barges Virginia and Howard both
laden with Ice from the Susquehanna river.
Mr.. Joseph Rice. fireman on the tug Ca
milla. has resigned to take the berth of
| fireman aboard the tug w. III. Mohler. en-
| ployed In river towing.
| The schooner Mary Camp has gone from
this city to the York river under charter
to load cargo of lumber for Philadelphia
parties.