Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-11-23
FISH AND OYSTER NOTES

Wicomi leo river have all ''cut out" for
this season.
Circuit Judge Blackstone recently
decided that clammers could not legally
work on oyster planting grounds of
another.
Vessels loading on the seaside are
paying S. per thousand for clans. the
highest price ever known. Up to a
few years ago the demand was limited.
and $3.50 per thousand was the stan
dard price. Another use has been
found for them. They are reduced 40
liquid and sold as a soft drink !, me
fashionable restaurants of several Nor
thern cities.
FIRE broke out in the factory of the
Menhaden Fish & Guano COMPANY Mt
Harborton, Accomac county, Wednes-
day morning of last week, DESTROYING
the drying house and machinery, about
100 barrels of oil and big lot of scrap.
The main part of the factory was not
burned. The same buildings were bur-
ned about two years ago, and the pres
ent loss is estimated at 500
Andrew A. Crockett, the oyster boat
master, of Tangier Island, charged with
having shanghaied and i'll treated nine
Richmond men, was indicted last week
by the United States grand jury at Nor
folk. Crockett will be placed on trial
shortly, but it is thought little will
come OF it, as the negro seamen are
recanting and saying the treatment
was not as bad as they first declared.
The future of the oyster business in
Maryland and Virginia is problematical.
The question of labor is serious one.
The advent of factories, etc., has drawn
from the class that shuck or omen
oysters, specially the women and girls.
The men are seeking other methods of
living, where the work is more regular
The younger generation go to the cities,
looking for positions more to their
liking, etc. AS the years roll along it
will get worse instead of better
Fishing Gazette.
The Virginia oyster navy did splen
did work last week as the result of
which $505 was collected in fines which
were imposed upon tongers, buy-boats
and dredgers. Chairman W.McDonald
Lee and Secretary S. Wilkins Matthews.
of the State Board of Fisheries, spent
several hours in Hampton "wednesday.
14th) enroute to Richmond, where the
board will meet tomorrow. Mr.. Lee
said that $255 was collected from the
small dredgers in the Potomac river:
Sl1O from Gwynn's Island and $40 from
the Rappahannock river. The steamer
Accomac is doing police work in James
river Just now.- Newport News Press.
Although at the present time, the
oyster season is far from being success
full and the bivalves are very scarce,
oyster dealers are confident that condi-
tons will improve little later and it is
expected that by the middle of winter
prices will be good and more oysters
will be brought up. During the first
part of the season the oyster boats
spent most of their time getting
smaller oysters for planting purposes,
and this year this part of the business
has proven failure to great extent,
the yield being small with the result
that planting oysters have been so high
priced that the planters have done lit
tie buying. Before long the demand
for market bivalves will be much great
er, and the oystermen, planters and dig
gers will devote their entire time to
securing the larger oysters to be pla-
ced on the market. Although it is not
expected that the bivalves will be as
plentiful as last year, there is every
indication at present that there will
be enough to supply the demand and
it is anticipated that the market prices
will be higher than usual on account of
the early season shortage. Newport
News Times-Herald.