Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-01-19
FISH AND OYSTER NOTES.

tion, OF lower northumberland. viii
have an important meeting at Reedvill,
january, 18th, p. m.
The oyster packers and tongers n
this section are having dull time of il
this season. Messrs. Towles & Beant
have closed one of their houses, after ar
Improbable season. Oysters are poor
and scarce.
The heaviest fine ever imposed in Bal
timore for similar offense was Levied
Tuesday on Capt. jeff. Davis, of the
dredger Francis E. Hutchinson. He hae
aboard 744 bushels of oysters, of which
S5 per cent were below the measure
and he was fined $1,000.
Announced as a rumor in these
columns last week, we can verify the
statement that Mr.. Joseph Wharton, OF
the Wharton Fisheries concern, has pur.
chased controlling interest in the
American Fisheries syndicate Dar
church,. Mr.. Dulaney will continue
as manager of the new organization
Capt. j. II. Chandler, oyster inspec-
tor for Westmoreland, says at no time
in the memory of the oldest oysterman
have oysters been of as fine quality and
as plentiful in the Potomac as the
present season. The catch per day
ranges from three to ten bushels Der
tongman; as against two bushels four
years ago. 1t is an unusual thing for
oysters in the Potomac to be fine when
the Rappahannock ones are poor. but
such is the case this season.
Because of the wholesale depreda-
tons Of pirates" the James river
oyster industry is almost broken up.
The indications are that before the pre-
sent season is over there will be no
clustering fleets in that vicinity. The
pirates" are dredging constantly, and
although the police boats are making
numerous arrests, the authorities seem
to be unable to protect the rocks. 1t
is said that the law-breakers can well
afford to pay the small fines which are
imposed when they are caught, and,
even though they have to pay a fine
one each week-the pirates" get along
better than the oystermen, who observe
the law and take only bivalves of a
certain size.
Oyster packers on the Rappahannoclx
have had very poor demand for their
oysters during the past two weeks.
Baltimore buyers have taken concerted
action to lower the price from five TO
ten cents per gallon, and on account of
the lateness of the season it appears
that they will win. Buyers of oysters
on the river are compelled to lower their
prices on shell stock from ten to fifteen
cents tomeet this cut Not half of the
planterssstock has been marketed. There
are several vessels in Carriers Creek
loading at from 65 cents down and some
have telegraphic orders not to paw over
60 cents, and the best at that figure.
About Is, 600 bushels have been marketed
In Carriers Creek the last two weeks.
Schooners Fannie Ensley, VIM. M.
Powell, Laurena Clayton, Harriet P
Ely and Flora Kirwan are now in Carriers
Creek loading for Baltimore.
TAX ON PLANTED OYSTERS.
Inspectors up the river are having
difficulty collectingsstax on oysters plant
ed there by lower river planters-par-
ticularlysof Lancaster--who claim thew
have given in their property down here.
Undoubtedly there is much evasion ON
this score, but Commonwealth ATTORNEY
Newbill and the Board of Supervisors
of Lancaster, at least, are determined
to see that there are no more evasions
than possible. The Board has already
advertised for the inspectors to report
to them at their April meeting. Judge
Wright, also, has been bringing these
matters to the attention of people and
officials and has about succeeded in
having uniform tax for the several
counties.
ETHEL RUTH CASE GOES OVER.
Capt. William Marsh, of the Chesa-
peake Bay oyster boat Ethel Ruth, No.
S5, was indicted in this city yesterday
in the United States Court ON the
charge of imprisoning William J.
member of his crew. while
engaged in oyster dredging last fall.
1t was also charged that the man had
been deprived of food. Capt. Marsh
and his friends deny the charges and
say they will have little difficulty in
them. Capt Marsh was in
court accompanied by his counsel, Com
Attorney C. S. Towles. of
Reedville, and Mr.. John M. johnson. of
this city. To-day the case was remov-
ed to Norfolk and continued until the
May term of the court in that city and
Capt. Marsh entered into bond in the
sum of $1,000 for his appearance at
that time. 1t now turns out that
Gallagher is not an Irishman, but claims
to be an Austrian, and the Austrian
Minister at Washington has interested
himself in the case. The case will
probably turn on the question Of peon-
age. = Alexandria Gazette.
The United States grand jury also
indictments against CAPTAIN
Justice, of the Potomac oyster
boat Daniel 8, and Captain George
Doyster, of the oyster boat Upshur 2.
Both men are charge with cruelty to
their crews. Both cases have been
to the Norfolk court.