Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1908-10-02
HAMPTON, PHOEBUS AND OLD POINT Continued.

baskets. The quality Of an oyster de-
pends 50 much upon the length OF
time that II has been out Of the wat
or that every effort Is made 10 handle
them as quickly as possible.
The New York oyster feet this sea
son numbers fully (hree handSa
boats. 1t is the main dependence CT
the citys oyster market. An oyster
boat may be readily distinguished
from river craft by It's broad beam
and weather heaten appearance. the
feet distributes Itself principally
over the lower Bay and along the
Long Island shore. Arrived 1T the
fishing grounds they cast anchor, AMI
fishing or dredging for oysters Is car
ried on from early In the morning till
late at night. The length Of time
necessary to catch . boat load Of oys'
tiers Is affected, Of course. by the
weather and more or less by the
tides. The average. however. 10 about
two trips a week for good beat.
The oysters In the waters about New
York are usually caught by dredging.
The crew stand by the side Of the
boat and drop the rakes and tones
with very long handles :lto the water,
The lower ends Of these awkward
looking tools pick up the oysters ana
other small objects which may be ~
ing about on the bottom twenty feet
or so beneath. An experienced fsh-
erman can tell to a nicely how many
oysters HE net holds. When the
tongs become heavy he begins to pull
them to the surface cautiously.
On reaching the surface the bar
nacies, shell fsh and such rubbish
are picked out and thrown overheard.
probably to be brought to the surface
the next time the tongs come up. the
long wooden handles OF these tongs
enable the fisherman to work at any
tide and the fishing generally co.'s
tinues as long as there 10 light enough
to see. The lanterns are hung out In
the rigging and the crew rest TOT
another day. what little cabin room
there Ia ON one ofthese schooners
Is usually fully occupied by the crew.
and the oyster boats are always very
buoy places. The oysters are general
" sorted on the boats. and freed from
barnacles. The fishing is not COM
pleted until every available foot on
deck has been piled up high with
them. An ordinary oyster boat fire.
ouently varies. say. eight hundred or
nine hundred bushels. 1t may De
roughly estimated that . bushel when
shelled will make about a gallon OF
oysters.
II is safe to estimate that on an
average q gallon contains upward oil
three hundred oysters. 30 that an or
binary catch would be from twenty
to twenty-five thousand
oysters. When 1t is considered that
some two hundred and fifty boats are
engaged In oyster fishing some idea OF
the enormous proportions Of the oys-
ter supply may be had. The best
oysters are 20 be found In the coolest
weather. ana when most boats are
seeking shelter from the cold the
oyster schOoners are obliged to ne
for hours at the oyster beds. Tine
oyster boats are designed with me
largest possible carrying capacit3 for
boats Of their class. and the cabins
are very small. The boats are usual
" manned by q crew Of three men.
Oysters which are shipped unopen-
ed are readily disposed Of The prfn-
cipel work, however. consists In open
ing oysters and preparing them for
shipment. The men who open the
Ibiva,yes sit in rows. with their backs
against the wallis Each man has q
pile of oysters. . small oyster anvil
and an oyster knife. Those mea ars
usually paid at the rate OF ten cents
per hundred for opening the oysters.
The opened oysters are shipped IN
Wooden buckets Or tin cans. Eacn
Of the floating markets 10 provided
with Q canning apparatus. and the
cans, after being filed up with oys-
ters. are closet and soldered.-New
York Herald.