The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1908-09-19
OYSTER PIRATES
QUAIL At NAME
Of HOWARD
BOLD SAILOR HAVING ONCE
SUNK THE BEST PART OF
THEIR FLEET, THEY FEAR HIM
GOOD AND PLENTY.

reno his inalienable right To the
jewellers about the oyster bottoms Of
the chesapeake the taking Of the b.
valve when and where they please
is an inalienable right, for their ia
tners and their grandfathers before
them had taken oysters. driving of
all invaders OF their waters. and this
inalienable right they insist ON main.
tanning inviolate and handing down
to their children.
No Legislature has a right to abridge
this .'inalienabie right" and the re-
searches OF the scientist who has
shown that the reckless and indis-
criminate robbing OF the oyster beds
Is destroying the rich industry which.
according to Prof. Brooks. of the
Johns Hopkins university, who knows
more about the oyster than any other
living man. Is worth far more 20 the
state OF Maryland than the coal that
Is buried In her mountains, contain
no argument for them.
The FISHERMAN Is as q rule q thor.
oughly religious man. and the main
tenance Of this inalienabie right he
considers duty which he will defend
! to the utmost with his trusty Win
chester. II there IL anything the
oysterman prizes more highly that his
bugeye or his skipjack It is his Win
chester. He Is a dead shot and will
not hesitate to shoot when the occa-
sion arises.
Defiss Police Power.
Time was when the oystermen de.
fed the entire police power of the
nj q a a In
navy. The local state officers owned
their tenure to the good will OF the
oysterman and were generally re
lated. It was fun for fleet Of oys
termen to have a police boat come
among them to arrest them. On one
occasion they captured the boat, dis
mantled 1t. threw the cannon over
board and sent the crew ashore.
But one experience they had laugh,
them a lesson. The most serious oys
ter war In the history OF the state
brought Capt. T. c. B. Howard to thu
fore. In December, 1888. he was pu
in command Of the steamer Nolan,
and ordered to the Chester river
where II was suspected that pirate
were dredging in forbidden waters
AS soon as the pirate feet sighte,
Capt. Howard they prepared to fight
using their usual tactics. The CAP
tain made a little speech to his men
urging them to do their duty and re
move from the fair name of thei
state the disgrace of having law
which the officers could not execute
He then took up his post In the pilo
house. from which point Of DANCE
he directed the fight.
Steaming slowly across the bows o
the fleet. Howard commanded tn
dredgers to halt and be searched TO
Ioysters. His smokestack was riddles
and his mate was wounded, The Nc
Lanes cannon was booming merrily
and the sails Of the dredgers were
sadly torn. Howard. noting that thu
most effective fire came from sever
dredgers that were dashed together
backed on his steamer and ran hel
iron bow directly at the wooden side
of the nearest dredger, at the same
time sweeping her deck with CAMS
ter. He, crushed through and sanh
the dredger. and. repeating these tao
tics with the other six, won his bat
tie.
Since then the oystermen have re
spect for Capt. Howard, who has since
become the commander-in.chief OF the
oyster navy. 1t was only when they
heard that Capt. Howard was on his
way to the scene that the tongers OF
Sinepuxent Bay changed their tune
and concluded they would cease their
raids on the young oysters now on
the rocks.
Something Of sensation was caused
when II was learned last week that q
feet Of tongers had suddenly appeared
In Sinepuxent and openly defed the
sheriff and states attorney OF Wor.
cester county. Sinepuxent Bay IL on
the ocean side of the state and there
fore practically out OF reach OF the
oyster fee. which patrols only the
bay and its tributaries. To reach II
the steamers must pass out the capes
and into the ocean, and then into the
Sinepuxent, which Is too shallow for
the steamers.
The tongers counted on this strategi-
cal fact In their favor when they de.
cided to openly defy the county author
tiles. They knew, too. that the sherin,
is he valued his political position.
could not AFFORD to provoke his con.
stituents, who consist in large num-
Der Of oystermen and their friends.
They gagged the sheriff right. He
made q peFfunctory- demand upon
them to cease violating the law. But
the temptation was too great for the
tongers. Not for twenty years has
there been such catch Of oysters
in the Sinepuxent Bay. These oysters
now run from one of three inches. II
left on the rocks for q year or 30 they
would be worth to the oystermer
many thousands of dollars.
- But they were not willing to walt
They told Sheriff Townsend the!
could make $25 to $40 q man and the,
were going to do It.. They said
they did not take the oysters the bed
would be depleted by Virginia oyster
men or tongers from other counties
Meanwhile Gov. Crothers was fun
ing and fretting. The telegraph an
telephone wires were kept busy b
him In his efforts TO reach Commando
Howard, the Farragut OF the Mar!
Hand oyster navy. The captain wa
cruising somewhere about the Che'
apeake in his flagship.
The tongers all this time were worl
ing merrily along. telling the deput
sheriff who sailed about the oyste
eoct w"rniug the violators To desist, {
90 to the demnition bow-wows or an