The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1910-02-01
GIVE OYSTERS CARE
Dutch Government Exercises
Supervision Over Industry.
Beds and Pits Where elvalves Are
drown Carefully Watched by In
spectors = Water 10 Given
Painstaklng Investigation.


The Hague.-Just now IL the right
time Of the year for oysters and no
hrst-class menu in Europe is COM
plete without the far-famed ICELAND
oyster. But It has required many
years Of labor and many patient re-
searches by the government of Hol-
land to secure this position Of pre-
eminence to the national product.
Only q short time ago the wholesome
ness Of the ICELAND oyster was again
challenged by Belgium and there was
cutie scare among the "gourmets''
of Europe. The Dutch government
has, however, allayed all fears by max
ing 1t widely known with what ex-
IRENE care control Is exercised over
all breeding places or oyster beds,
and over the so-callsd "oyster pits"
there the mollusks are kept until
they are At for delivery to both
Dutch and foreign dealers.
1t il since 1903 that such parental
government solicitude has been ex-
tended to this inmate of Hollands
waters. for in that year many per-
sons in Holland, France and Belgium
suffered evil effects from Indulgence
in the ICELAND oyster and for time
the trade in oysters and mussels was
paralyzed. In parliament and in the
provincial states" as well as ii
ICELAND municipalities, the matter was
taken up and the result was that a
government inquiry was instituted.
This disclosed the fact that the waters
near Hertogenbosch were contaminat-
ed by the sewers from the town and
by the drainage water from two sugar
factories. The water in the harbor
was simply alive with deleterious bac-
terra and the oyster pits near by got
their water from this very harbor.
All the cases of serious Oyster infec-
tion," as 1t was called, were traced to
the fact that the victims had eaten
of oysters taken from these oyster
pits. The government Immediately
had them closed and they have never
been used for the purpose.
To prevent such scare in the flu.
ture special government service was
instituted for supervising oyster
growing, the fisheries and the oyster
trade in general. A laboratory was
built in the district and there a min
ute and careful study is made, both
chemically and bacteriologically. The
water from the iceland streams and
estuaries and the mollusks themselves
are continually under observation
there and only when all has been
proved to be in good order does the
Dutch government give an official
guaranty certificate to the buyers OF
both oysters and mussels. So If only
every dealer insists on getting the
government guaranty with the wares
he and his customers can be perfect
ly sure that they run no risks.
One thing, however, it is impossible
to guarantee, and that is that the rel
tail dealers keep the oysters in good
condition. 1t has been found that it
sometimes happens that the water in
which bivalves are put to keep them
fresh is contaminated and in that way
those who partake of such oysters are
often infected by bacteria OF course
the larger and more reliable firms
are very careful to provide pure wa
ter, for they know that even a slight
scare will put them out of business
Tor a considerable time.
1t can hardly be imagined with
what painstaking care the government
service continually investigates all the
Iceland waters, even many miles
away from the oyster beds and pits.
The direction of the currents Is as
certained by ingenious devices; also
the way the sewage and drainage wa
ter is carried out to sea- The num-
Der of bacteria, both innocuous and
deleterious, In every cubic inch OF
water at various depths and in vari
Gus parts of the same stream is de.
termined in the laboratory after the
many samples of water have been
studied. Generally some thirty sam
pies of water are taken near the
same place, and these thirty samples
again require about 500 glasses and
retorts to be subjected to all the vari
GUS tests. From this 1t will be seen
how this branch of the service alone
requires large amount of patience
and skill. The bare possibility that
some contaminated water. current
might come in the vicinity Of an oy
ster bed or pit is sufficient to cause
tbo yovornn,opt IN fc.hid tha cutie,