The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-10-26
OYSTER PROBLEM
 FOR LEGISLATURE
Taxation and Pollution of Beds Board of Equalization and State
 Board of Health Interested
FEDERAL PURE FOOD LAW Is
 ALSO A FACTOR.

The state board of equalization, con- sisting of Treasurer Freeman F. Pat rCn. Comptroller Thomas D. Brad street and Tax Commissioner William on the matter of a valuation of the oyster grounds of the State- This duty was put up to the Board by the General Assembly of 1909.
 If the question of fixing the valua- tion of the oyster grounds of the Stat for the purposes of taxation seemed a simple one at any time that time of 1909 and it seems to grow more and more complicated until it has re- nutred the attention of another set of officials who are in the employ of the State Board of Health.
 These officials are endeavoring to find out just how much the oysters in Long Island Sound are contaminat- are run into the water of the Sound from pretty much every river in the State and they find that that question has complications of it's own because it is thorouoh1y demonstrated fact that oysters thrive and fatteh on di- lute sewage even if their little inter iors are filled with typhoid and other ma1evolent bac!1H.
 It is also a fact that if oysters that have been grown in such unhealthy environment are taken out into the waters of the Sound for some distance and transp1anted to other beds they will cleanse themselves to that extent that search by an expert cannot find a single bacillus in a bushel of them And it has been further proved that oysters taken from such beds and transplanted to beds in the harbor of some Connecticut cities become con- taminated in a short time.
 Because of these complications it is obvious that the board of equaliza- ton cannot undertake to say what value should be placed upon the oys- ter grounds of the State without hav- ing some idea of how much these grounds are damaged by sewage, and the chances therefore, favor con- ference between the board of equa1f- zation and the State Board of Health before the former makes up it's report. It has been said that the officials of the Health Board have confined their investigations to the waters of New Haven harbor and if that is the case. there is a good deal of interesting g explored such .as the harbors of Bridgeport and Norwalk to say noth- ing of the points east of New Ha- ven.
 The facts above cited contain mat ter for a good deal of speculation, as, for instance to the action which the oyster growers will take if it is prov ed to them that their property is damaged by the sewage of some city. The capacity of the oyster to thrive upon sewage and then, if removed to nl1re salt water, to cleanse itself ra- p:dly is however. a mitigating feature. It also brings to mind the curious fact that dealers in Shell-Hsh in the neigh borhood of New London probably re- member about the long clans that once grew on the flats off Promised Land Long Island. That town had, until a short time ago, one of the largest fish oil factories in the coun- try and it's refuse of decayed fish and fish oil ran out over the flats The long clams grew in great quantities and of great size in the flow of this filth. but they were too reminiscent of it to be edible and so they were undfsturbed except when now and then a man sent a few barrels of them to the New York market, always talk ing care not to send a second con- signment to the same dealer.
 The Federal government is interest ing itself in the matter of the oyster and may thus add another phase to the situation by barring from inter- state commerce any oysters that dc not come up to it's standard The oy- stermen in the South have been quick fo realize the fact and are now asking l for even more drastic regulations, feel l ing that their product will stand it l The outlook is that the General As | sernbIv will hear something from the | ovstermen in the State. Before the | matter ends steps may be taken te | make Connecticut rivers something
 more than open sewers.