River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1910-07-21
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! Tor SheepSWOol, By cents Tor yellow, 20
cents for grass and 81 cents for all
others. The total yield of the sponge
| fishery for this year was 418,125
pounds, with total value of 1857 685.
This yield is not sufficient to meet the
demand, and large quantities are i'm
! ported every year, the greater part
coming from the Bahama islands,
Cuba, Haiti, Greece, Austria-Hungary
and Turkey. During 1900 there was
an expectation of 1852 pounds of do
nestle sponges, valued at $32,199,
mostly of grass sponges, for which
there is very little demand in this
country. 1t is probable that the prog
ress of science and the enormous in
crease in all kinds of sanitary and an
tiseptic precautions will largely d.
minish the use of sponges, as has been
already the case for hospitals, toilet
purposes, etc. When received by the
buyers the spongeS are still far re-
| moved from condition in which they
can be placed on the general market.
It is necessary to clean them thorough
| ly, so that no foreign substances re-
main in them and to trim off the
rough edges to give a symmetrical ap-
| pearance. This work is carried on in
the large warehouses which the buy
ers maintain at convenient places
along the coast Unfortunately, other
processes are also employed, such as
| loading, to increase the weight, rock
salt, glucose, molasses, lead, gravel,
sand and stone being all used, accord
ing to the governments official report.
These substances are mixed with wa
! ter in water-tight bins and the sponges
immersed in them until they are thor
oughly soaked. They are then run
through a nordinary clothes-wringer
or laid on an inclined rack and al
| lowed to drain into the bins. The more
| conscientious buyers are obliged to
resort to these measures in order to
| compete with their less scrupulous
business rivals. The bleaching is done
at the large wholesale houses or by
the iobbers in the trade, and as lime
and acids are used, this process weak
ems the fiber and shortens the useful
ness of the sponge. A perfectly harm
less method of bleaching employed by
the spongers gives white or golden
tone for specimens or presentation
| sponges. This consists merely OF
washing them in soapy water, and,
after covering them with soap-suds,
hanging them on the masts OF the
boats or on poles on the shore. The
action of sunlight and of the nightly
dews completes the work. For trans
portation the sponges are baled in
burlap, each kind by itself, the bales
representing a net weight of sponge
of from Is to so pounds. For COM
pressing them, sponge presses. very
| ike those used for cotton, arc en-
! ployed.
Notwithstanding all these trans
formations, the usual sponge of daily
use will give us a very fair idea OF
the structure OF the original living AMI
nal. In general, the lower orifices
may be taken to be the oscular or
cloacal openings, through which the
waste particles are the ova pass out,
| though there is in some species but
one of these openings. The inhalant
pores, which take the place of mouths,
are much smaller, and through them
is introduced the water, carrying with
it both air and the organic particles
for the support of life. Communica-
ton between these exterior openings
is established In the interior Of the
mass by a system of ciliated passages
or canals connected with minute cham
bers. This fibrous mass is supported
by a species of skeleton or calcareous
or silicious spicules, all sponges being
divided by scientists into two orders,
Calcispongiae and Silicispongae, ac-
cording to the nature of these skele-
tons.
ARTHUR HEWITT.