Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1912-12-05
INTO THE OCEAN
AFTER ABAL0NE
Divers in California 90 Down 100
Feet after These Coveted
Shell Fish.

Little is known and still less has been
written about the abalone industry, which
has within the last few years occupied
such an important place in the com.
mercial economics Of the Pacific coast.
Indeed, there ha been until this time
little to say, since the catching and can
ming of these shell fsh were confined
very largely to Chinese companies, who
failing to ind market in this coun.
try. made a small fortune in exporting
them to China, where they had long
been regarded as a delicacy.
The Mexican waters were pretty we'll
nshed out by these orientals before the
government Weakened to the realization
that fortune was being taken away
under their very noses. Thereafter n
boat thai would "aflshing 20" for aba
oncs pail tax Of SEQ year.
From time to time abalone fisheries
have be al established in a small way
at various points along the coast, but
the mos. important. and certainly the
most picturesque lies tucked away in
a little cove on Point Lobos. about 10
miles south Of San Francisco. Now, just
as no tourist should come to California
and fail to see the old Spanish town Of
Monterey, so no one should make that
journey without at least one pilgrimage
to Point Lobos.
In the shelter of the cove formed by
| the thumb of this rugged hand the 'arg-
est abalone fishery on the coast was es-
tablished some L. years ago. A. NJ.
Allen is the fortunate man who pays
the taxes on the 1SOC acres which con-
stitute Point Lobos. What began then
as an uncertain venture has come to he
lucrative certainty and has added very
materially to Aliens ability to pay those
taxes.
He has here II Japanese. under a
! foreman. who catch. clean and dry the
abalones for canning. Two Of these men
are fearless divers. and every morning.
the weather permitting. they make their
perilous downward trip into 100 feet OF
sea water. AS you watch them making
ready for these descents YOU cannot but
feel that counting on their return is
worse than useless. for. like the core
OF the little boys apple, there aint
likely to be any
The big. Weighted boots. nine pounds
each. give you no sense of safety, and
any lingering doubts as to the fool
| hardness and fatality Of the expedition
vanish as you watch the pluoky little
fellows burden themselves still further
with .. pounds Of lcaden collars. A
r"rr'or divers helmet goes on next,
and urst one is ready. over the side
OF tn, little boat and down the shaky
ladder lie goes with not half as much
ceremony as you would think the oc-
casion called for. over his arm hangs
large net basket on an iron ring, and
in his hand is a sharp wedge-like piece
of iron. These are his aggressive arms
defensive he carries none.
KNOWN AS vENUs's EAR
Far shaped" describes the abalone
exactly. and all men call 1t so. The
French know 1t as "creille de mer 81
the Italians "orrecaiale. The Portu-
guese have named 1t "sapa burra .
while the Sicilians mean the same
thing in their "patella reala.' Even
the Eolians Of the olden times saw the
same resemblance. and because they
always spoke in poetry called abalone
"Nenuss ear"
But with ordinary good luck afte'
90 minutes haul in" comes up in jerky
signals along the rope, and the first
icatch Of the day is hauled into the
boat. The net is lowered again an
again. and the work goes on until noon
In the hands of an expert ii Is the
work of few seconds only to separate
the ahaIone from its shell. Then a
careful search for pearls Is made and
'many beautiful specimens are found az
a reward for this part OF the labor
They vary in size and purity, some
having a commercial value as high as
$500
In spite of the "protection' fever which
as swept tho country like an epidemic
r the last few years, there seems littl,
necessity for such protective measures t
preserve the abalones They cover tn
o,ean bed like cohble stones in a pavec
city, sometimes two or three deep, tn
ones above living on the scaweed growing
on the under shells Allen SAYS that h
himself has taken three tons Of aoalone
from a rock % by 20 feet,
The Legislature restricted the catchin
of ahalones to those measuring II inche
n circumference, SO that the smaller one
can hang to their rocks with some degre
~ safety, even when the low tide leave
them high and dry.
Race suicide is a distant and improba
hle thing for the nalone. The spawnin
season is January and february. ana a
this time the female throws of from on
million to two million eggs This spaw
rises to tho surface and Is scattered b
the winds ana waves over large aref