The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1916-10-03
EASTERNSHORE OYSTERS
FOUND ALL RIGHT
Conservation Commissioner kilIian
And U. $. Government Represen-
tative Give Local Oysters Clean
Bill OF Health.

Whlle there has been much Sai(
about there being some trouble will
the oysters that was causing them tt
die, the special representative of the
United States Government, who viSi
ted the waters of the Eastern Shore
last week, with Mr.. William H. Kill
lian, one of the members of the
Conservation Commission, found
nothing at all wrong with the oysters
in this section, but, on the contrary
found the oysters in excellent condi-
ton.
There seems to be a possibility
that oysters may be less plentiful
this year tnan last, that they may be
considerably higher and that some
of the packers may experience diff
Guilty in securing enough stock with
which to fill their orders, but should
this condition arise, it wiz be the re-
suit of two things, first the enforce
ment of the Gull laws, and second the
difficulty in securing the men neces-
sary for manning the large dredge
boats.
The first condition, the enforce
ment of the cult faw, is something
that has been talked about for a
great many years; in fact, ever since
the first Gull law was enacted. The
talk, at the first of the season, about
its being enforced, has always caus-
ed smile to pass over the counte-
nances of those engaged in the busi-
ness, for they have realized that the
law never has been enforced, and
theyhave not believed that it would
be. Talk with those engaged in the
business in different parts of the oys-
ter section reveals the fact that
practically all of those connected
with the oyster business believe that
the enforcement of the law would be
a splendid thing, a majority of them
seemed to really believe that a rigid
enforcement of the Gull law was the
only thing that would put the oyster
business upon the proper basis, and
/ if they were assured that it would
| be enforced alike in every section of
the State, there is hardly an oyster
man or anyone connected with the
business who would not heartily
concur in the movement.
With reference to the second rea-
son why oysters will be higher, there
seems to be no doubt of the fact
that when the dredging season opens
this year difficulty is going to be ex-
| perienced in securing men to man
the dredges at anything like the wa
ges that have heretofore prevailed.
This situation is not peculiar to the
oyster business nor to this particu-
lar branch of it, but is the result of
the scarcity of laborers all over the
country. At no time in the history
of this country has there been a
time when laborers were scarcer and
when wages were higher. The clas-
sified columns of almolst every pa
per in the larger clcies are filed with
advertisements for men to fill vari-
Uns pos1rfons and within the past
year or more resources of the coun-
| try towns have been sorely drained
! by the demand made upon them by
the manufacturers in the larger
cities. Right here in Dorchester
county it is estimated that more than
! 500 men have gone away to work,
attracted by the large wages offered,
within the past twelve months, and
the same condition exists every
where, consequently the dredgers
will have much more difficulty this
year in securing men and will have
to pay much higher wages, all of
which will go into the cost of the
oysters, making them sell for more.
There has never been any doubt
in the minds of the local oyster
packers and those engaged in the
business of the healthy condition OF
the oysters all through this section;
there is nothing in the waters OF
| Underwater Maryland to injure them.
If the waters which cover the bot
toms upon which these oysters are
grown were subject to such contaml-
nation as is found in the sewerage
deposits of large cities, there might
be some reason for fear that the oyS-
ters were contaminated, but such is
not the case along the Chesapeake
Bay and it's tributaries. There is no
great body of water in the world
that is less subject to contamination
than the Chesapeake Bay; there are
no large cities close to it, and so far
as the Eastern Shore of Maryland is
concerned, contamination of the wa
ters is something out of the question,
for the largest places on the Shore
have only from 1900 to $500 popula-
ton, and the drainage of these small
places does not reach the oyster
grounds ,and, even if it did, the ebb
and flow of the tide through the dis
tance necessary to reach the bottoms
would purely the small amount OF
such deposits.
1t is a matter of much gratitica-
ton, not only to those engaged in
the oyster business in Cambridge, but
elsewhere in this section, however, to
have the statement of the United
States Government officials, giving
the oysters of this section a clean bill
of health, as it is guarantee to the
purchasers from all sections of the
country that oysters obtained here
and elsewhere in this section are the
very best to be obtained, and meas
ure up in every respect to the re-
uuirements of the Government.