White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1920-02-22

nently In the Social Affairs OF the
Place.
Two elghty-fiye-that's my count;
gimme three worms
The wormers Of Canarsie, after q
hard days work which started at
s a. m. and was done at II, were
ehuzglng past the breakwater and up
10 Rigby's wharf In gay Canarsie
Shore, New York. They chugged IN
three motor boats from the bar n
false channel In Jamaica bay, where
and ~whereabout their daily labor every
day In the year is carried on. They
are fifty In number. and, With the ex-
ception of a few gray heads, most OF
| them are young and all OF them. IRE
spective Of age. are happy go lucky In
disposition.
II would take n deep mind reader 10
see that they had recently passed
| through a crucial moment in their
| trade. a strike, but as IL Is ended and
they are at work again, much 10 the
| delight Of the fishermen Of Greeter
| New York, whose sole dependence for
| the wriggly bloodworm they are, the
! END came around 10 their satisfaction.
! Nevertheless as the wormers jumped
| out on the float In front of Rigby's
with their little wooden buckets full
| of bloodworms and spreading out the
rich green sea grass as a protective
nest for the ugly worms on a news
paper and figured out how many dozen
worms each had taken, their ejacu-
lated bits of conversation showed that
| the iron of public criticism because OF
their attitude had penetrated 10 their
souls.
Fifteen Cents q Dozen.
Ten dollars a day. Phewl got
twenty-four dozen and borried three
worms TO make that. Fifteen cents a
dozen is what we get and my ketch
comes exactly 10 $500. Wouldn't l Ike
TO see some of them pro1teers workin'
for money like thatf Look at them
hands !"
A bunch Of "wormers" showed their
hands ealloused in deep ruts-the eff
! feet of raking with the short.handled
rake which is the only n they can
use effectively. And they made I'M
pleasant remarks about the hungry
green flies that infest the sand bars,
not 10 feed on blood worms but on
blood But their complaints
were not serious, and except 10 say
| that they would like 10 have the man
In New York who SO strongly objected
TO their getting more money for their
daily catch come down and deliver
himself up to the green heads as q
| proper punishment for taking 70 cents
a dozen at retail, they were q jolly lot
Of fellows. The highest number Of
worms caught on this particular day
was 420, which will net the lucky
wormer s5.25. These were figures that
refuted the charge that the honest
wormers are loafng on their Job and
taking so a day for the privilege.
Hop Spain is the boss Of the outfit,
and his is no fancy name but one that
came naturally and by inheritance
Hop being a family cognomen. He
IL Il EIlfuNlut 6kuiNuli E1tNiulfn "
manhood, apparently under forty. but
he said he had been a "wormer" for
twenty years.
Let 'em talk" said Hop, laughing
and showing a set of perfect teeth. He
was referring 10 the critics who have
said unpleasant things about the blood
worm market and ridiculed the men
connected with 1t. LET EN- talk they
got 10 have worms or quit fishin', and
nobody who knows what he's talkln'
about can deny that W. earn our Is
cents a dozen pretty hard. Ask any
body here in Canarsie. They've seen
us out In all weathers, and some Of
EN- has tried worm diggin' for them
selves. So they know it's no picnic.
The boys are just what you see 'em
now-take a glass of beer now and
then, do a little fshin', don't loaf
around the way folks think, and I
guess as long as We Amt bothering
round much folks that mind their own
business won't bother u.s."
Strike Arouses Interest.
Whatever stand may have been
taken by foreigners 1t Is certain that
Canarsie was with the "wormers" In
their strike to a citizen. And having
made that statement, the further In
tricacies Of thought into which a blood
worm naturally winds will not be pur-
sued here. The strike has been pro-
ductive Of a deeper interest and de-
sire to know the ways Of life Of the
honorable guild of worm diggers.
Canarsie nestles on Jamaica bay.
Huddled along a bank of an artificial
canal are various seaside buildings,
far from p%retentious. although they
call themselves hotels. Here and In
the gayer restaurants that constitute
with carrousels and swltchbacks the
Golden City" across the way may be
purchased in a cooked state the sui
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