Evening star., 1933-01-29
OYSTER PIRATES"
AWAITING CALM
Potomac Operations to Be
Resumed They Say, Le-
gaIIy or Not.
Continued From First Page.)

Wnlcn closed the Potomac River to that
method OF oystering. in 1880 and 1891.
The same conservation officers call
the rendezvous which the Tangier and
Smith Island oystermen make here, in
the Machodoc River, pirate nest"
Similar nests" are scattered up and
down the Virginia coast and generally
center about store where the men,
on their mOnth-lOng stay away from
home, purchase their supplies.
Now devil diver"-that's the term
that rifles" these oystermen more than
anything else. Some of the higher
ranking Maryland conservationists have
said that the devil diver will catch
everything in sight," and the OYSTER
men who talked with this writer said,
a little wearily, they only wished that
were true Actually, the dread devil
diver" Is a 1932-or even 1931-auto-
mobile license tag!
Understanding Of "Scraper."
To appreciate the menace" hidden
in these old license plates-devil divers,
that is-one might have a better un-
derstanding Of the "scrapes." These
implements are fashioned out of iron
rods into triangular kind Of marine
rake. The base of the triangle Is fitted
with teeth which are designed to scoop
up the oysters and these teeth are
so shaped that they sweep the oysters
they stir up into a kind Of irOn-link
sack which drags along in the wake
of the iron teeth. The apex of the
triangle is fitted with ring to which
is fastened line that leads to the
boat. As the boat moves forward slow
ly, the "scrape" is lowered over the side
and to the bottom where it is towed
back and forth over the oyster rock.
The license plate which forms the
devil diver" or "sinker" as the OYSTER
men themselves call it, Is fitted to the
iron frame of the scrape and acts as a
horizontal rudder which forces the
river.
During the last month the activities
of the oystermen and the efforts of the
conservation officers to enforce the ban
on the "scrapes" has produced what
Is popularity known as an "oyster war. "
The ban was brought about first in
1880 when the State of Virginia en-
acted law prohibiting oystermen from
scraping. The following year the State
Of Maryland enacted similar legislation.
Both States continue to license oyster
men to tong, however. and the men
here tonight at Coles Point are all
licensed oystermen.
Ban to Conserve Crop.
The two-State ban was enacted in
order to conserve the rapidly diminish
ing natural oyster crop in the Potomac
River. No definite time limit was set
in either States law but the idea behind
the legislation was to give the oysters
now In the river time to spawn and to
attain greater growth. In the long run.
trainers of the laws point out, the ban
will wcrk to the advantage OF the very
oystermen who now oppose 1t.
But it Is a ".ong-run" and these are
hard times The result is strife, and
even shooting. although yet no man
has been killed or wounded.
The conservationists who talked with
this reporter said that the oy'termen
who break the scrape ban are too lazy
to tong. They insist that longing is
practical and productive OF an ade-
quate income.
The oystermen themselves, however,
told this writer that longing in the Po-
tcmac is not practical longing, they
showed him, is done with an implement
very closely resembling two elongated
garden rakss. crossed like scissors. with
their teeth meshing. The tonger stands
in his boat and "chews" at the oyster
rock with a scissor cutting motion Ct
the tong handles.
Returns on Labor Small.
Given a clear. calm day. the oyster
men here tonight say. boat with three
experienced men working it. can tong
no more than four or five bushels day
With oysters now bringing their catchers
only IS cents bushel, the total gross
income for such boat would be only
S3,25. Out of this. must go money for
fuel and grub. A days work will use no
less than five gallons Of gasoline and
a quart of oil, they say. and the money
that is left, split among the three men,
is not living wage.
The oystermen sell their catch to
''buy-boats" which run up in the
larger motor boats equipped with
auxiliary sail and they cruise among
the oystermen until their holds and
forward decks-and that's practically
the entire veSsel-are filled and then
they travel to the market centers.
Some credence was lent the assertions
made by the oystermen with respect to
the ninuteness of their incomes by the
conditions this reporter saw in OYSTER
mems homes at and near Colonial
Beach Many of them are actually de-
pendent on charity for sustenance. The
Red Cross, The Star was told, is helping
many families.
Customers are Carried"
Cap'n L. w. Jett. stc-ekeeper at
Colonial Beach, who supplies many of
the oystermen, is carrying along" most
of his customers, while Cap'n Oliff, boat
builder whose plant adjoins Cap'n Jett's S
store, told this reporter that his books
were laden with obligations Of the
oystermen whose boats and engines he
has repaired.
Being watermen, the oystermen are
trained for nothing else except, perhaps,
labor with a pick and shovel. And
there's none of that to be had.
"Pirating?" The oystermen don't see
that they are doing that.
"Listen-" one of them put here
tonight; I'VE aren't taking a thing that
belongs to anybody. Maryland didn't
put those oysters out there in the river,
and Virginia didn't put 'em out there.
God-amighty put them on those rocks
for men to make a living by. And
that's what we're a-doin' We're takin'
what God-am1ghty intended us to have
and if we don't keep on doin' tive
stacve and our families starve! That's
the whole thing"
Another pointed out that many of the
oysters that are brought to the surface
these days are dead. It's the fresh
water that's coming down from the
tributaries Of the river that is killing
them and more freshets are expected
by them in the later months of the sea-
son.
And there they are-the police
boats-lots of the oysters won't be
caught by anybody while they can do
'em any good, and they won't let US
catch 'em now," he expressed it.
"Police Boats" Draw Comment.
Mention of the police boats" and
all the men had something to say Two
of the conservative officers In particular
have gained the animosity Of the
oystermen. They are Capt. Edward j.