Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1936-11-01
BY JESSIE FAINT EVANS.

TN THESE "R" months the succu-
lent oyster is king on Chincoteague
Island. It's Toms Cove products
4 bear a monarci's scepter as surely
as any ruler of the long ago. To many
. sea-food connoisseur, Chincoteague
Island spells epicurean recollections
Of Toms Cove oysters rather than
its more widely heralded wild pony
pennings of which the world is
gradually coming to hear once every
midsummer
Washington, as soon as the frost is
on the "punkin" and the chill No.
vember breezes begin to blow. usually
comes in direct contact with Chin
colleague Island sea products at its
waterway front door. Here at the
wholesale wharves the Chincoteague
''oyster cap'ns' put in about Wednes-
day or Thursday of each week that
there isn't a solid" freeze-over Of
the Chesapeake Bay.
Known for Flavors.
Quite as matter of fact these
Chincoteague oystermen brush aside
the annual pony pennings with some
such remark as yes, more and more
mainland folks do seem to find their
way over every year" But it is with
real pride they tell you "a Chincotea-
que oyster just can't be beat for flavor
and SO 1t travels everywhere to those
who relish having their sea food
taste as it ought"
l.ak -. l.
simply proud boast on the part Of
these native Chincoteague islanders,
for on their little water-washed
domain, which so closely hugs the
Virginia shore, Capt. William Bunt-
ing's oyster houses shuck more
oysters than any other Shucking
plant in the world with bluff round
Capt Matthews shucking crews as
the next closest rival for national
supremacy.
Indeed, there are still those of us
who remember Graham MacNamee
singing out as he was introducing
notables arriving for the famous
Tunney-Dempsey prize fight. Here
comes Capt. Matthews of Chinco-
league, whose Toms Cove oysters are
At for kings or worlds champion
supper" To many this bit of in
formation. tossed with more than
usual Zest into the microphone
aroused no more than passing wonder
at Graham's enthusiasm for an oyster.
To those whose acquaintance with
this famous sea food extends beyond
enjoyment at table to a knowledge
of its native habitat, it brought recol-
lections of a journey back 200 years.
Away From Beaten Path.
Yes, back 200 years. For Chinco-
league Island. Va. though within a
few hours travel of New York, Phila-
delphia or Washington. is so remote
from the modern tempo that it seems
as if time. weary of ceaSeless change,
had faltered here, leaving manner
of living and way of thinking much
as they were in the days Of its first
English settlers.
With about 2,1O0 inhabitants most
Of them descendants of families who
came to the island in Colonial times,
Chincoteague is as unique and as in
teresting community as exists in
America today. Growing very slowly,
but very surely, it is one of the few
spots in our country to keep its
individuality untouched by the march
of time.
Look in your old geography, or turn
TO your automobile road map of Mary
land and Virginia, and find the
Chesapeake Bay Country. Coming
down like spur from Maryland, with
Chesapeake Bay on one side and the
Atlantic Ocean on the other, you
will note a little peninsula which
isn't the same color as the rest of
the State Of Maryland, although
logically one would suppose it ought
to be. Here are the counties Of
Accomac and Northampton, which
comprise what is known as the East
ern Shore of Virginia. knowledge
of them goes back to the days of
Capt. John Smith, who in the diaries
of his voyagings about these and
neighboring Atlantic Seacoast waters
tells of the ancient kingdom OF Ac-
comack"
Of Accomac County lies Chinco-
league Island, miles long and from
! to 2 miles wide. Completely in
circling it are the waters of the
Chincoteague Bay and Chincoteague
Inlet on the west and north, and
those of the Atlantic Ocean on the
south, while the Assoteague Inlet sep
arates it from Assoteague's treach-
erouS sand bar and the pounding
surf which beats upon it on the east.
Splendid Natural Harbor.
Toms Cove, the largest of several
quiet backwaters, affords splendid
natural harbor and in earlier times
sea vessels, which but for its haven
would have succumbed to the wrath
of the sea. But it is for its oysters.
and not its harbor facilities, that
Toms Cove has come to be a name
to conjure with where epicureans
smack their lips upon those sue
culent bivalves which reach the sea-
food markets of the United States
from its oyster beds.
Originally Chincoteague Islanders
could reach the mainland only by
sailing vessels or by YEARLY polling or
''sculling" themselves the distance
across in rowboats. If tides and winds
were unfavorable the sail to and from
the mainland might require from
dawn to nightfall. A visit either way
49,