New-York tribune. [volume], August 29, 1897, Page 7, Image 29

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

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announcing Its proprietor's name. These are the
af?leos of the oyster merchants, who buy from
the 8loopmon that sail into this cove formed by
the White Star piers, and who, in many cases,
own grounds or "beds" and vessels themselvea
The fronts of the lower floors of these scows
are thrown wide open all the day, and there are
picturesque views within of tubs and buckets.
Sturdy, broad-shouldered, jolly workmen opening
the bivalves by the thousand and tossing them
with quick slelght-of-hand Into receptacles In
which float great lumps of Ice. Others are pack?
ing the oysters into bushel baskets?these In?
tended for consumption at nearby pointa. Ex?
press wagon after express wagon and truck
after truck rattles up along tho bulkhead, and
moves away well loaded.
It is behind the prows, however, that the
same Is at Its best. Moored along to the back of
ters from the bottom. When, toward the close
of ?tho season, the tieds get fairly well worked
out dredges are used to gather up the oysters
remaining, and the steam vessels that have late?
ly come Into the trade and have been built by
wealthy companies are equipped with steam
dredgej that enn clean up an oyster bed very
completely.
Tongs and rakes are handled by men In skiffs,
who work on the beds In the Intervals between
low nnd high tide- Rowing to the shore with
their carpo, up an Inlet, or, as Is frequently the
case ar??und Prince's Hay, up the Itaritan lUver,
they put the oysters to "drink." This means
lcttini* them lie in "floa's" of fresh water for
four or five hours, or between tides, but the ex?
pression "drink" Is quite accurate, for that Is
precisely what the oyster docs. He opens his
shell a little and absorbs the fresh water, "spit
ARCTIC WALRUS H?NTINO.
THE PBRILfl OF BHOOTINQ THE BEASTS
ON THM ICE PACK.
From The SL Louis Olobo-IX-mocraL
"When the temperature was *M) degrees below
zero, and no galo blowing, I have lain upon an
ice pack In the Arctic Oc? an In TO degrees north
latitude, and have shot walruses for forty-eight
hours at a stretch." said Charles E. T. Foster, a
whaler from San Francts.^0 who is stopping at
the Pilgrim Motel. "Now, I am not boasting.
Walrus srwoting under th?> conditions I named
Is really line sport, if one is prepared t .r tin
weather. I enjoyed it as much as a country
boy dues hunting quail In Missouri in a snow
covered Held in midwinter. The first thing is
to know how to dress, with llann.-l and fur jii
derweaT and sealskin hoots and overcoat in?l
hood and mittens, as 'The Olobe-DemocratT' has
often described for the benefit of the Klondike
THE OYSTER FLEET-SORTING THE BIVALVES AT TIIK^ANDIxr;.
these Boating warehouses and haunts of tradf
are Bloops snd oyster steamers of ur*ly shape
but attractive In their bold evidence of clumsj
power, bo clise together, cheek-by-jowl, thai
their sides touch and ?crape as they move Op an?]
down with the tide. It is a dull day. too, when
there are not several more vessels drifting out
Bide, waiting for an opportunity to Ret a place
to tie up. Half .?f these ves? is have their decks
piled up with oysters, their masters lazily await?
ing the demands of trad?'- the mon.?'nt when
some prosperous merchant will appear at the
back door ?jf his scow and beckon, emlling be?
cause ?f the i undle of orders in his hands.
1'1'SIIIN?; A thai?:.
Then the master will step briskly over the
long, teetering board that is the pathway from
his veaael to the n? are?! ac >w, and merchant and
oyster craftsman will haggle over the price a
thousand, it usually ends in the digger-sailor
accepting the merchant'i figures. Somet? mea he
is obstinat?. though, and rather than sell at what
he thinks too low a price will lie in the "cove"
all ninht. hoping the morning's demands will
make valms go hii,hoi. Occasionally, ("."li after
waiting over night, he still holds out for his
price, and actually sails back to the ??.'rounds"
?grlth all or part of his carpo, dumping- It over?
board whl n he Rets above the beds. This makes
the oyst.-i m in a curious type of trader, and a
Beemlngly improvident one, for when his next
cargo is loaded he lias to pay his men for bring,
tng Up the same oysters and for "drinking" them
an .-.v.
"Drinking" is one of the many Interesting
features of th" oyster trade. Oyster be?ds lie
some six to twenty f????t below the surface of the
water, 'i'h-s.- beda sre "staked out" as are min?
ers' claims, "siake.1 ..ut" quite literally, the
Btakea b Ing in plain vi. av above the water. In
ord.-r that there may be no Detaching, wat. Innen
in boat-- are continually on guard The delect
able a.hi:i oyster is from two to four years old,
at bis i ?-,-?: at three, as a general rule. Three
..... | are . I I, "box" (the lar?.' ones), "cullens"
(the small ones) and "cullentlnes'' (the very
smaii>. These latterare, however, only for "half
shell" use, and as soon as Mue Points come in
th.r cullentlnes ar- no longer brought to the
mark. t.
CATCHING OYOTKRft
A huRe rake and a pair of still more huge ,
tonga an; the tuple wen Ls used to raise the uys- I
ting out," as the oystermex say, meanwhile.
"Drinking" makes the oyster firm and round
and white, filling up all his pires, and takes
away the otherwise brackish taste.
What is very curious about this "drinking"
is that the water has to be precisely right for
the oyst.r to get in his proper marketable con?
dition. If the water is not right the oyster v. ill
ti..; touch it in any quantity, and he might li.
in it a week without being improved. It must be
fresh, l.ut nut too fresh. An Interesting 'drink?
ing'' incident occuited last week in refer? i ice i >
a cargo in consequ? nee of tie- storms the Itari
t.?.ii River was swollen and muddy. The oysters
put to "drink" in it were dabby and a brownish
green when they arrived at tie- scows. They liad
refused to ",??;.>.k." and their llavor was low? red
by several gastron?mica! degrees.
As ins been said, tie- present crop of nystera
comes from tie- sh-.i-s of Btaten Island, the
most fam..us locality being a cove called Greal
Kills. Along in Decei ?l" r the Eastern and Sum I
oysters will begin to be at their best in New
York. Blue Points ami Rockaways will arrive
some time earlier, being at their height about
October.
An oyster s! ?op Can .-any as many as l'J.i.iMl
oysters a trip, though few an- loaded beyond the
fifty-thousand mirk. The sloopraen get about
$350 a thousand for the small oysters, and $0!V0
for the large. A boatload would thus come to
about |-K)0 at the most, one hundred and fifty
large oysters ?ill a bushel basket There are
'J."?0 small ones in a bushel.
How many oysters a day tin- market sells has
never been calculate?!, A million ami a half to
a million and three-quarters in the heat of the
season Is th.- clos, st estimate fue lirrn alone
bas the record of 300,000 In one day.
THE DESCENT OF HIM:HS.
From Tho Ohio State Journal.
Generally speaking, the si-.po of the beds of
rivers Bowing i,lto the Mississippi from the
East is. on Die average, about thiee Inches per
mil.-. Those entering it from the wrat hsrve an
average descent of about six Inches per mi;.-.
Th.- average descent per mile <>f the Missouri
after it leaves the mountains is reckoned about
.1 foot; tie- Des Moines, fr un its source to it?
conjunction with the Ml slsslppl, about 7.:;
Inches. The entire length ol the Ohio shows a
tail of even live Inchea The Mississippi, from
the mouth of the Ohio to the gulf, bas u. fall of
about t.. j and a half in .. j.
pllgrinai Walruses travel In rods, or herd
and are generally f??un?l on an l?se pack out
siRht of land. There are some men on eve
whaling vessel In the Behring s.-a who ha
hired out as v.aalrus-shooters. When a pod
- . ? ises is seen on an Ice fio ? In the daytime tl
walrus-shooter starts fn.ni the vessel In
'dinky.' which is a small skiff, with a boai
paanted white t<? look like ice fastened in froi
of ii i., shield th- hiint.r from view. One inn
approach a walrua pod aaith great caution, f.
if two or three big walrua s become frighten?
and s!i '..- off the i ?? into the water th.- who
p ?i is liable t? follow, and then all hunting is ;
an end. I asas hunting walruses all the wa
from Behring Strait to l'oint Barrow in tl
summer of 1880. When I went ."?t in a 'dink:
alter a pod of walruses 1 alwaya carried
Bharp'fl tille, .,o-calibre, wlii.li could be used f>
both dose and lone; range ahoottng. ?'-.am:; t
tli? location of th.- lee pack one could som?
Mm? - g? t within i?lsl yards ??f a walrus po.| h,
f..i?? firing th.- Hn?i ahoi, but often I could ?>
nu near r- than IWO yarda. Tie- Hral ta\.. .,
three shots musl I..- aaith sure aim. and
walrus mual )??? killed each time outright. If
walrus i- wounded he Hopa overboard and th
rest follow. If taao ..r time can b.- killed thel
bodies roll over on the Ice, th?re is no rtinuno
tlon, and the whole pod remains "ti th..' i
pa? k. After killing the Aral two or three then
worked my way in the 'dinky' gradually tow
aid the Ice pack, until I could make a lin.Im:
and hi.le behind the carcass of one of the aaai
roses l had kill. .1.
"I would th. n lie behind a dead walrus am
shoot others all day lonR. It Is tie n a mere mat
ter of loading ih.- mm and sho .ti?i!-r. tor no skil
is ri-iuir-.-d to kill the other walruses. I haa
hidden behind a dead walrus and |?oked my gui
barrel against the head of a live walrus an.
shot it. I have kilted '_*.?hhi of these animals ii
one day. The brain of a walrus is nol in th?
top of its head, but Is located in the hump?n th?
i..wk of ?is neck. That bump i< t!" target foi
? ih" walrua Bhooter, for a bullet through thi
i.rain is Instant ?bath lo tl..- animal. Borne ol
ih.- bulls ar ? so ..ii that ta a ;. ive barna? :? n
them.
"A full-grown walrus, bull or cow, is larg i
and heavier th.m a Texas st? r. When alarmed
they whistle like the steam launches aa.- ?e.
in the l.ik.s in city parka, The walruses are
I kiil'd f..r the Ivory obi lined from th Ir
tusks. The ivory runs from six pounds In
a young cow, to seventy-five ..r eighty
| pound, m the i ?a i tusks ? f an old bull. In l**v<?.
avilen I Was aaalius hunting, aaalrus Ivory was
worth .S'-".'., per pound Then, a walru I in
out from taao t.. three barrels of blubber, aa rth
m? g barrel. Walrus oil I? told In th market
f.r \a hai. oil, and is just aa g I m nun
"Waitu '? i..-, i : ,!ii ,i hunt? r on th?' -, bul
they make it llvelj foi him som tliiua in ihe
water. Wall u - hunting is n t without Its dan?
gers. Walr u-?? ?I . |. n, still a . ; among the
ke packs, a?.?.h their brown 1? ada uut .?:' the
water only two c. three Inches, each h<?ad look?
ing exactly like the crown of a brown derby hat
floating In the water. The hunters call them
'sleepers.' It is worth a man's life to awaken an
old bull 'sleeper,' or to run into a herd of sleeping
walruses with a little 'dinky.' wi.. n a sleeper is
awakened it fights, and let mo t?n you .1 walrus
in the water can light viciously. They fight
with their tusks, ami an old bull or a cow can
drive a tusk through a small boat at one str >ko
and wreck it."
"DM y m ev.-r have 1 hair-breadth escape, Mr.
Poster r
"Well, I had a lively light with a big walrus
cow on -e, and 1 though! th ? ji',- ?as all up ? h
mo. it was in August, 1880, that I was walrus
hunting ?n ih,- Arctic Ocean off l'oint Barrow.
ono day 1 started out in a 'dinky* ami had a big
Norwegian sculling f. r me. and I was making
for a moving ! -e pack gradually, as I had slghl I
a line pod of walruses A young walrus calf
haid" ned to he in the water ant! came near tho
boat. The moth.-r was an exceedingly targe
cow, and she no sooner saw the calf coming
toward us than she whistled In ang.-r and
Started for tho boat with lightning-like speed
I saw a green streak three feet under the clear
water as the old cow made for us, and I knew I
?hail th.? fight of my life. The Norwegian be?
came fright? ned and slipped and fell in one 1 nd
1 of the boal ami lost one of the oars. The wolrUS
cow struck the boat a. glancing lick with her
! tusks, ami the uttit? 'dinky' went halt" ..vtr,
dipped and was half full of wat.;-, f shot th?
j cow with my rifle twice ami wounded her, .ind
, then she dived down and came up with terrible
force and knot ked a hoi- with her tusk through
tho bottom of th" boat. Quick as a flash, 1
I jammed my gun through t!i ? h .1- and i ?uld f.'.-l
i tho barrel touch ths cow as 1 tired. She came
up alongside th.- boat and th.n m) fourth shot
killed h.r. The Norwegian, by Instinct, had
grabbed the remaining oar and aas working
vigorously toward an Ice pack near by. Tho
boat was rapidly filling with water, and we
reached th? Ice just as it was sinking. It was a
most miraculous escape. If ths old cow had
capsize?! tin- boat when she first stru.k it the
Norwegian and I would have never lived to tell
the ?tory. for it would have been Impossible for
us to swim in thi? icy water.
IX PERIL <>N TIIK ICE.
"We reached th.- i,-.. rone too soon, anyway.
The a/m-ry whistling of the ?lying cow, th-> crack
of my ride, and tin- commotion in tin- water
had alarmed all the walruses in tin- vicinity,
ami a big pod plunged '>ff of an ice pack and
came over to see what the rumpus was about.
The sight of t!i ? dead i 0W set them wild, and
the water roundabout was soon a seething mass
of hundr.-d-: of walruses. Th.. big bulls would
give screaming whistles in their anger, as they
dived and split the war es with th"ir long, sharp
tushes. A man's life would not have been worth
a straw if sailing in a 'dinky* in the midst "f
that pod of angry walruses. Once on the j????
wi? wen? not yet sat'-? The temperature was
?10 degrees below zero, and we had to run around
on the ice f..r one hour to keep from freezing
to death. The water in the boal had turned to
lee on our fur clothing. Our whaling vessel was
Dire., miles away, but tin- look ait had s-on our
narrow escape, and he sent a big whai-boat.
manned by five men, to rescue ua The pod of
angry walruses only lingered around the Ice f< r
a half-hour and then disappeared. So we won?
rescued with safety.
"When a walrus hunter makes a landing on
an be pack on which Is a pod of walruses, the
rulo among thr? whalers is that he must remain
and keep shooting as long ils the walruses
stay there. The longest period that l remained
on an Ice pack shooting walruses was forty
sight hours, without sleep. The temperature
was .*M) degrees below tero, but the sun was
shining and no wind was blowing. The cap?
tain of the whaling vessel sent food and coffee
to mo by the oth?-r men. I wore a big sealskin
mitten over a buckskin glove on my right hand.
Which 1 used on the trigger of my gun. While
lying behind a dead walrus shooting for hours
at a time I have often felt my right hand get?
ting benumbed. I would take off the glove and
mitten and stli k my hand in the Ice water, put
th.? glove and mitten on again quickly, and then
rub the hand and start a glow. Then I would
rip open ihe body <?f a walrus I had just killed,
anl stick my right band Inside and warm it by
the animal heat that yet remained In tho
carcasa In this way I prevented rny hand from
being frozen.
"I almost lost my life during that period of
forty-eight hours of walrus shooting. The Nor?
wegian who was with m>? during tin? fight with
the walrus cow saved me. Through constant
w.nk ami loss .if sleep I had t.ome exhausted.
As I r.iis.-d my gun and rested the barrel on the
? body of a dead walrus and was taking aim to
shoot I fell asleep. In a short time I would, of
course, have frozen to death. Luckily, the N<?r
weglan coime up with some coffee and aroused
me. and saved my life.
"'I'll-- most powerful animal of the Arctic
regions is the polar bear. As th.- lion is the
king of beasts in equatorial Africa, the polar
bear is tbe monarch of the animal world m-ar
the North Pote, l hove seen a ?."?ar bear with
mi.- stroke of its paw kill a walrus bull that
was larger than a Texas steer. Then th.- bear
would pick up the big ear- ass and carry it in
its jaws, jump into the sea and swim away, and
pull th.- carcass up ont?, another ice pack. Cap?
tain lb..,per. of th- r?-v. nu.- cutter Thomas <"or
win. to!.I m- that h-- shot a poiar bear which
weighed 'J.inwi pounds when dress.-1. So. you
see, a polar bear Is a powerful beast. Polar
bears are wonderful swimmers, as I have seen
a bear in the sea thirty miles from ice or land.
They live on walrus. Th.- polar bear rarely
bother? .i walrus shooter, unless the two h;ipp.?n
to come together on an i- ?? pack suddenly. These
i bears ho-ve plenty t" -at. a? a rule, and it it
j generally a hungry bear thai deliberately -, *?
i after a man.
COST or I RACING STABLE.
From Leslie's Weekly.
it Is perfectly safe to ssy thai the owner who
main-aims a completel} appointed st-'.-k farm,
another where th.- yearlings are handled from
.inn.' until October, and which b.imes Ihe win
ter quarters as soon as the racine; season is
- cloned ami a stable ..f horses in training b -
sides must win each seal m >7?.imm to $100.000
befort he lias made a profit, of course, he has
! is fun and th" enjoyim nl of seeing his homebred
homes i-'.'.t those of other breeders, but most
men like a substantial profit as well as some
c-ompensatlon for the risk they have assumed.
If no crack Jockey Is retained, but chances are
tak.-n ..n securing th.? services of the fr? ?? -Ian???
jockeys, of cours? a material saving Is effected.
Most owners take these ihres because of tho
uncertainty of the 'rue racing form of their
two-year-olds, for nothing Is so .-railing as to s<?<?
your' Jockey ?.-Hing his $10,000 or $H.'.<M> a
year standing on tin? ground, witb no horses
you can give him a mount on.