The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York • Page 17

YN A.ILY EAGLE LONG ISLAND AND REAL ESTATE LONG ISLAND AND REAL ESTATE NEW YORK CITY. SATURDAY. AUGUST 31. 1907. SLANDERS WHO VELIHO OF The Wafers Surrounding the Island Teem With Fish, Lobsters, Oysters and Clams; Men Who Take Them and -Supply the Tables of the Public Earn a Good Living.

Big or Little. Hard or Soft, They Bear the O. Stamp. THE BROOKL LONG ROM THE SEA. DEARER THAN OYSTERS NOW.

FISHERMEN A HARDY LOT. 11 A CRABS ReADYtMtMfiRKFT 'Xjr-J SriWWWW photos ey WM.bfiLLoi;, us- BCRTCH OFWERKFISH wmmmmmmmmmm 1 11 If II II II II II 1 mrmmim hhuijmi uiwwwwjiiii.j i iniBmimv-ami MssliiiiiMillBiBMSiiisisasississssswssssiiiMisiisisaMsi I tm. rvmwmmrtrvar-'---iii TTJfnKiiiiMiiiiiWi I I Ai SmX iJ MMMHiMMMM HHHBIIUaH BOUQUET OF BLUE FISH fry PLEASURE PARTY'S CHTCHJJV GRFRT SOUTH 8fiV of the island's bays the fishing craft predominate over the pleasure craft. From these points halt the fish and other water products that are consumed in Greater New York are shipped, and every freight train that arrives in Long Island City from eastern Long Island Is plied high with barrels and boxes filled with blueflsh, weakfish, oysters, clams, lobsters, which go to the New York markets and then are sent thence to the markets of the world. Long Island waters are free from Impurities and that, perhaps, Is one reason why the finest seafood of all kinds Is there obtained.

Long Island is the home of the Blue Point oyster and the Little Neck clam, and from off Montauk Point the finest lobsters In the world are secured In this, the height of the fishing season. The best fishing In some years Is now being experienced In Long Island waters and thousands of men are now earning good money at the work. Tons of flsh are now being caught and marketed every day, not only for the large fishing companies, but also by the' individual fishermen, each of whom have sailing or auxiliary vessels in which they take pride. There is but little Illegal fishing going on now around Long Island, for the State Forest, Fish and Game Commission of New York Is constantly sending men along the coasts to see that the laws are enforced. There really is no need for violations of the law in Long Island waters, because the Bupply of fish and and shellfish is so great that each man engaged in It may make a livelihood without resorting to illegal methods.

Some of the best fishing grounds of Long Island are found In Great and Little Peconlo bays, Jamaica Bay, Great South Bay, Gardiners Bay and all the north shore harbors. In Peconic and Gardiner bays alone is the luscious escallop found, and active preparations are now going on for the season, which will soon begin. Long Island fishermen are rejoicing in a greater and growing business each year in this, one of the main industries. They see fortunes for, themselves in the expansion that the future promises. Lobsters Grow to Large Size in the Deep Water Off Montauk Point.

POWER BOATS LARGELY USED. They Have Taken the Place of Sail-. Propelled Craft to a Great Extent, and Prove Time n- Savers. RANKING first among Its industries, and typical, in its growth, of the expansion and development of Long Island, Is the fishing business that flourishes on the shores of both sides of Long Island. On its north is Long Island Sound, to the east and south the Atlantic Ocean, and there are also scores of bays and inlets, furniBhing some of the best fishing waters that may be found anywhere on the globe.

The species found are wonderfully varied, and in one typical body of Long Island waters Great South Bay fine flavored oysters are raked out by the bushel, not many feet from great nets i which weakfish, blueflsh and other kinds. Including even tiny sharks, are flapping in captivity. Many of the permanent residents of Lofig Island the natives make good liTfngs for themselves and their families- in its fishing industry, and there is not a harbor along the entire coast in which some of the fishing vessels do not find an anchorage. In a great many OYSTERS ARE THE BASIS JF GREENPORT'S WEALTH The Bivalve Is King of the Town Now; Whales Ruled Once. THEN THE MENHADEN CAME IN 2Tow the Oyster Rules, but in Adjoin-' ing Towns Taking of Food Fish Leads Industries.

Ever since that long ago period when first men "went down to the sea in ships" te engage In the whale fishery, Greenport, Hast Marion and Orient have been known and regarded as the centers of fishing interests for commercial purposes. The evolution has been from whales to men-hadden and from menhadden to oysters. The latter is now king, but even now the catching of edible fish forms' -a very large part of the business activity, and provides much of the money that is spent in either East Marion or Orient, while oyster is largely responsible for the prosperity of Greenport. Whale oil built many of Greenport's houses, conducted its schools and paid its ministers; menhaden in their generation performed like functions; oysters are doing it to-day in Greenport and the other villages named, assisted by the ly bailed out, boxed up in ice while still and on their way by train to Fulton Market before they die. And, too, It is not uncommon for at least Ave tons of fish to be shipped In a day from Montauk alone fish caught principally by East Marion crews.

In East Marion some of the largest catchers and shippers of fish are E. Tuthill, Arthur Tuthlll, Edward Rackett and Edwards Brothers, with Edward Tabor and Georgo Vail from Orient, and David Tuthill and Daniel Ross from Greenport. The men all own big traps that cost thousands of dollars to make and keep in repair, together with power boats and numerous other costly equipments. How the Fisherman Spends the Winter. During the winter months the trap fisherman fills his icehouse, knits seine, puts together his big traps, repairs his outilt, and gets things in shape for the spring rush.

As early as February the fykes are sot for flatfish, which run during March and April. By the beginning of May the flat fishing is about over, and porgies are running. By this time, tho big traps have been put in, and the season is on with a rush. Blueflsh are more active In August and September than at any other time, while- a Supply Is Never Much in Excess of Demand; in Fact, Barely Equals It. The menu of no flrBt class course dinner during the months lacking an is considered complete if Little Neck clams are not Included.

The little clams have come to ocupy a distinct place In the culsloc of American diners. Then there is clam chowder, served all over the country, and in other lands, too. Where do the clams all come from, might be the o.uestion of those who are at all Interested in the why and wherefore of what they eat. The question would be amply answered by a trip along the shores of Long Island, beginning at Rockanay Bay, on the west, going out as far as Great South, Peconic and Gardiner's bays on the east and so around on the north side to Little Nerk Bay. "Wherever there ure oysters, there will you find clams," is one of the oft heard sayings of the Long Island bay-men and it is literally (rue so far as the island is concerned.

The idea that clams are used only when oysters are out of season is an Incorrect one, for the Long Island clammers always find a' market for (he crop, that runs into the thousands of bushels every year. They are shipped by trald to New York from many stations on the Long Island Railroad and Juet now they sell at prices far In excess of those received for oysters. Many Clam Beds Are of Natural Growth. The industry is not nearly as great as the oyBter business on Long Island, but still its bays yield yearly an output that makes it a place not to be lightly reckoned with when tho matter of the nation's clam supply is under consideration. While some of Long Island's clam beds have been planted, the greater part are of the natural growth variety.

Just off Duck Island, in Northport Harbor, there are large natural clam beds which yield generously year after year. The finest flavored clams to be had anywhere are those dredged from the water surrounding Long Island. To this, lovers of sea food In many parts of America will bear witness. It seems paradoxical, but little 'nedk clams are not now taken in any great quantity from the waters of Little Neck Bay. There are soma there, of course, just as there are somo In every bay an 4 harbor on eithor side of Long Island, but the little neck clam, beloved ot epicures, Is merely a small olam.

It has no special abiding place, but those that are the best flavored and most highly estcomed come from Long Island waters. Several Species of Clams. While some people know only one species of clam, there are several. The tw beBt known are tho soft clam, which Is dug out from under several Inches of mud and sand when the tide reoedes and lays bare the flats in harbor or bay, and the round, or hard clam, varying in size from the little ones which are served as the first course at dinner to tho big ones suited for chowder or for clam roasts. Troperly cooked either variety is palatable and tho supply scarcely ever equals the demand.

To gather either species is hard, back-breaking work, as any bayman will tall you, but it is work that pays when clams sell as they do now. There is a great future for the Long Island clam, big and little, hard and soft, and as tho population of New York and its suburbs increase that future will grow brighter. Tho clammer of to-day may be the millionaire of to-morrow. So important has the clamming industry become that laws regulating the size of hard clam3 that may be taken have been enacted, and there Is a fierce rivalry among clammers and oystermen for the possession of the best grounds for the cultivation of both clams and oysters. There is always a haunting fear that some day the Long Island olum supply will be exhausted, but as yet that has not been a reality.

There are not so many clams on the Long Island bays and harbors as there were once, and they are higher priced, but they can yet be had. 4 iff J- 1 1 4 the result has been an output that has Increased greatly in the last few years. The ponds now number 60, varying In size from 25 feet by 4 feet to 40 feet by IB feet: All have concrete bottoms and sides and are admirably constructed for the use to which they are put. They are easily kept clean and the bottoms are kept continually covered with a layer of white gravel. Cold, clear water, taken mostly from springs near the hatchery is used in the ponds and tanks in which the fish are raised.

The fish raised at the Cold Springs hatchery ponds consist mostly of trout for inland waters, but tomcod or frost fish and smelt are raised and the fry sent to the salt waters of the bays all over the island. Tho trout raised in the hatcheries are considered much superior to those grown elsewhere, as their egg? are more easily hatched. From 300,000 to 350,000 of the little trout are sent out every year to the Interior of the state and to various Long Island points. Frequently large consignments of from the Saranac hatchery In tho Adlrondacks are received for breeding purposes. For many years among the principal branches of tho work at the Cold Spring hatchery was the raising of lobsters for the Blocking of waters around New York, but none of this has been done In the last six although in Lloyd's harbor just adjacent to the hatchery, the conditions are excellent for that industry.

A year ago the trout at the hatcheries were placed in the streams nearby, in the hope that they might be saved, but the was fruitless. In six weeks after the seizure many of the choicest of the trout had been destroyed. Many of those Just hatched were sent back to the Adirondack hatchery, but this failed to save them. The disease disappeared as quickly lively porgie, the gamy blueflsh and the pretty striped bass. Next to Sag Harbor a generation ago Greenport was the largest whaling port in this section of the world.

Where modern machinery now fashions handsome pleasure and working craft in the Greenport Basin and Construction iCompany's shipyard, once stood the oil wharves and trypots of the old whalers. The place In those days was as animated as now, but with perhaps quite a different class ot workmen and sailors and vessels. Whale oil was then in the air, and whales formed the chief topic of conversation. Now It is yachts and oysters. Fortunes Made in Taking Menhaden.

Following the decline of tho whale industry the big menhaden industry sprang up like Jacob's ladder. Fortunes were made in this, both for the lucky pioneers in the business, their captains and the people who supplied the wants of the vessels and their sailors as well. Fish factories sprang up all around this vicinity by the dozen. Bashing steamers fitted out and sailed from Greenport, commanded by crews from here and East Marion and Orient. On Shelter Island, across the way from Greenport's wharves.

Bunker' City was built. On Shelter Island alone seventeen fish factories were located, in which the oil and fertilizer from the menhaden were manufactured. Others stood on the mainland near Greenport. On Saturday nights at least twenty-five big fishing steamers were wont to tie up at the wharves at Greenport, the crews went ashore to spend their money, while the local merchants were stocking up the ships ready for the following week and it took no small sum to supply a single vessel with provisions, coal, for a week's cruise. Fish were still running the town and the adjacent sister towns.

Now, the American Fisheries Company owns all of the menhaden fish business, and a fishing steamer at the Greenport docks is a novelty. The Genesis of Greenport's Oyster Trade. But closely following the decline of the local menhaden industry, the lucky dis- and mysteriously as It came and now there Is no trouble on that account. After the i disappearance of the disease, large num bers of the fry were imported and the output was materially increased. 100 LB.

SHARK CAUGHT WITH ROD AND REEL IN GREAT SOUTH BAY LONG ISLAND NET MENDERS; A TYPICAL SOUTH SIDE SCENE covery was made that the bays between Greenport and Gardiner's Island were capable of producing the finest of oysters. Oyster land values fairly leaped in value, and the lucky owners grew rich. Companies were formed for oyster culture with a rapidity that savored of a Western mining camp, but values were more per nianent and dividends surer. At present there are at least twenty three companies or individuals here that are classed as "the big fellows" in the oyster industry. Besides these there are several big Connecticut companies and individuals who do business in the waters surrounding Greenport.

The local com panics own and operate at least thirty big power oyster boats, costing alone from to $40,000 each. Just the ex act amount of capital invested in the oyster business at Greenport is hard to get at, but some recent statistics place the amount, including steamers, land and stock on the beds, at for that vicinity and tho Great South Bay combined, and as it is figured here that nearly three-quarters of this sum is represented by the industry in the bays east of and surrounding Greenport, it can be seen that this big industry is worth practically $33,000,000. as represented bj Greenport. 500 Men Are Employed. Every one of the oyster steamers car ries from three to eight men, principally the latter number, during tho "harvesting" period, which begins next week.

Then on shore there are numerous em ployes of the oystermen, to say nothing of the gangs necessary in the shipyards to keep tho oyster boats in repair. In the neighborhood of BOO men find steady employment as a direct outcome' of the oyster business which has sprung up within ten years past. Some of tho larger companies in the oyster business Include F. F. Downs, Peconic Bay Oyster Company, B.

and C. Oyster Company, Star Oyster Company, Cherry Harbor Oyster Company. Breakwater Oyster Company, L. E. Terry Sons, H.

F. Fordham. F. B. Parkes D.

and H. Oyster Company, Gardiner's Bay Oyster Company, George H. Grlfling. Brown Fordham, Adolf Johnsen, Andrew F. Skinner, J.

J. Ellsworth, N. S. Aclcerly, W. I.

Stevens, Seacoast Dyster Company, William J. Mills, Stanley Lowndes, Greenport Oyster Company. Oyster Kings Bide in Autos Now. All summer long the crews work the beds, ridding them of starfi3h, refuse, while the owners ride in oyster-purchased automobiles. In the fall the real work begins, when the steamers, fitted with modern labor saving appliances, repair to the beds and dredge up a boat load in a short time, then sail away for a market.

Most of the oysters grown here are sold and delivered in boat load quantities, various markets being supplied. Not many, comparatively, are either barreled or opened here. One of the largest oyster steamers in the world is operated in the vicinity of Greenport. She Is owned by H. C.

Howe, one of the Connecticut planters. Oyster Business in Its Infancy Yet. The oystermen here plant the seed when about the size of one's thumb-nail. Then in three or four years it has grown ro the marketable sized oystor. The price paid per bushel for seed is not large.

On the other hand, the price for the "finished product" is usually good, and as the seed has quadrupled many times, the return per bushel of grown oysters over the per bushel of seed is very large. Some men have reaped fortunes in a few years; others have, of course, met reversea. But It Is a happy fact that most of those who ventured In the oyster business a few years back are aow "comfortably well-to-do." The sea-ion just dawning is destined to be the biggest yet, and next season, old fishermen say, will be even larger than this in fact, it is generally believed the Industry is still in its infancy as far as output Is concerned, and that many big fortunes are yet to be made here. New Methods Employed, The evolution in the edible fish business is almost as much pronounced as in any other business enterprise. In the old days smacks used to fit out with trawls and hand lines, and catch fish while "sailing the green seas o'er." Now pounds and traps of immense size, tended by power boats of late model.

tak he place of the old-time methods. It no uncommon thing for a fisherman to to his trap some morning and find at least a ton of fish in it. These are "ick- I IS DOING A GREAT WORK Scientific Methods Employed In Breeding Fish of Different Species. PONDS AND BAYS RESTOCKED. Trout for Long Island Streams; Tom-cods and Smelt for Harbors, Bays and Creeks.

Greatest and most Important of all the state fish hatcheries under the supervision ot the Forest, Fish and Game Commission is that at Cold Spring Harbor, FISHERS ISLAND SOUND in Suffolk County. Half the baby fish that are sent out to replenish the waters around Long Island go out from there every year. And not alone to Long Island waters do the Cold Spring flsh go, but all over the state and to other states where the fry is needed. Directly at the foot of Cold Spring Bay the hatcheries are built. The stranger who happens In that vicinity is sure to be attracted by the sight of the several long buildings set almost on the water's edge.

Running up beside each of the buildings and spreading out over several acres, are the great troughs In which the fish fry make their homes. A big force of men Is constantly kept employed at the hatcheries, where millions ot fish are raised from the fry and Bet out every year. Not the least of the attractions of the hatcheries are the largo ponds which, with the troughs, ere constantly filled with the fish of varying sizes, but never of different breeds. Each species of flsh raised at Cold Spring Harbor is kopt In separate ponds, receives different treatment, and is sent out to stock waters all over the country at ages that are never the same. Frequent appropriations from state legislatures havo enabled the men in charge to get the greatest possible results from the Cold Springs hatcheries, and they art known as an almost perfect Institution by sportsmen and those interested in tut stocking of New York state's streams and other waters.

Extra ponds ar always being added, and more men taken on the force, and fvrt I i 1 S-l IfV LIVE LOBSTERS FROM sprinkling of weakfish, black bass, striped bass, are running all the season. This year weakfish have been the mainstay of the fisherman. Spring and fall bring the blackflsh and butter-Ash, and' a few frostflsh. Trawls Give Way to Traps. They were jolly and hardy crews that started out in the smacks a generation ago to help provide fish for Brooklyn's tables.

Ten or twelve men constituted a crow. Trawls containing BOO hooks wore dropped on tho fishing grounds. At stated intervals these had to on run ana tne fish unbooked or the hooks rebalted. It was a laborious undertaking, nut tne best that could be done in those days. Hand lines also caught many fish, but the trawls were more largely used.

Now this is all changed, and the jolly trawlers are relegated to the rear by tho advent of the trap. This is a contrivance made of twine and rope, fastened to poles set in the bay bottom. A long "leader," sometimes 400 feot in length, runs out from shore to the trap proper. The flsh swimming against tho leader, follow it up to find a way to tho othor side, and in this way run Into tho open spaoe of the trap. Once in this they appoar to be bewildered and cannot find their way out, although the opening through which they swam and through which they might get out is often large enough to drive a horse and wagon through.

The next mornina the luokv fisherman comes along and finds his trap full of fine fish He closes the "door, noists up tne irap which has a seine bottom, of course, and then bails out the flph. Smaller dealers have fykes and gill nets. Some of the large shippers nave four or five traps apiece. The crews leave their homes Monday morning and return Friday night, boxing and shipping, in the meanUineT most of their catch at Mon- tauk. 1 Wink viXif..