Alexander Trout Loses Two Fingers

New York, 1895

Woodhaven and Ozone Park News

While Alexender Trout was feeding wood to a buzz saw in Brown Bro.'s wood yard at Ozone Park on Tuesday, his hand slipped and struck the saw. Two of his fingers were cut off.

A bulldog owned by Leonard Rouff, of Ozone Park attacked Charles Marusack on Tuesday and severely bit the youth. The dog jumped at Marusack three times, and each time its teeth went deep into the youth's hand,

Paul Demperlein was fined $3 on Friday by Justice Lott for an assault upon Mrs. Pander, Demperlein's wife was also charged with assisting her husband to whip Mrs. Pander. She was discharged, there not being sufficient evidence to hold her.

Cyrus E. Smith, superintendent of schools embracing Union Free school No. 7, was reappointed for the ensuing year by the board of education at their meeting Friday night. The superintendent receives a salary of $1,600 a year. He celebrated his appointment by entertaining a number of his friends.

Scarlet fever prevails at Ozone Park. Several cases have been reported. The places infected are the flats of Mr. Tuttle, Mr. Kelly, and Mr. Upham, and the house of Thomas Riker. All of these cases are under close watch and the health officer is taking every precaution to check the spread of the disease.

George Van Brunt, an oyster planter, asked Justice Lott, of Woodhaven, for a warrant for the arrest of Alexander Craft, William H. Pearsall and Herbert Craft, who are also oystermen. Van Brunt charged them with malicious mischief. The three men went out for a good time. They wound up at the Stump, on Jamaica Bay, where Van Brunt has a small cottage. All three were armed with shot-guns. They amused themselves by shooting at Van Brunt's cottage. When they heard that a warrant for their arrest had been issued, they went to Van Brunt and said they were sorry for the amount of damage they had done and offered to settle for any amount agreeable to the owner of the building. Van Brunt accepted the offer, and discontinued the proceedings.

There are prospects for a road and fence war between the owners the Napier property and the highway commissioners. Recently Oakley avenue was declared a public highway, a commission having met and awarded damages to the owners of abutting property. The proposed line extended through a fence on the Napier estate that was apparently overlooked, and when the road was opened a week ago there stood the fence barring the way to the railroad depot. The fence was removed and the road opened. The owners of the property have since caused the fence to be replaced and also gave it a heavy coating of tar. It has not yet been removed, and when it is there is likely to be a stronger one put up and a guard placed over it. There is certain to be a lively squabble before the road to the depot is cleared.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, April 19, 1895, p. 8.

Looted the Oyster Sloop

New York, 1895

A reward has been offered for the apprehension of the vandals who riddled Capt. Edward Dayton's sloop Sunday night. The sloop was anchored in Patchogue river. On boarding her Capt. Dayton found her almost a wreck. Riggings and cables were cut, halyards unspliced, and several large rents were found in the sails.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, Jan. 25, 1895, p. 1.

Japanese Man "Farming" Oysters for Crop of Pearls

1912

RAISING PEARLS ON "FARM"

Japanese Has Decided He Can Produce Them on Land Laid Out in Ocean's Bed

Mr. Mikinoto's oyster farm in the Bay of Ago, off the coast of Japan. is one of the few successful attempts at the deliberate production of pearls. Mikinoto spent several years in costly experiments before he perfected his scheme.

Then he secured government patents and, according to Popular Mechanics, has succeeded in getting his "farm" on a paying basis. He first makes a bed for his crop in the shallows of the bay, where the larvae of the pearl oyster abound during the months of July and August.

He merely deposits a large number of small stones, to which the oyster spat naturally attach themselves. Then his diving women transplant the young oysters to deeper waters to protect them from the cold.

Here they lie on carefully prepared beds until in their third year they become full grown, and have firmly attached themselves to the stones by means of "necks" which they secrete.

At this time the diving women bring the mollusks to the surface and they undergo an operation. A small seed pearl is introduced into the center of the shell. Then the oysters are replanted in the bed and left alone for four years.

When they are again brought to the surface it is found that the seed pearl nucleus has been covered with many layers of the nacre, a secretion of the mollusk, and the large, brilliant translucent pearl of commerce has been formed.

But the process is not as simple as it appears. During the seven years that the farmer must wait for his crop to mature a large percentage of the oysters die. The oyster beds are raided by such enemies as the octopus and the starfish.

Occasionally the "red current" sweeps over them and in a day destroys the entire crop. At all times the farmer must keep his oyster bed free of "miruno," a seaweed which will smother the crop.

Women divers trained from girlhood to long immersions in the Sea are engaged at 20 cents a day to care for the farm. In this work they wear nothing but a head cloth, a white shirt and diving goggles. At each dive they can gather several oysters and return to the surface.

A dive occupies about one minute, and a day's work is from four to six hours. An expert can readily gather 500 oysters a day in a depth of water ranging from two to six fathoms. To keep at the work for a day they must frequently come up and warm themselves at a fire.

—The Daily Commonwealth, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, December 17, 1912, page 8.


Love of Books

Book love, my friends, is your pass to the greatest, the purest and the most perfect pleasure that God has prepared for his creatures. It lasts when all other pleasures fade. It will support you when all other recreations are gone. It will last you until your death. It will make your hours pleasant to you as long as you live. — Anthony Trollope.

—The Daily Commonwealth, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, December 17, 1912, page 6.