USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Norwalk > The romance of Norwalk > Part 27
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Of course telegrams are still in the most general use. The South Norwalk Branch of the Western Union Tele- graph Co., estimates that during the year 1929, about 77,015 messages were sent and 91,250 were received. Fred B. Van Scoy is the present manager in South Norwalk. Audubon Dan was the first manager of whom there is any record. In addition to its Western Union service, Norwalk also has a branch of the Postal Telegraph Cable Co., at 42 South Main st., which company has a definite place in the service of the community.
OYSTER INDUSTRY
CHAPTER XXX
Indians and Early Norwalkers Included Oysters in Main Diet-Norwalk First to Try Deep Water Oyster Plant- ing-First Also to Introduce Steam into Business-Causes of Decline of Industry-Present Norwalk Oyster Com- panies.
FIRST in the country to attempt deep water oyster plant- ing; first in the country to introduce steam into the oyster business; and foremost in the ranks of those who have given the world new ideas and new improvements in the trade, Norwalk, in the year 1880, boasted one of the finest oyster industries in the United States, bar none, and shipped her plump, highly prized bivalves from the Atlantic to the Pacific, to the south, to the north and across the ocean to Europe. In succeeding years, poor laws, heavy, unfair taxes, domestic sewage, industrial waste, lack of coopera- tion on the part of local and state authorities, an indifferent attitude and lack of support on the part of the public, worked great hardships on the business. Today finds the Norwalk oyster industry only a shadow of its former self but bravely struggling to regain its previous prosperity. Few there are, though they may have lived all their lives on the very edge of the industry, within sight of the sturdy boats which plough the Norwalk waters and the houses where the oysters are shucked, who really know much about the life story of an oyster, or its history off local shores.
STORY OF OYSTER
Although oysters on the surface of things may seem to be rather clammy water animals, they are mighty interest-
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ing ones. "From Homebed to Halfshell" could well be the story of the life of a Norwalk oyster, which does not last a month, a season or even a year, but four or five years.
Oysters are male and female only at spawning time. The sexes are separate but without external distinction. The average oyster will produce about 16,000,000 eggs while a large one will give off about 60,000,000.
The sex products leave the mature oysters during spawn- ing time, July to August, and mingle in the water. Fer- tilization follows their admixture. Segmentation results in five or six hours and from the eggs there hatch out free swimming larvae, cup shaped. An embryonic shell soon ap- pears, the free life ceases after a few days, then the tiny oyster sinks to the bottom and attaches itself to some hard, clean object by its left mantle fold which secretes a limy deposit on its margin. The tiny oyster, only about 1-80 or 1-90 of an inch in diameter, clinging to its new home, per- haps a shell, a stone or a branch, is now called "spat." The spat grows rapidly, especially in warm water about 60 or 70 degrees, feeding on the microscopic life in the water. This life includes : minute animals and plants ; protozoans, eggs and swimming larvae of many kinds of sponges, worms and mollusks, including its own; and last but certainly not least, microscopic plants called diatoms. Since the latter forms about 90 per cent of the oyster's food it can readily be seen how necessary it is to place the growing oysters either next to a diatom garden or else in the path of a strong current which passes over such a garden.
When the oysterman has picked his spot and. purchased the lots which go to make his oyster farm, his next step is to stake the four corners with buoys. He then smooths and cleans the bottom of all debris and snags, either at low tide when he can see what he is doing, or, if the water is deep, with dredges. When the bottom is clean a founda- tion of oyster .shells, gravel, or small pebbles is laid to serve as a "cultch" to which the tiny oysters or "spat" can attach.
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In Norwalk, old oyster shells are generally used. Walk along Water st. and you will see piles of shells, many times as high as a man's head, in the rear of the oyster plants. These shells, for the most part, are used for lining beds, in providing "cultch" to which the oyster spat can attach. The shells which cost about nine cents a bushel here, are distributed from boats or scows, from 250 to 600 bushels being used to the acre, depending on how soft the bottom is. It costs five cents or more a bushel to distribute.
If the piece of ground cleared is near a spawning bed where mature oysters are living, the oysterman need do nothing further for a while, for the mature oysters will provide the eggs which will float over the new ground and settle on the fresh "cultch" just laid. Then the oyster begins to grow. If, however, the new piece of ground is not near a spawning bed, it will be necessary for the oystergrower to spread over the land some adult oysters in the proportion of about 30-60 bushels per acre. These will provide the necessary eggs for spat. Should the oyster grower not wish to take his chance on the germinating adult oysters planted on his fresh ground, he can secure seed oysters by dredging or by purchasing them and use those instead.
For some time after planting, the new oysters are let alone. But they must be taken up and separated as soon as they can be culled without injury. This is usually at the end of the second year. Let's stop for a minute and get the years of the oyster's life straight. The fertilized eggs of the oyster before settling on the cultch of oyster shells, are known as spawn; after attachment they are called "spat"; from that time until the end of the first year, the tiny oysters are referred to as a set; various names are given oysters in other communities when they reach the end of the first, second, third and fourth years, but in Norwalk they are simply termed : one year olds, two year olds, three year olds. The most fertile oysters in these waters for spawning, are two and three year olds. Seed oysters are
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so termed almost any time after the spat stage. It takes five years to mature an oyster in Norwalk waters.
Of late years, because of the pollution in the Norwalk waters, oyster growers here have been forced to transfer their oysters several months before marketing to beds in other parts of the state or across the Sound where they may be purified before returning to the Norwalk houses for shucking. The state only requires that the oysters from Nor- walk waters be transferred to clean waters for 15 days be- fore marketing. Local oystermen usually transfer them in the April or May before the dredging in September in order that the transported oysters may become acclimated to their new home and fatten up before being taken to the shucking houses.
The dredging of oysters is a business, all of its own. In shallow waters, oyster tongs are used. These are like two long tined rakes, hinged so as to open and close like shears. In deeper waters, in the Norwalk waters, steam dredges are used. The dredge is a rectangular iron framework about four feet across with sharp edges, or with long teeth on one side, while attached to the other is a large open work bag of cord and iron. The dredge is dragged over the bottom, the teeth or sharp edges tearing the oysters loose, when they are caught up in the bag and brought to the surface. After dredging, oysters are taken to the shucking houses here from where they are shipped to various parts of the country. Few go to New York nowadays.
Oyster cultivation is not without its troubles. Less than one egg in a million develops into a mature oyster. Why? Because of: 1. Changes in temperature of the water, killing the young. 2. Scarity of food. 3. Changes in salinity of water. 4. Overcrowding. 5. Stagnant water. 6. Smothering by mud. 7. Excess of fresh water. 8. Lack of suitable material to which young can attach. 9. Miscal- culation on part of oysterman. He may have laid his shells so early that they became covered with slime and the young could not take hold; he may have laid them too late, past
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spawning time. The best spawning time in any locality lasts but a few days, perhaps two weeks. 10. Destruction by other water animals: drills, winkles, and starfish. 11. Pollu- tion of the water by sewage. 12. Pollution of the water by industrial waste.
EATING-SPAWNING
Have you ever been bitten by an oyster ? If not that is one experience still in store for you. Because they do bite. If you don't believe it, steal up very quietly on an oyster some fine day about flood tide, for then you will find the bivalves eating. The oyster while consuming its meal, opens its shell about half an inch. Should you place your finger between the two shells you would receive a painfully smart nip if you didn't lose the top of the digit altogether, for the oyster, on the slightest approach of danger, shuts up as fast and as hard as it can bring the sides of its house together.
If the oyster has a definite time for eating, as old oyster- men in this vicinity claim, then it has a still more definite time for spawning, for setting, for growing. The time be- tween the fertilization of the oyster egg and the setting is about two weeks. Another three weeks, in these waters, is required to bring the spat to 1-4 inch in diameter. The spat should have attained this size early in September to be commercially valuable and able to withstand severe storms which may reach the bottom. Spawning in Norwalk waters occurs during the months of July and August. Sets inshore usually may be found any time up to about August 6 or 8; offshore, until September 15 or even 20. The dif- ference in time is caused by the difference in temperature. The water inside the Norwalk islands is 4, 6 or 10 degrees warmer than that outside, on the offshore oyster beds. The warmer it is, the sooner the sets appears.
Sometimes you will hear a local oysterman say that he has a "good bottom set." By this he means a set that did not require a cultch of shells but attached itself to the clean
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grains of sand. The bottom sets are easy to handle for they do not later have to be broken apart as is the case when the spat clings by the thousands to old oyster shells. Spat will cling to almost anything smooth and clean. Not long ago one of the local oystermen pulled up an automobile tire which had evidently been fastened to the side of some boat and had fallen off. The tire, which was on one of his oyster beds, was dredged up with a portion of the oyster bottom. Thousands of spat clung to the tire, in fact it was so covered it was difficult to find out to what the tiny oysters were clinging. Another oysterman pulled up a great boot from his grounds. This too was covered.
Inshore lots, those in the mouths of rivers and close in the harbor shores, are much more desirable for young oys- ter sets than are the offshore lots. Unfortunately, due to the large amount of industrial waste and sewage which has in the past been daily poured into the Norwalk river and harbor, the beds close to the shore have become practically worthless. It is expected this unfortunate condition will be remedied by the new sewage disposal plant. At least as far as the sewage problem is concerned. In warm, ordinary summer weather, spawning begins on the inshore lots several weeks before the limit set, so that spawning here has a good chance of being effective.
Norwalk would have an immense oyster business today if it were possible for her oystermen to use the inshore lots, that is lots within 3-4 of a mile or even a mile off shore, to advantage. In the early days of almost pristine purity of the waters in this vicinity, the Connecticut oysters bore an excellent reputation for edibility and were readily and profitably marketable. The principal supply and all the more highly prized varieties came from the harbors, small stream- fed bays and the lower reaches of the rivers, "inshore lots." The oysters then were noted for their fine flavor and fat meats.
As the industrial and sewage pollution increased in these estuaries, the quality of the ovsters deteriorated. Growing
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became more and more difficult and finally ceased in the rivers and harbors of Connecticut towns. With the general passing of harbor and river production came the failure of sets, and with the failure of the sets came such an extended depletion of sound areas that the chance of good "sets" from the spawning of Sound oysters was drastically reduced. "Obviously," it was stated by the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries in its 1923 report on the situation in Connecticut, "if the Connecticut oyster industry is to be kept going, either ef- fective estuarial spawning beds must be maintained or oyster planting in the sound must be of such a type that reasonably good sets may occur at reasonably frequent intervals.
Offshore lots, those at some distance out in the sound, frequently possess some advantages over inshore lots as holding grounds. Otherwise with their increased depth and other drawbacks they would not be kept stocked with oysters when inshore lots were available. In addition from the fun- damental standpoint of seed produce, that is as a location for oysters to produce the great and early abundance of larvae necessary for heavy and sufficiently early sets, they are al- most hopeless.
EARLY OYSTER LAWS
The oyster industry in Norwalk commenced back in the time of the red man. He it was who discovered that when fish and game were scarce, the sea might still be depended upon to provide the means of sustenance in the form of oysters.
Along the Norwalk shores, great quantities of oyster shells left by the Indians have been discovered. At Wilson Point, the digging of new cellars has revealed numerous Indian graves, packed with shells, as previously noted in this history. Oscar Mills of Highland ave., says that in the vicinity of Roton Brook, Wilson Cove, he has found oyster shell banks six and eight feet thick. Oyster Shell Point, was once famous as an oystering ground, it
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having been said that the early Norwalkers enjoyed some of their first bivalves here.
When the white man arrived on the scene, he learned of the edibility of the oyster from his red brother. What he did not learn was conservation of the supply, or propagation of more. The inevitable resulted. Prior to the year 1784, there was little restriction of any kind in the oyster industry in Connecticut. The state had done nothing except to pass a law giving each coast town the right to regulate its own fisheries. Norwalk as early as December 4, 1721, saw the necessity of curbing the unchecked plundering of the oyster beds here, by any and all peoples, and passed a law prohibit- ing all "excepting the proper inhabitants of ye town, rakeing and gathering oysters within ye harbor."
About 1800, a few enterprising local oystermen tried planting. Up to this time, no one had thought of such a thing, all seeming to be of the opinion that the oyster beds were inexhaustible like bottomless wells. Between 1800 and 1825, arose a business in opening oysters and transporting them. Salesmen from South Norwalk and from Stamford toured the interior country on "spring wagons" selling their wares, sometimes for cash, more often for butter, pork, grain, cloth or even brooms.
In 1821 a Connecticut statute provided that towns along the coast could make by-laws regulating fisheries for oysters and clams. The principal use made of this power was to enact provisions for a closed season, a period of time during the summer, in the spawning and setting season, when oys- ters could not be taken from the waters. In 1830, the state legislature provided that no oyster permits whatever should be issued during the closed season. In 1842, the state had got as far as fixing the closed time as being from March I to November 21, an unusually long period. During these years Norwalk had been quietly making her own closed sea- son laws, the first appearing on the books under date of December 16, 1805, when inhabitants were forbidden with- out permission of a justice of the peace, to take any oysters
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after the first day of May until the first day of September under penalty of $5.
In succeeding years, the time was extended to September 15, then to October I, then set back to September I and in 1845 the time was set by the town from April I until Sep- tember 15. The town also decreed that from September 15 until April 1, no person should take "a greater quantity than three bushels of oysters in the space of 24 hours." One could hardly get rich on that. A third section of this same 1845 law instructed those who took oysters from the town waters to throw overboard all small oysters and shells. Thus was provision made for the reception of new spat or other oyster set. In the year 1842, Connecticut, the first state to do so, granted vested rights in oyster grounds and thereafter it became lawful for owners of land in the state of Connecticut where there were salt water creeks or inlets, "to dam gate or lock said creek or inlet" preparatory to the growing of oysters.
OYSTER PLANTING
Oyster planting was begun in earnest in Norwalk in the year 1845, following a state law which gave the various towns and cities in Connecticut the privilege of planting in their waters, oysters brought from outside the state. A year later it was also lawful to plant oysters here brought from any port within the state. Norwalk was quick to take advantage of all privileges in the oyster industry. The town records of October, 1847, disclose the fact that Edward Stuart, William Hallock, Stephen Olmstead, Levi Clark and Daniel Hoyt were named a committee "To mark, stake out and inclose a piece of ground near Tavern Island to be used by said applicants for laying down or planting oysters." Non-residents were warned against taking any oysters from local beds by a state law in 1848.
In 1855, the two-acre law went into effect. This, in short,
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provided that towns might appoint a committee not exceed- ing five in number "who may if public intent requires, desig- nate to any person desiring to plant oysters, an area not exceeding two acres in extent." Norwalk, upon receiving the state's instructions, appointed Harry Pennoyer, Burr Nash and David Roberts to designate grounds for the planting of oysters in the Norwalk Harbor. At that time the state considered that two acres of oyster ground was all one man could handle. "For ten years after the passage of the two acre law, cultivation of oyster ground was con- fined to the rivers and harbors of the state and areas inside the Norwalk Islands," according to James Bogart, formerly engineer of the Connecticut Shellfish Commission, in an ar- ticle on the oyster industry in this state, published in the 5th annual report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 1889. The report was republished in the Conn. Public Documents, 1910.
In 1864, property in the claims set out in accordance with the provisions of the acts of 1855 and 1864 was made liable to assessment and taxation in the towns where such claims were situated, in the same manner as other property. In 1865 offshore planting in 20 to 25 feet of water, at low water began between Fish Island and the Norwalk islands. In 1870, planting offshore in 30 feet and over began outside the Norwalk Islands and was followed a few years later by deep water planting outside of New Haven Harbor. Norwalk led the entire country in deep water experiments. Up to this time none of the oyster owners had even consid- ered the planting of young oysters on the offshore grounds, partly because it was not thought the embryo oysters could live in the rougher water; partly because the planters feared the hoards of starfish which abounded on the floor of the Sound, at a distance from shore; and partly because few knew or understood just how much of the Sound belonged to Connecticut and how much belonged to New York.
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NORWALK USES STEAM FIRST
To Norwalk, Connecticut, in the year 1874, goes the honor of having introduced steam into the oyster industry and of having set an example which the rest of the world quickly followed. Many sorts of sails and ships had pre- ceded steam, including canoes, rowboats, sharpies, sloops, scows and schooners. In the heyday of the oyster industry Norwalk had one of the largest fleets of oyster boats in the state. The sharpie, said to have been originated by the fishermen of this state, was admirably adapted to the oyster business. It had a sharp bow and a broad flat bottom and was able to carry a large cargo on a very light draft, an important feature in the oyster boat then, as it was thus able to pass safely over the scarcely submerged oyster beds. Captain George N. Warren had one of the largest sharpies in Norwalk, named after himself.
Scows were found in Norwalk in good numbers. Many of them used to anchor down in the Ware Creek below the Nash Engineering plant on the Wilson Point road. Captain Augustus Raymond had one of the biggest.
Captain Peter Decker, founder of the Peter Decker Oys- ter Co., on Cove ave., sold two years ago, and uncle of the late David B. Decker, pioneer in the oyster industry in Nor- walk, was the originator of the use of steam in the oyster business in this country. In spite of the jeers and gibes of his friends and fellow-oystermen, he tried out his idea in his little sloop "Early Bird" and achieved success. Captain Decker under date of December 10, 1881, wrote the fol- lowing letter to the "Sea World" in answer to an inquiry concerning the introduction of steam into the oyster business :
"I put steam power in my sloop for the purpose of towing and hauling my oyster dredges in March, 1874, and found her capacity for catching oysters augmented about ten times without increasing her working expenses. In 1876, a boat for the same purpose was built at City Island, New York, and in 1877, another at Norwalk, making three all told and now I can count twelve in active operation and several in
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process of construction. I have 56 acres of hard bottom oyster ground which I was unable to use owing to its being infested with starfish, and I could not keep them off until I put steam in my boat; then I cleaned them all away, and in doing so, I cleaned the bottom to such an extent that it received the young oyster spat, and now the ground is cov- ered with oysters and free from starfish.
"When I commenced to rig my sloop into a steamer, the rest of the oystermen laughed at me and said I was a fool; but after they found that I could catch more oysters than they could, they went to the legislature and had a law passed to prohibit steam dredging on natural beds. But instead of destroying, I claim that the use of steamers will create natural beds, which I think I have fully demonstrated by cultivating the 56 acres of ground mentioned above."
After Captain Decker and his brother commenced to use steam dredgers on the oyster beds, a number of state laws were passed concerning such dredging on the natural beds. One permitted "steamers" to dredge two days a week. In 1883, all dredging by steam on the natural oyster beds was prohibited, although it was still permitted on the privately owned beds. The "Early Bird," Norwalk's first oyster steamboat, was 31.4 feet long, 13 feet beam and 3.4 feet deep. She weighed 7.08 tons. After serving 17 years in the oyster industry, the boat was accidentally burned in January, 1889. The transition of Captain Decker's "Early Bird" from a sail to a steamboat, did not take place over night; it was a gradual process. In the beginning, a boiler and an engine were placed in the sloop to turn the drums on which the dredge lines were hauled, the sails being still depended on to propel the vessel.
Later, the captain made an additional improvement by attaching a small screw to his sloop, thus obtaining auxiliary steam power to assist in propelling the vessel when the wind was light. Afterwards Captain Decker and his brother put a larger boiler and a more powerful engine into their vessel and depended on steam altogether. The mast, bowsprit and
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sails were removed. By the new arrangement the boat could haul two dredges at once taking up from 150 to 200 bushels of oysters per day.
When the other oystermen noted how successful Captain Decker had become in the oyster business, through the use of steam, they commenced to take a strong interest in the idea. Captain Danny Hoyt was one of the earliest to follow Decker's example in Norwalk and he installed steam power in his boat for work on his grounds in the vicinity of Pilot Island. Incidentally, to Captain Hoyt is said to belong the honor of having invented the special safety catch for raising and lowering windows, found on most of the present day railroad trains.
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