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TERRAPIN ARE SCARCE,
THE CATCH OF DIAMOND BACKS
GROWING SMALLER DAILY.
Fish Commissioner Bowers Declares
the Species Must Eventually Be
come Exterminated Without Radi
cal Measures Are Adopted.
In his annual repor: Fish Commis
‘sioner Bowers calls attention to the
growing scareity of the diamond back
ed terrapin, and declares that the
species must eventually become ex
terminated if present methods of the
industry continue, or if no steps-are
taken to arrest the decline by cuiti
vation. For years the Chesapeake
Bay has been the most productive re
gion of this high priced and much
"Sought delicacy. Statistics of the
catch in that region, therefore, will
give a pretty good idea of the rapid
decline in the industry. In 1901, for
instance, the catch of terrapin in
Maryland’s part‘ of the bay was only
one-sixtieth of the quantity and one
twentieth of the value of the catch of
1891. In that portion of the bay be
longing to Virginia the catch in 1901
was one-tenth the quantity and one
thirtieth the value of that in 1891.
This decrease has in part been
made geod by the importation of ter
rapin from the South Atlantic and
Gulf States, and has. therefore, not
had the effect on prices that might
otherwise have been expected.
Though the more Southern terrapin
is inferior to the Chesapeake Bay
variety it becomes a fair substitute
on being kept awhile in pounds before
being shipped to market.
‘The Commission is now maxing a
study of the diamond back terrapin
of the Chesapeake Bay region with a
view' to ascertaining the extent and
causes of the decrease, the laws reg
ulating terrapin fishing and the like.
Incidental to this investigation into
the extent and causes of the decrease
of the terrapin special attenticn is
directed to those points in the natural
history of the species which bear on
the question of artificial rearing, and
a series of experiments has becn in
augurated directed to this phase of
the subject.
The most notable of these are 'ex
perimentil pounds on the Choptank
River, Maryland, laboratory and in-
Ty stigatif,ns 5t Beanfort. N. €. At
't{:ee lattez‘- place the terrapin are kiept
under the constant observation of
scientists employed in the laboratory,
and a careful study of their growth,
breeding!Labits and the like is made.
Also here in Washington the Commis
sion has men making a systematic
study of terrapin brought together
from Delaware, Maryland, Virginia,
Nerth Carolina, Florida,” Mississippi,
Louisiana and Texas, in order to de
termine the specific or varietal differ
ences. All these investigations and
experiments were commenced in 1902,
but the final report on them will not
be made up until the end of the pres
ent season, by which time it is hoped
a practicable method of cultivation
may have been developed.
Inquirigs and experiments of much
the same nature are being made with
reference to the oyster, the lobster
and the blue crab. Experiments in
the hatching and rearing of lobsters
are conducted at the Woods Hole,
Mass., station, and a final and com
plete report on them will soon be
made by those in charge. Also the
Commission is having a handbook
prepared giving information -regarding
the habits, growth and rearing of
lobsters, as well as the method and
extent of the lobster fisheries. Touch
ing thess the reports says:
“The condition of the lobster fish
ery has been practically unchanged
for several years, although it cannot
be doubted that the tendency is
downward. The catch fluctuated some
what from year to year and certain lo
calities may show a decided increase;
but if the general output in a State
is greater in one year than another
the cause may usually be found in
the fact that the fishery was prose-
cuted for a longer time or that more
men and more apparatus were em
ployed.” .
- It seems very improbable that
there will be any general improve
ment in the fishery until new methods
of conducting it are adopted and shall
have continued for a number of years.
Uniform protective laws are greatly
needed, and without them the work
of the Commission in lobster cultiva- ‘
tion will have but little effect at this
stage of the decline. |
From data collected by- the Com
mission it appears that there are at
this time about 213,000 men engaged ‘
in the fishing industry in this coun
try, of whom 155,000- are fishermen.
The aggregate capital invested is
$76,850,000, of which about ome-caird
represents vessels and boats of all
ing. Squarely in the midle of the
gsorts and apparatus of capture. The
value of the catch at first hands is
estimated at $49,882,000, of which the
ocean and coast fisheries represent
$44,964,000.
The ocean fisheries of New Eng
land, which have always been the
most important of their class, have
been in a satisfactory condition. At
the two great ports of Gloucester and
Boston the -quantity of fish landed by
American fishing vessels in 1902 was
about 168,000,000 pounds, valued at
$4,380,000, an increasge of 17,000,000
pounds and $130,000, as compared
with 1901.
The mackerel catch has never since
reached the proportions attained in
the years preceding 1887 although the
report shows it to be now greatly in
excess of the product during the first
half of the present period of unprec
‘edented scarcity. Commissioner Bow
ers says the tendency of late has been
upward, and it is believed that in a
comparatively few year the mackerel
will have again becom: abundant on
our shores. YR
Of the culture of cod in the Atlantic
coast the report says the Commis
sion’s ‘“expectations have been more
than realized. Practical results of
-an unmistakable character were first
manifested in 1889, since which time
a very lucrative shore cod fishery has
been kept up on grounds that were
entirely depleted or that had never
contained cod in noteworthy numbers
in the memory of the oldest inhabi
tants.
During ‘the last year the Commis:
sion has distributed in New England
streams and lakes great numbers of
land locked salmon, c¢od, lobsters,
crapple, flatfish, sea bass, mackerel,
scup and tautog. The cultivation of
the last four named had not been pre
viously carried on to any considerable
extent. Experiments with them, as
well as with the land locked salmon,
will therefore be closely watched dur
ing the next few years.
Moscow and Dalny.
The destruction, of Dalny, however,
is rather a different matter from the
destruction of Moscow. The latter act
left the greatr Napoleon, in the midst®
of an enemy’s country, far {from
home with nothing to relieve the dis”
tress of his army. Here the condi
tions are reversed. It is the Russians
‘who are far from home while the‘
en=my is comparatively near its base
of operaticons. Its policy is also dif
ferent from that of its huge antago
nist. Up to date it has shown no dis
position to burn its bridges. Making
Dalny useless for its immediate pur
pose may be temporary obstruction
and embarrassment, but hardly a se
rious discouragement. The quick
moving and resourceful Jap if he can
not find a way generally makes one.
If docks and piers are denied him he
can wade ashore through the eél
grass almost anywhere along the
coast.—Boston Transcript.
paid off his debt to 98. Thus one
small cent paid up a total debt of
seven cents. Who lost by the trans
action >—Philadelphia Press.
Coarze hats are to be had, thovgh
they are not over-coarse.
ing Old A
Concealing ge.
B Ja e Meredith. .
\NE of the precious lost arts of our time is the art of growing old
{ gracefully.
This iz particularly true of women with wtom the cult of
fl{illl!}"- ! youth has become more than a fad. It i 3 an obsession that fllls‘
(";:;po,:l'f); their waking thcughts and nightly dreams. L
Gl eR LS Every woman you know past thirty has but one _plll'DOSv i
life, and that is to keep.young. Every paper you pick up bas
columus and pages devoted. to telling its feminine readers how to massage
away wrinkles, and obliterate triple chias, and avoid gray hair.
tvery woman you meet spends hours in the privacy of her apartment hop
ping around on one foot, or tying herself up in figures of eight, in a vain
attempt to preserve the waist measure of eighteen and the lissome graces of
her vaaished girlhood.
: Beyond thirty the entire feminine population consists of a vast army of
Ponce de Leons engaged in a frantic, nerve-wearing, heart-breaking gearch for
the fountain of perpetual youth.
They do ot find it, of course. They find the peroxide bottle, and the
complexion specialist, and the stay-maker, that for a time seem a substitute
for the thing they seek, and they cry out that they have found it, and that
there are no more old women.
In a way this is true. There are no more women who are frankly Aand
serenely old, who have accepted age graciously and without regret, and who
are enjoying the calm twilight of existence that is, perhaps, the most beautiful
part of life, as it is the most beautiful part of the day.
There are not even any old women’s fashions in our stores, or any old
ladies’ corners in our houszehold. Grand mama wears a picture hat covered with
as many flowers and feathers and furbelows as her debutante grand-daughter,
Nowhere does the make-believe young womaa flourish so plentifully as
right here in New York. Ride on any car, sit in any theatre, dine at any
restaurant and you may see her cn every side of you with her wrinkles fiiled
in with powder, her faded old cheeks painted vermilion, her scanty old eye
‘brows peaciled into the proper line, her dim old eyes looking all the dimmer
under the elaborate gold or bronze of her faise hair, her avoirdupois laced
into the tightness of a youthful gown, or tte bones of her scraggy neck show
ing under strings of jewels.
Women regard growing old as the greatest curse that can befall them, but
this is only because they meake it so.
All of us have known briliaat and beautiful young women, but when we
think of the most attractive woman we have aver known, the tenderest and
the most lovable, and the one whose charms abided with us longest, it is of
some old woman with snowy hair, and peaceful eyes, wise and gracious in
speech aad mannear, and into whose presence it was a rest and a benediction
to come.
It is a great art for a woman to l2arn to keep young, bnut it is the greatest
art of all to learn to grow old gracefuliy.—New York American,
M ind Intell
orals Behind Intellect.
By the Rev. Dr. N. D. Hillis. .
\HE method of testing whether a nation is waxing or waniag in
manheood is a simp’e mcthod. God says that a nation piles up the
clouds of a cominz storm. Not simply is it a sign of individu'c}i.
: 8 ecclesiastical and national decay for a people to emphasize things
, and forget men, but a’so when the scholarship of the mihnal and
00l intollect i 3 far ciiead of the morals of the heart and conscience.
Wea kaow much about cocaine, morphine and opivm, but when
a druggist telis us that he ¢£:'ls $3OO worth of cocaine and morphine to women
eévery month, we would trade off half our knowledge of pature for obedience
to the laws of nature.
In 1849 Carlyle stood up azd hurled thunderbolts at England’s economic
system. Englaad scoffed at him. .He said that they were making men into
industrial machines; that they had forgotten the necessity of strcn.gth. GQ to
England to-day, up in thoze counties where Carlyle deiivered l-us' warning.
Four years ago England was involved in a war. She opened enl'lstmg offices
in Birmingham and Sheffield and Ileeds. Only one man in six was long
enough and broad enough to meet the military requirements. The whole cen
tral populaticn of England are feeblings. They have white blood corpuscles
instead of red.
Parliament appointed a comm'tice of investigation. They returned the
verdict that England in making cotton had destroyed the mea. Thus Eng
land was destroying herself. In a nation where four generations ago it was
regarded as a disgrace for an Eng.’shman or 2 Scotchman to beg for bread,
now 4,000,000 out of 33,000,000 stani in line for public crarity to the pauper.
In three generations more, since th 2 poor reproduce rapidly, you will have
what has happened in Ireland, an:l lEngz.and’s 4,000,000 paupers will become
16,000,000. :
There was a day wien one coiloie man out of every five went into tha
Christian miaistry. In this age only cne cut of every 250 think of it. In this
church you haven’t a single boy in one of your families who is pursuing a
course for the Christian ministry.
¥ W
5
Mysteries of Nature
4 'fi& : ur \s? ©
By John Burroughs,. v
gy )V does the balb of the common lawn-lily get deeper and deeper
. ( ’ # into the ground each year? Why does the -ginger-root hide its
4 § blossoms when nearly all other p'ants flaunt theirs? Why do the
pmrarEd 100 Ls of trees flow through the grouad like “runnels of molten
@C&xfg metal,” coftean serparating gud uniting again, whiie the branches
RN ARy are thrust out in right lines or curves? Why is our common
yellow birch more ofien than any other tree planted upon a rock?
Why do caks or chestnuts so oftea spring up where a pine of hemlock forest
hes been cleared away? Whay does lightning so commonly strike a hemlock
tree or a pine or an oak, and rarely or never & heech? Why does the bolt some
times scatter the tree*about, and at others only plough a channel down its
trunk? Why does the bumbie-bee complain so loudiy whea working upon
cert2'n flowers? Why dces the honey-bee lose the sting when it stings a per
son, while the wazp, the hornest and the bumble-bee do not? How does the
chimney swallow.get the twigs it baiilds its nest with? From what does the
hornet make its paper?
I have never been greatly inter=szted in spiders, but I have always wanted
to know how a certain spider managed to stretch her cable squarely across the
road in the woods, abeut my height from the ground.—Country Life in America,