Newspapers / Carteret County News-Times (Morehead … / Oct. 11, 1955, edition 3 / Page 1
Part of Carteret County News-Times (Morehead City, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Shrill Steam Toot Called Workers to Canning Plant Albert Lea Liked Morehead City, Went in Business Have you ever visited a place, liked it so well and found the peo ple so friendly that you just felt like packing up and moving there? Did you do it? Well, Albert Lea of Morehead City did just that eight years ago. Having gone to Carteret County for the first time on a short visit, it took him just two weeks to settle his affairs in Pender County and go to Morehead City to stay. Today he cails Morehead his home and, he can arrange it, it will continue to be. Mr. Lea owns a wholesale fish house in the 500 block of Evans Street. He found a good friend in Capt. Tony Seamon on his initial trip here and Captain Tony was, according to Mr. Lea, helpful in getting him started in business. For the first year, Lea's estab lishment was located in Tony's fish house, a half block from his pres ent location, but within a year both businesses, feeling severe growing pains, Mr. Lea moved into tht place vacated by Capt. Charlie Toison, who was retiring from the fish business. Several Interests Mr. Lea s business interests in Hampstead, his birthplace, included farming, a restaurant business, and a tourist court. His father, Hamp Lea, was and is in the fish business and young Albert, perhaps, ac quired his interest in the trade from working with his father dur ing his youth. Ever mindful of new develop ments and new opportunities in business, Mr Lea is an officer in the newly-formed Seashore Pack ing Co. He also will operate this fall during the shrimp season in McClellansville, S. C., about 20 mites norfh of Charleston. He says that the only disadvan tage to such an expansion is that it may become necessary for him to spend several months away from Morehead. Three Children ? A mettber of the First Methodist Church, Mr. Lea is married to the former Mary Yopp of Wilmington. They have three children, Carolyn, Albert Jr., and John Hampton. \ veteran employee, Alton Wil lis, manages Lea's fish house at Harkers Island and has been with the company since its organization eight years ago. Pigeons Served As Fleet 'Radio' Carrier pigeons were the first "radios" of fishing fleets. The trawlers operated by large com panies in England always took a crate of carrier pigeons to sea with them. When the boat was full and the vessel was ready to return home, the skipper of the boat would send the owner a message by carrier pigeon telling hira what the cargo consisted of, how much there was of it and approximately when he would get home. This enabled the owner to dis pose of his fish well In advance at fancy prices. Owners of small schooners in America during the middle 10th century employed the same means of communication. Their boats plied between the Eastern United States and the West Indies. It was customary to send pigeens home after the departure of the vessel to keep the owner informed a* to its whereabout*. After the boat was loaded in the West Indies, the skipper would send s message to the owner, tell ing Mm what the cargo consisted of, the snticipated time of depar ture and arrival, and the prevailing prices of materials in the West Indies. ? When the whistle on the Taylor Brothers Canning Factory shrilled in the brisk early morning air, Carteret County folks at Wit, now known as Sea Level, knew that oysters were cooking in the huge steam box and soon there would be work aplenty for the shuckers. Founded in 1910, the factory op crated for 20 years, closing down in 1930. From 7 in the morning until 5:30 in the afternoon the agile fingers of the shuckers flew, making difficult the job of those who removed by wheelbarrow the empty shells. The factory was owned and op erated by Valentine Taylor and Maltby Taylor. Valentine was the father of Harrell Taylor who now operates a general store and whole sale fish business near the old factory site. Maltby is the father of the "Tay lor Brothers of Sea Level" who with their father formed the Taylor Foundation and built the Sea Level Community Hospital. Oyster Chief Product Valentine was the manager of the factory, which employed from 75 to 100 workers. The chief pro duct of the firm was canned oys ters, and in the days when oysters were much more plentiful than they are today, it was not unusual for the day's output to reach 400 cases, each case consisting of 24 cans. The shuckers were able to handle 1,200 to 1,400 tubs of the shellfish daily, each tub holding five pecks. A mute testimonial to the pro ductivity of the factory was the huge pile of oyster shells which completely shut out the view of Core Banks from Harrell Taylor's store. The pile was as much as 30 feet high in places. The big steam box in the factory held three cars of oysters, each car having a capacity of 15 tubs. Clayton Salter, an employee of the plant for many years, remembers starting work many mornings at 4 when he was charged with fir ing the boilers and getting up the steam for the day's operations. For a day's labor, beginning at 4 a.m. and ending at perhaps 6 p.m., he was paid $4 daily, a much higher wage than the average worker re ceived. The shuckers were paid 10 cent* for every seven pound cup which they filled, such a cup holding about a gallon of oysters. A good shucker could often fill JO cupa per day H the oysters were fair size. After the oysters were steamed and shucked, they were refcashed and salt brine added. Then they were put into cans and capped, a process done first by hand and later by machine. After canning, they were cooked under pressure There was no difficulty in get ting oysters for the operation. In ' they came ? from Pamlico Sound, the Neusc, Portsmouth, Drum Shoal. The boats which dredged for them were sailing vessels, known as sharpies. Each boat used two dredges, one on each side. At first wound by hand, the dredges were later pulled by gasoline winders. Clam Juke Canned An off-season operation for the company was the canning of clams ' and clam juice during the summer when oysters were out of season. The legend on old can labels still in the possession of Harrell Tay lor, last survivor of the line of Valentine Taylor, reads as follows: "Pure Clam Juice . . . little neck hard clam Juice . . makea a very nice soup, is good for Dyspepsia, Billiousness. and is an excellent appetizer. Guaranteed under the Food and Drugs Act, June 30, 1906." A galvanized trough, running under the steam chest, caught the [ juice from the clams as they popped open, and conveyed the liquid off to be canned. For several summers a man named Doxsee from Florida rented the plant to can clams and clam : juice. Plant Cloaca The decreasing number of oys- ' ters, the coming of the depression, and the growing competition of , the Gulf Coast packing plants fi nally closed the doors of the Tay lor Brothers Factory. When the plant ceased opera ?lions about 1(30, portions of the^ This picture, taken quite a few years ago, shows a final] building In left background, which was the packing room of the factory. Just to the right waa the ateam box. rhe long pier extending to the fac tory wai removed when the basin was dredged to ( feet about 11 yeara ago. HmtcII Taylor, wfaoM father Vllmtluc, was part owner W 41m factory ImMi two relics. In his right hand is Ike steam wMMe, slightly rusty hut still twuMf. His left hand rests on a 7 pound measure which held a gallon of oyster*. , factory remained standing for some time. The huge shell pile remained a long time and waj? partly re moved by the WPA during the early 1930's. In cooperation with the state Department of Conservation and Development, the federal agency bought 114,000 bushels of the shells arid placed them back on oyster bottoms for the "spats," or young oysters, to grow on. Today, only a small pile of shells reminds visitors to Sea Level of the once-busy factory where juicy Tar Heel oysters and vitalising clam juice were packed for un fortunate "uplanders" to enjoy. Trawling Started In USA in 1904 Trawling was started in this country in 1904 by the newly-or ganized Bay State Fishing Co. of Boston, Mass. The practice was copied from England and the first boat in this country was the steam propelled Spray which was built after the pattern of the English trawlers. The nets on the Spray were im ported from England, since ao one in this country had ever seen a trawl or knew how to operate one. Prior to the construction and use of the Spray, fishing out of New England was done entirely by the long line seines, and pounds. la a few years, trawling had taken ovar and today all ahrlmp and bottom dwelling fish, except halibut, are taken by trawls. Belhaven Figures In Oyster History Belhaven. North Carolina, at one lime was the lecond largest oystcr produeing town in the United States, being out-ranked only by Crisfield, Maryland, the largest oyster-producing town which haa ever existed. Five large steam and raw plants stretched for one mile along the Belhaven waterfront. When all the boats were in, people could almost walk across half-mile-wide Pantego Creek, stepping from boat to boat. The Booth plant production was large enough for the Norfolk and Southern Railroad to run a spur track into the plant to take away the oysters. About 800 peo ple were employed in shucking and miscellaneous laor. Only local help was hirtd All the management for these plants came from the north, some from Connecticut, some from Bal timore and some from New Jersey. Mattamuskeet Wai Once Part of Currituck County Mattamuskeet and the lake of that name was formerly a part of Currituck County. The citiiens traveled 100 miles to get to court or to transact legal business. Ac cording to the early reports the way was haiardous and dangerous. The General Assembly In 1748 annexed Mattamuskeet and the lake by that name to Hyde Courity. NFI President Relates How To Up Sales Francis W. Taylor Says Bottor Handling Makes Fish Food Attractive New ind better ways of handling fish and shellfish are making these products more attractive as con venience foods to the American people, Francis William Taylor, of Pensacola, Fla , declared on his election as president of the Na tional Fisheries Institute at New Orleans recently. 'The housewife can look to fish products as a convenience food, just as she does with other new food products." Mr. Taylor said. "Research has played an im portant part in improving the handling, processing and distribut ing of our products, and the work of developing still better methods is going forward rapidly. "The phenomenal acceptance of fish sticks ia but one example of this," he commented. As another example of this trend, Mr. Taylor pointed out. his own firm, the Warren Fish Co., of Pensacola, is now working on a new process of using salt ice t <r refrigerate fish at the point of catch. This process consists of pre serving the fish in ice made of 3 per cent salt water. Mr. Taylor pointed to the con tinuing increased consumption of fish and shellfish products in the United States as an indication of the growing acceptance of these products for everyday use in the American home. Americans con sumed an additional third of a pound of fish in 1954 over 1933, he said, bringing the average to 11.1 pounds per capita. The education of young people to like fish and cat it frequently has been one of the outstanding aspects of fish consumption in re cent years. Mr. Taylor said, attri buting much credit for this to the use of fish products in the school lunch program. William Way Continues Firm Started by Father The history of the Way Brothers Co., Mt wholesale and retail flth house on Front Street, Beaufort, reaches more than 40 years back in to the annals of the county. Now owned and operated by William Way, the company was founded by liis father, Brady C. Way, born in Marshailbcrg in 1877. The elder Way, who had op erated fish houses in Morehead City, Norfolk, and Elizabeth City, returned to Beaufort and re-estab ished the firm of Way Brothers, which he and his brother B. P. Way had earlier set up in More head City. William is the only son of three who has remained in the family business which he took over when his father died in 193S. The other brothers are Dr. John Way, Beau fort, and Dr. Sam Way, Rocky Mount. There are also two sisters, Mrs. Varena Way Glenn, a teacher in Morehead City, and Mrs. Elinore Way Moore of Wilson. Their mother, the former Miss Minnie Gillikin of Marshailbcrg, lives in Beaufort. Mr. Way owns the 43-foot shrimp trawl Johnnie and Elinore, skipper ed by Charlie Owens of Beaufort Hurricane Haxel coat him his 44 foot buy boat, the Varena Callo, last October. Mr. Way Is a veteran of almost four years' service with the Navy during World W?r II. Discharged with the rate of first class boat swain'a mate, he saw action in the Pacific aboard an LST in the in- 1 vasions of Mindinao and Borneo. He is also president and manager of the Beaufort Ice Co. 4? Yean As*. The first North Carolina Fish- ' erles Association was organized at ( New Bern in 1900 at the Fiaheries , Convention held In that city at that time. Representatives from all ! over the state attended. pSni TAYLOR Bros. FIRST quality T| little Vc: H?rt run Juice " ThC'IOOC. ?HO 0?i)< *CT, ThU h ? repro duction of the ao tail label put ? round clam lair* , cam leaving the Taylar Canning Ce. H was af bright colon ? red, Mae, green, orange, yel low and only the boaket holding the , cUrm waa brown. At boat pit tied . a* the label waa the type af craft ?nd early Hi rhh century to dredge far dhaUflak. Regulation of Fishing Here Began in Late 18th Century By ERIC W. RODGERS (8PKCIAL TO THK NEWft-TlMKM) Assistant to the Director Department of Conservation and Development In Volume I oi 'The Public Acts of the General Assembly of North Carolina," there is recorded an act to provide for the laying off of rivers for the protection of fish, the furtherance of navigation and in order to give the adjoin ing property owners the full bene fit of their riparian rights. This act appears to have been passed at New Bern on Oct. 22, 1784, and is one of the earliest, hud perhaps the first, commercial fishing law adopted by the State of North Carolina. It placed the authority in the hands of county commissioners to divide the streams, determine where dams, bridges and ferries should be es tablished and to lay off the river in such a manner that the one fourth comprising the channel would be left open and three fourths would go to the property owners on either side. Those who violated the law and blocked the stream with any ille gal nets, hedges, dams or other incumbrances could be hailed into court and required to pay five pounds (in that day about $24) for every 24 hours that they kept the stream blocked. One half of the penalty would be given to the per son reporting the violation and the other half would go to the county. Penalty Was Severe Apparently even in that early : day the citizens thought highly of the right to use the rivers for purposes of navigation and for the taking of fish. A penalty of $24 a day was, to say the least, a severe penalty; much more severe, com paratively speaking, than the pen alties now provided for violation of commercial fishing laws and regulations. Since the passage of this first law thousands of laws and regula tions have been adopted by the North Carolina General Assembly and the various commissions charged with regulating fishing and controlling the streams. Many of these have long since been out moded and done away wtih, and a great number oi them were local i acts passed at the instigation of iso- ? lated groups. In many cases these local fishing laws and regulations have proved throughout the years to be detri mental to the program for estab lishing general laws dealing with ill phue* of fishing and applicable to all commercial fishing areas People thought aomething of pure water and in abundance of fish in those days. In his "History of the Dividing Line" between Virginia and North Carolina Wil liam Byrd of Virginia spoke of the fine pure water which he found in the upper Roanoke River when he re?ched the vicinity of Weldon. and also told of the great schools of rockfish which he saw at that point. Apparently he got to the area with his party of engineers at the early spring season when the rockfish were spawning. This was about 1735. In 1823 the first ical supervision over water resources, including fish, was undertaken when the of fice of the State Geologist was created. In 1877 the Board of Ag riculture was set up and was given general supervision over the fish eries of the State. In 1887 the of fice of Shellfish Commissioner was set up as a branch of the Depart ment of Agriculture. The Shellfish Commission was replaced in 1895 by a Chief Inspec tor of Shellfish. In 1901 an Oyster Commissioner was appointed, and in 1919 the Fisheries Commission came into being. In 1927 this group was merged into the Board of Con servation and Development as the Division of Commercial Fisheries. Today's Program In recent years the program in the Division ot Commercial Fish eries has been to do away with as many regulations as possible so as lo make the occupation more feas ible for a greater number of per sons. The realization has come that Ihe only regulations which should be adopted are those which appear lo be constructive in nature and promote the cause of conservation and greater development of the fisheries industry. Because of the varied interests of those who follow fishing, speak ing generally, as a vocation and also because of the physical aspects of the North Carolina coast, it is hard to have regulations which do not sometimes affect certain groups adversely while they benefit others. This is the great difficulty in the passage and enforcement of the regulations and laws, and only through the wholehearted coopera tion of the fishermen themselves can the program intended for their awn good be carried out success fully. For Instance, what is of benefit to the oysterman sometimes ad versely affects the interests of the shrimpers, and what is beneficial to the shrimpers somclinlea is Man Finds Varied Uses For Shells, Even as Horn W. A. Ellison Jr. . . . how to blow It State Passed Law On Fish Packing The state specified how fiah should be packed back in 1784. An ?ct paaaed by the North Carolina General Assembly In 1784 reads, "And be it further enacted by the authority aforeaaid, That all fiah hereafter to be exported from thla state shall be packed in good and sufficient barrels, and ahall be in spected by the inspector of the county where the same may be saved at the time of shipping the same. ' "And where the barrels shall ap pear to be good and full of good sound fish, by the best informa tion the inspector can make by examining or broaching or other wise, the same shall be deemed merchantable on the inspector's marking, branding and ao forth. "Otherwiae, It shall not be lawful lo export any fish from this state; ?ny law, uaage or custom to the contrary notwithstanding." Hatoraak lssl?t An Inlet about where Oregon In let ts today waa known as Hatorask Inlet and la so indicated on the very early ma pa of the state of North Carolina, then known aa Vir ginia. On the same mapa. there la sn un-nsmed Inlet which appears north of Ocracoke Island about where the praeeot Hatter aa Inlet to. (Editor's Note: The following i story is reprinted from THE NEWS-TIMES commercial fishing edition of Nov. 10, 1950). Sea shells, one-time homes of creatures of the sea, have been put to varied uses by man. Today they are popular as ornaments for mi lady. such as earrings, pins, and bracelets; they have been lashion ed into lamps, pin cushions, and are continually used as ash trays. Fishermen since the long ago have found that certain types of conch shells make good horns. W. A. Ellison Jr., marketing spe cialist with the State Board of Con servation and Development, has in hii possession such a shell which has been in his family well over ISC years. , He's shown in the ac companying picture blowing it. Used as Slave Horn This shell belonged to Mr. Elli son's great grandfather who lived on the Roanoke River in Martin County. There it was used as "slave horn." When the bell wai rung at the house to call the slaves, it could not be heard In the fields farthest away. So the overseer in the "middle field," who had the shell slung over his shoulder by means of a rope, would blow It to call the slaves "over yonder." Since those days, the shell has been handed down in the family, used as a door stop and, in general, knocked around, but It's Intact, ex cept for one small hole and chipped off points. It'a worn smooth on the under side and has a feeling of creamy ivory. Dogs Harkened to It In Mr. Ellison's possum hunting days he used the horn to call his dogs. Today he can blow a healthy blast on. the thing that would star tle a bridge tender a half mile away into opening the draw in |ig time. Mr. Ellison believes that the shell, common in Florida and tha Bahamas, was probably picked up by his great great grandfather's whooner which would sail to the Caribbean to bring back sugar and broadcloth from the We?t Indies. To make a horn out of this "pink conch," the spire, or end of It ie knocked off. That hole then be comes the mouthpiece and the sound comes out over the lip of the shell. The rope In Mr. Elli son'* slave horn is about two and a half feet long and is fastened through two hole* drilled In the lip. It may not be aa valuable as a Jeweled heirloom but It would take more than money to make its pres ent owner part with it harmful to the man who goes only after the finfiah. Further than that, there are sia clearly defined fishing areas in North Carolina and the problem! and the aeaaona differ to that the general regula tions and lawa must be interpreted with these factors in mind. Sometimes it may appear that the regulations are harmful and the enforcement too strict but it can readily be seen that there ia justification for a law protecting oyster beds from other types of dredging, because the beds might be ruined and the result of years of work on the part of the oyster men destroyed. It is also clear that while the anchoring of nets by buoys on an overnight basis adjacent to chan nels or in shallow water where small vessels may go is a menace to navigation, it may be some ben efit to the particular fishermen who follow this custom Yet this problem has arisen and had to be handled. There arc many other typical cases. Committee's Purpose The purpose of the Commercial Fisheries Committee of the Board of Conservation and Development is to conserve, preserve and pro mote the fishing industry so that it will become of increasing value to the people who follow the sea, and a more important factor in the economic life of North Caro lina. The men on this committee are not infallible but they are all hon est and sincere in the task which they are trying to do. They never make decisions without adequate public hearings where any vital interests are involved and they seek always to decide issues in favor of the greatest number to be benefited. Sometimes the com mercial fiskermcn have protested, as in the recent General Assembly, that they do not have adequate representation on the Board of Conservation and Development. As a matter of fact it has as the chairman of the Commercial Fish eries Committee a man who is himself a fisherman of experience and who comes from a family which followed the same vocation. The economic specialist engaged to promote the fishing industry has had almost a quarter of a cen tury experience in this business on the Atlantic coast. In the administrative office of the Department of Conservation and Development at Raleigh, there is a genuine and sympathetic in terest in the affairs of the com mercial fisherman. It would be Impossible to give every type of Industry in North Carolina repre sentation on the Board of Conser vation and Development for if this were done the board would num ber more than one hundred per sons. There is no industry that is more adequately represented on the Board or in the Department than the commercial fishing industry. Big Industry In closing, it is of interaat to point out the value of the various types of fishing to the fishermen themselves. At the present time more than three thousand men are engaged in commercial fishing alone, as indicated by the licenses issued, and there are a great many other individuals engaged in pro cessing and wholesaling the pro ducts of the sea. The greatest in come is derived from the taking of menhaden for animal feed and such purposes, while the finfiah comes second in value. Next comes shrimping, which has advanced remarkably in recent years, and the oyster takes fourth place, crabbers are in fifth place, clams in sixth, and scallops last. It is the aim of the Commercial Fisheries Division to do every thing possible to increase the value of this industry to the men who take their living from the sea. Early Trawl Caused Concern in England The first recorded charge against trawling was 1376 when a com plaint was entered in the English Houses of Parliament against* the uae of a "wondrous and destruc tive net." The complsint stated that this instrument "destroyed the flowen of the sea, spat of oysters, and mussels, and other fish, and that it caught and killed little fish upon which the great fish feed." A commission was appointed to Investigate this destructive instru ment. The net was found to be 10 feet wide and 18 feet long. It waa actually a beam trawl, not as largo as the try-net used on board to day's shrimp trawlers for sampling the water for the presence of shrimp! This wss nearly 000 years agol Mai* Scahora* Takm Car* of Egg Hatching It is the male sea horse which actually gives birth to the young. When the eggs, which are devel oped in the female, are ready for fertilisation, she tranafers them to the male, who receives them In ? special brood pouch developed tor that purpoee. The male carries the efgi dar ing their incubation period When the little sea horses are hatched they are extruded by the aula.
Carteret County News-Times (Morehead City, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 11, 1955, edition 3
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75