THE OYSTER-INDUSTRY. 155 



mimber of bushels or gallons, counting 300,000,000 oysters. This would require each inhabitant to eat about six 

 per week the year round, or a dozen jier week for half the year. A single "slew" would include this number ; and 

 for the few who would not find ui)on their tables one mess of stewed or otherwise cooked oysters in a week, I believe 

 there are many who would see them in some shape every other day for six or eighl months, especially among the 

 working classes. 



Efforts at Packijjg: Shucking: Shipping. — It has been found that the extraordinary advantage which 

 Baltimore enjoys in that direction, has made it useless for Philadelphia to attempt to compete in the packing-trade. 

 The few attempts that have been made have all met with ill-success. Some fresh oysters are canned here, however, 

 and sent out, chielly to near neighborhoods. There is not enough of this done, however, to furnish employment to 

 more than 50 shuckers among the whole shipping-trade of the city. These are mostly whites, and perhaps half of 

 them are married. They come from the most ignorant laborers, and are reckless in beha\ ior. Some are hired by 

 the week at $10, others prefer to work by the piece, and receive 60 cents a thousand. 



The fresh oysters shipped are sent mainly in wooden " buckets" of variable capacity, but often holding several 

 gallons, a large piece of ice being thrown into the oysters and the cover locked. 



In addition to this there is some shipping of Maryland stock, opened at Seaford, Crisfield, etc., in sealed tins. 

 These are square c^ins, holding- one or two " quarts ", but the measure is somewliat short. They are filled with 

 four-fifths of solid oysters and one-flfth pure water. A " case" of these cans may hold two or four dozen. The 

 cans are not manufactured in Philadelphia, but in Baltimore, where the large local demand' enables them to be 

 made from one-half to three-fourths of a cent cheaiier than elsewhere. 



Wholesale trade. — The total wholesale trade of Philadelphia is now divided, so far as can be ascertained, 

 among about 50 firms, which, if all dealt alike, would give to each a business of about $G0,000 yearly. Of course 

 there is no such equality. Most of these dealers are also planters, furnishing the capital with which their boats, 

 registered in New' Jersey and Delaware waters, and manned by crews, residents of those states, plant upon ground 

 outside of Pennsylvania's waters, and consequently held iu some other name than that of their actual owners and 

 operators. A large part of all the floating and shore-property credited to the shores of Delaware bay, and estimated 

 in the preceding chapter, is really owned, therefore, iu Philadelphia. To separate from this inter-state and 

 partnership aggregate the capital invested by the oyster-dealers of Philadelphia, becomes as great a problem, 

 therefore, as in New York. Some elements for the calculation appear in the following items : 



Value of wharf-property devoted to oyster- vessels, exclusively, about $400,000 



Value of shells and shore-property 100,000 



Value of perhaps SoO vessels, etc 300. 000 



Floating capital 400,000 



But all these are hardly more than guesses, and it is out of the question, under the circumstances, to separate 

 the oysters idanted by Philadelphia capital from those outside of it, I suppose. It is perhajjS safe to say, roundly, 

 that in the city of Philadelphia a million dollars are concerned in the oyster-business, outside of the estimates of 

 values already credited to New Jersey and Delaware. Of this sum about $-100,000 consists of outstanding credits 

 and the baidc balances needful to be maintained by the dealers. 



The fifty firms represent about 75 members. Each may be said to employ an average of five men as clerks, 

 teamsters, and porters, amounting to 250 in all. To this again must be added the 50 shuckers heretofore spoken 

 of, making a total of 375 men, representing from 300 to 350 families, finding their supi)ort out of the wholesale 

 handling of oysters alone in the city. 



Eetail trade. — As to the number supjiorted by the retail trade, that can be approximated with even less 

 exactness. The latest business directory of the city gives: hotels, 150; oyster-houses, 370; restaiu-ants, 441; 

 lager beer saloons, 1,452. 



Supposing we say, that in order to meet the demands of the guests for oysters, cooked or raw, these establish- 

 ments find it necessary to emi^loy extra help as follows : 



150 hotels, 2 persons each 300 



37(i oyster-houses, 5 persons each 1,880 



441 restaurants, 1 person each 441 



1,452 lager beer saloons, one-half person e.ach - 721 



Total 3,342 



Add peddlers aud curbstone-stands, 158 158 



3, r,oo 

 Many of these 3, .500 persons are women and children, some of whom, nevertheless, assist in supjiorting others 

 than themselves. In other cases various duties are combined with the service of oysters. But I think it within 

 bounds to estimate 3,000 families maintained by this retail industry. 



Dealings in oysters in Philadelphia are chielly carried on at the foot of Spruce street, at the foot of Vine street, 

 and at the Brown street wharves. In each case the locality is determined by the presence of a large provision- 

 market, and the business in general fishing centers near it. At Brown street there is an association of the owners 

 of boats selling there for mutual protection on questions of wharfage and the like. Most of the business is done at 

 Spruce street, where the Jersey boats chiefly go, aud where some of the heaviest dealers have their offices. 



