THE SPONGE FISHERY OF FLORIDA IN 1900. 169 



and this place loads m persons cnoag"cd in all branches of the ])usiness, 

 with a total of 1,S2T persons. Tarpon Springs is second, with 35-1. 



An interesting' table is the one showing* the color and nationalit}' of 

 the persons engaged in the l)usinoss. Among the spongers themselves 

 the colored people predominate, there being 1,356 engaged, Avhile the 

 v/hites nmiiber 757. This disproportion is especially high at Ke}^ 

 West. Among persons emploj^ed exclusiveh' on shore the whites 

 predominate, with 119 to 18 colored. Of 2,113 persons employed 

 directly in sponging, 1,268 are British provincials, mosth^ from the 

 Bahamas ; of these, 1,013 are colored. The native-born Americans num- 

 bered 831), of whom 3-13 are colored. One Norwegian and 5 Portu- 

 guese are also engaged in the business. Among the shore employees 

 the native-born Americans lead, with 111, of whom 13 are colored. 

 The British provincials numbered 17, all white. There was also 1 

 Greek. 



In the matter of vessels, boats, apparatus, and shore and accessory 

 propert}", Key West far exceeds all the others combined, with a total 

 investment of $518,932. Tarpon Springs is second, with $65,011, fol- 

 lowed by Apalachicola, with §10,652. The total investment for the 

 lisher}' amounts to $591,598. The Key West fleet shows a niost grati- 

 fying increase since 1895. In the latter year there were 99 vessels of 

 over 5 tons, and 185 vessels under 5 tons measurement hailing from 

 this place, while in 1900 there were 136 vessels of over 5 tons and 183 

 vessels of under 5 tons measurement, a gain of 37 vessels of over 5 

 tons and a loss of 2 vessels under 5 tons. So far as vessels of over 5 tons 

 are concerned. Tarpon Springs has practically held her own, while 

 Apalachicola has dropped oti' considerably, but in the matter of vessels 

 under 5 tons Tarpon Springs has made a considei'able increase. 



Key West leads in the catch of all kinds of sponges with 359,851 

 pounds, valued at $188,711, followed by Tarpon Springs with 53,173 

 pounds, worth $70,320, and Apalachicola with 5,098 pounds, valued at 

 $s,62L. All the glove and velvet sponges were taken by Key West 

 vessels. The total catch amounted to 118,125 pounds, valued at 

 $567,685. 



An interesting feature is the showing of the catch by kinds and 

 grounds. The ''key grounds" were worked exclusively" from Key 

 West and the surrounding keys. The total catch from the ba}^ 

 grounds amounted to 228,161 pounds, valued at $389,890, and for 

 the key grounds 189,661 pounds, worth $177,795. Sheepswool 

 sponges arc more frequent on the "bay grounds" than on the key 

 grounds, while the reverse is the case with yellow sponges. The 

 grass-sponge catch is almost equally divided between the two grounds. 

 Very few glove and velvet sponges are taken on the "bay grounds." 



