222 Our Food Mollusks 



tive of the Chesapeake shore to be " one of the most de- 

 praved bodies of workmen to be found in the country," 

 made good men for the work in hand. 



But the worst feature of the fearful business was the 

 virtual kidnapping of newly arrived and ignorant for- 

 eigners for this killing work. Shipping agents were al- 

 lowed to meet the immigrants in New York and Phila- 

 delphia, and, with promises of pleasant and remunerative 

 employment, lured them to Baltimore in large numbers, 

 and delivered them to dredging captains. There they 

 entered into an abject slavery, from which it was not pos- 

 sible to escape, at least until the end of the voyage. The 

 work was cruelly hard, being chiefly at the windlasses 

 used in drawing the heavy dredges, and in culling the 

 loads that were dumped on deck. Winter on the Chesa- 

 peake is cold and stormy, and the men were compelled to 

 work on an icy deck that was entirely exposed to wind 

 and spray. In 1880 the average pay for this was said 

 to be about eleven dollars a month. 



Along the shore one hears many gruesome tales of 

 mysterious disappearances, and even of open murders 

 of members of these crews. Stories are told of unspeak- 

 able cruelties on board the vessels, and of the maroonings 

 of entire crews on isolated shores, perhaps to save the 

 amount due in wages. That such barbarities were prac- 

 tised on the bay probably few good citizens of Maryland 

 doubt, and yet complaints have been rare and redresses 

 still less numerous. Without doubt there were some 

 humane captains among the Baltimore dredgers, and 

 many such in the lower part of the state; but the opinion 

 of those best acquainted with the conditions seems to be 

 that, as a class, they have established a record of crime 

 and cruelty that has rarely been equaled in this country. 



