GULF OF MEXICO: LOUISIANA. 581 



erally of inferior quality, and intended to be sold to the canning establishments, or to be opened 

 for cooking purposes. The boats average smaller than those used in the river westward, and 

 usually carry only two men. The price of the oysters frequently measured out in quarter-barrel 

 boxes similar to those in use in Mobile depends upon the state of the market as governed by the 

 supplies received from the West, and often goes down to 50 or 60 cents a barrel, at which price 

 there is no profit, and the oystermen stop running until a rise occurs. The average price, however, 

 is said to have been 81.50 per barrel last winter; and 65,000 barrels are said to have been the total 

 oi receipts on this side of the city. This would equal about 170,000 bushels, at 39 cents a bushel. 

 The men who bring oysters from the eastward say they must have higher prices than formerly, on 

 account of the growing scarcity of oysters, and the longer time it takes to get their load. Many 

 more are oystering now than before the war. 



At the levee opposite, or just below the famous old French market, is the other and greatest 

 oyster landing place, mustering about two hundred and live boats, with six hundred and fifteen 

 uii-n or more in the crews. The estimate of annual receipts there at present gives 50,000 barrels, 

 or 125,000 bushels, commonly sold at 82 to $3.50 per barrel. All of these coine from westward of 

 the delta, and being larger and finer are, as a rule, bought by the saloons and restaurants, and 

 served to their customers on the shell. 



WIIAEFMEN ON THE LEVEE. A peculiar feature of the business on the levee consists of an 

 organization of wharfmen, who form a species of close corporation to do the work of carrying the 

 oysters from the boats to the wagon of the purchaser, who pays them 15 cents a barrel for the 

 service. The boatman having sold his cargo, he then has no further concern ; his boat being taken 

 in charge by the carrier, who might be called a 'longshoreman, and who delivers all the oysters 

 and sweeps the vessel and puts her in proper condition for the crew. While there is no society of 

 these carriers, strictly speaking, they manage to make their business a close corporation, since no 

 one is allowed to discharge a cargo of any kind from the luggers oysters, oranges, or fruit 

 except one of the members of the body. There is a man who is called the foreman, who receives 

 all the money for the carriers and who divides the proceeds equally among the different carriers, 

 but just how this is regulated, as well as many other of the details of this quasi organization, is 

 kept as mysteriously secret as possible. The body is au old one and now consists of about fifty 

 meu iu all, mostly Sicilians and low-grade Italians, and, as near as I can judge, the annual receipts 

 for the carriers amount to about $35,000, levied on the oysters, oranges, melons, and various 

 fruits. Some years ago the city designated a man to act as foreman, and he held the post for 22 

 years, not giving it up until his death, when he was succeeded by his son, who now has the place. 

 The system is beginning to be felt as an unwarrantable incubus on the trade, and a monopoly 

 which should be opposed. In consequence it doubtless will soon be broken up, and each pur- 

 chaser will land his own oysters, or the boatmen deliver them to the wagons at less cost than 

 now. The levee is leased by the city to a firm, which collects $20 a year wharfage from the 

 luggers. 



SHIPMENTS OF OYSTEES FB03I NEW ORLEANS. The shipment of oysters inlaid from >e\v 

 Orleans has hitherto been of very small account, and principally of fresh oysters. Now, however, 

 at least two canning establishmnnts have been started in the city, which make a large item in 

 their general preserving business of cooked and hermetically sealed oysters, prepared substan- 

 tially as in Baltimore. Several brands have been put upon the market with good satisfaction, 

 selling at $2.50 per doxen two pound cans for first quality, and $1.80 for second, and at $1.10 for 

 one-pound cans. About $100,000 worth of these canned oysters are said to have been put up 

 during 1880, nearly all of which weie taken by the trade of the city and immediate neighborhood. 



