THE OYSTER INDUSTRY OF MARYLAND. 
245 
The following data, furnished by Surgeon-General Wyman of the XT. S. Marine 
Hospital Service, showing the nature and extent of the accidents to which these men 
are subjected, are here presented. In estimating the value of these figures it should 
be remembered that Baltimore is but one of many ports of relief for Chesapeake 
Bay, and that if records were obtained from Crisfield, Cambridge, Oxford, Annapolis, 
Washington, and other points, the figures would be much larger. Only surgical cases 
are included in the list, no computation having been made of the number of cases of 
pneumonia, pleurisy, and rheumatism brought into hospital from the oyster vessels. 
Summary of surgical cases from oyster vessels treated in hospital by the U. S. Marine Hospital Service at 
Baltimore, Md., in winters of 1882-83 and of 1883-84. 
Character of injuries. 
Fractures caused by crank handles of winders 
foreign bodies 
falls on slippery decks, etc 
Dislocation caused by crank handle 
Frozen extremities 
“ Oyster-shell hands ” 
Wounds contused and lacerated caused by falls 
foreign bodies . - 
crank handles . . 
20 
7 
14 
1 
50 
30 
16 
19 
15 
Total fractures, 41 cases with 72 broken bones. Total surgical cases treated in hospital, 
193. In addition to the foregoing a large number of cases were treated at the dispensary 
without being sent to hospital. 
The ‘ 1 oyster-shell hand ” is a severe inflammation caused by wound and poisoning from 
the oyster shells. The hand appears as if affected by a huge felon, and deep and free 
lancing is necessary in its treatment. The tendons and bones are often exposed and loss 
of one or more fingers sometimes results. 
Much has been said about the brutality of the dredging captains and the severe 
treatment to which they subject their crews. But the captains are not wholly respon- 
sible for the sufferings of these men; as a rule they, as most other employers of labor, 
are humane and considerate of those in their service. Proof of this is found in the 
fact that when the men get in trouble on shore they frequently send to the captain of 
a vessel for relief, and some men return year after year to seek employment on the 
vessels. While in the aggregate the number of cases of harsh treatment may seem 
large, yet such is not the case when consideration is taken of the number of men 
employed and their entire unsuitability for the work. They are so unaccustomed to 
discipline that the exercise of that authority necessary on board of a vessel unavoid- 
ably produces some unpleasantness between the captain and the men. The very 
nature of the occupation, working upon slippery decks in freezing weather, together 
with the unskilled ability of these men, results in much suffering, for which the cap- 
tain is in no sense blamable and for which, because of the financial interests involved 
if nothing else, his regret is second only to that of the unfortunate member of his 
crew. And when one investigates the life of these men when on shore and compares 
it with that led while on a dredging trip the natural inference is that in many 
instances the latter is the more comfortable, and that not infrequently the men are 
better off when on the bay than they are in the city. 
The vessel-owners recognize the injury that the employment of this class of labor 
is doing to the reputation of their business and they would gladly welcome a change 
in the grade of men they employ. The payment of higher wages would of course 
secure better men, but the present profits of the fishery and the active competition 
with one another, which have produced this condition, will not admit of a few paying 
higher wages without concerted action, and that seems impracticable. Many methods 
