THE OYSTER INDUSTRY OF MARYLAND. 
261 
TRANSPORTING. 
History , etc . — The centering of the oyster trade for convenience of labor, shipment, 
etc., at Baltimore or other populous or railroad points, the location of the reefs many 
miles distant in the lower and tributary waters of the bay, and the necessary use of 
many small boats in the fishery, require the employment of a large number of vessels 
for transporting the catch from the reefs to the marketing-houses. As the State has 
exercised no supervision over these vessels, the data at hand for exhibiting the extent 
of this branch of the oyster industry are incomplete. As no license and no peculiar 
facilities other than those enjoyed by vessels engaged in general coasting trade are 
required, a number of vessels engage in transporting oysters for only a short time during 
the busy part of the season, and estimates are therefore likely to differ considerably. 
In 1880 Mr. R. H. Edmonds, whose report has already been referred to, estimated 
that 200 vessels, employing 800 men, were engaged in transporting oysters in Maryland. 
But this was probably very much less than the actual number, as will be seen from 
the following incident: In 1884 (ch. 518) a law was enacted requiring all vessels 
engaged in transporting oysters to obtain a license on the same terms and conditions 
and at the same rate ($3 per ton) as was required of the vessels engaged in dredg- 
ing, and a tax of 3 cents per barrel was imposed on all steamers carrying oysters 
while engaged in a regular freighting business. Of the transporting vessels 353, not 
engaged in dredging, paid the fees in order to continue the trade. A few vessels, 
however, opposed the payment of the tax, and their case being taken to the courts the 
law was declared unconstitutional, and the fees paid by other transporters, amounting 
to $27,644.15, were refunded. This indicates that there were about 400 transporting 
vessels during that season. The increasing number of market-houses at the ports 
down the bay and near the reefs, competing with and naturally decreasing the oyster 
trade of Baltimore, has during the last eight or ten years resulted in a corresponding 
decrease in the number of transporting vessels. But during the last three years the 
decreasing extent of the dredging industry, together with the large quantity of oysters 
taken by the tongmen and scrapemen, has resulted in an increase in the number of the 
transporting vessels. In 1889-90 the number was 351, the tonnage of which was 
11,801.43. In 1890-91 this was increased to 399, with a tonnage of 13,111.45, and in 
1891-92 it was further increased to 456, with a tonnage of 15,067.29, nearly equaling the 
tonnage employed in dredging. 
The vessels . — The transporting vessels differ little from those employed in dredg- 
ing. There are no very small craft among them, and their average measurement is 
much greater than that of the dredging vessels, the tonnage of the former being about 
33.5 tons, and of the latter about 22 tons. The largest of the transporters are the E. 
8. Johnson, 85.7 tons, built in 1882, and the Clemmie Traverse , 81.05 tons, built in 1885. 
The average value of the transporting vessels is about $1,500; the original cost, how- 
ever, was about twice that amount. During the summer the greater number of these 
vessels are engaged in transporting farm produce and general freight to and from vari- 
ous points along the shores of the bay and tributaries. The fluctuations from year to 
year in the number of vessels transporting oysters is to some extent governed by the 
prosperity of the dredging industry. If that branch of the oyster fishery gives indica- 
tions of being profitable during a certain season, a large number of vessels obtain a 
