The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 16, 1898, Page 22

22 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, , OCTOBER 16, 1898. QUEER FISH OF CALIFORNIA The Waters of This Coast Produce a Greater Variety of Marine Life Than Any Other Region in the World. tion for export is simtlar to that adopt- XPERTS of the United States Fish Commission have been |ed in the c of the squid. making a special study of Cali-| The shrimp fishery of California is equally unique in its way, immense fornia fisheries, which has re-| uon;cities of these little and toothsome obtained from San sulted in assembling some very | remarkable facts. Leaving fishes entirely out of the question, the neigh- crustaceans being Francisco Bay and adjacent waters. The numbers of the animals taken may be judged by the fact that more than five million pounds of them are pre- pared for market in this State annually. The industry is in the hands of the Chi- borhood of San Franciseo produces a | greater variety of valuable marine and fresh water animals than can be| found in any other region of the world. | pece. The bulk of them are dried and The Government Investigators declare | shipped to China. They are taken that the quantity of fishery products| ashore as soon as caught, and are | boiled in big iron vats.” After ten min- utes in bolling water they are taken out and spread on the ground, where they are permitted to dry in the sun for five or six days. Some of the “shrimp yards” used for this purpose cover many acres. During the drying | process the shrimps are turned at in- | tervals with queer looking brooms shaped somewhat like hoes. When per- fectly dry they are crushed by being trodden upon by Chinamen in wooden shoes. This loosens the “‘meats” from the shells, which are removed by shak- ing them in baskets or by passing the shrimps through rude fanning mills. TN T 141 0 | caught between May 16 and July 15, animal. Hundreds of them are some- times seen together under a single big stone. One of the most picturesque of Cali- fornia fisheries is that of the abalone. These beautiful ~ingle-shelled mollusks are found along rocky shores at low tide, clinging to rocks above the water line. Each shell is slightly lifted, o that the fisherman is able to thrust a stick under it and pry it off, but if the animal is alarmed it shuts down its valve upon a rock, to which it clings with such tenacity by means of its huge adductor muscle that it can only be removed by breaking it in pieces. The meats taken from the shells are boiled on shore in sheet iron vats. Both shells and meats are packed in sacks anl forwarded to San Francisco, whence most of the meats are exported to China. The shells are shipped to France, being highly valued for their exquisite mother-of-pearl. This fishery yields about 400,000 pounds of meats and shells per annum. The spiny lobster of the Pacific is lobster of the Atlantic Coast, its meat being coarser and less tender. Never- theless the fishery for this animal in California is of considerable import- ance, yielding more than 300,000 pounds annually. The spiny lobster is the most important of the invertebrate products of the San Diego County fisheries. It is taken in pots and drop-nets, baited with fish or meat. South of Santa Bar- bara County it is extremely abundant. Several counties, with a view of pre- serving the species from extermination, have already adopted ordinances de- claring that no spiny lobsters are to be and inflicting a penalty upon anybody who takes or has in his possession at] any time a specimen less in weight than one pound. By the former of these pro- vislons protection is_furnished during The loose eggs were put in hatching boxes, and 140,000 baby lobsters ob- tained from them were planted in Mon- terey and San rrancisco bays. Of this number, however, San Francisco only got 2000. The fifth and last trial was made in 1889, when 710 lobsters were carried in crates with rockweed to the coasts of Oregon and Washington over the Northern Pacific road. Out of the num- ber 233 survived, and these were plant- ed in five different localities. The to- tal number of Eastern lobsters planted in Pacific waters was 590, of which 357 were put into the sea along the shores of California. The number shipped was 1658, and the number lost 1068. On the return eastward from the fourth trip the Fish Commission people took 300 of the “Cancer magister” crabs, fif- teen bushels of California clams and several San Francisco terrapin, for the purpose of seeing how they would get It is dried, and, if not sold to Chinese in this country, is exported to China. where it is much prized for making soups. California’s soft clam fishery is of great importance, no less than 2,000,000 pounds of those mollusks being taken annually. It is believed that they were brought originally with oyster seed from the Atlantic coast. Here they have taken hold in a way which might have been imitated to advantage by the eastern oysters, and already they have secured a wide distribution. In- deed, these waters evidently are par- ticularly well adapted to them, and there is no lack of sand and mud for their accomodation. They afford a nutritious food, and it is to be expected that the fishery for them will steadily TOW. gThey can actually be cultivated to great advantage, as has been proved by trials on the shores of New England, where a single acre of well tilled mud along in Atlantic waters. Unluckily the car was wrecked near Humboldt, Nev., and the consignment was lost. bank i{s worth $1000. Under conditions of culture the clams attain a more uni- RELIGION IS AN EXACT SCIENCE So Says Bramacharin, the Famous Hindoo Student and Teacher, Now on a Visit to This City. ® [oXol0) [0JOJOJO] @Oe® [OJOXOXO} OPPOREEPPPPPIPEPERPOE® HE Brahmacharin Chatterji, after spending nearly eighteen months in England and on the continent prosecuting his work of elucidating and illustrating such tenets of theosophy as seem mysterious to those less advanced than himself, is once again making a brief visit rated by eplcures as inferior to the true |~ The diamond-backed terrapin, so be- loved by epicures, does not exist on the Pacific Coast. The Fish Commission experts say that conditions here are most promising for its successful intro- duction, the extensive salt marshes around San Francisco Bay and in other places furnishing a most suitable habi- tat for the animal. It seems probable that before long an effort will be made to transplant this valuable turtle to the Pacific side. The California terra- pin, known to science as ‘‘Chelopus marmoratus,” is the only California turtle of commercial prominence. It is by no means so toothsome as the dia- mond-back. It inhabits rivers and fresh-water ponds west of the Sierras, ranging from Monterey to the Canadian border. In California it is especially abundant, and in this region it is taken with baited fyke-nets. About San Francisco meats are sold for food and the shells Both meats and shells are packed in sacks for export to China, where the AN UNCONQUERED MORRO CHIEFTAIN. Sketched by a Speclal Artist of the Sunday Call. of Senor Alexandrino, a lieutenant on General Aguinaldo’s staff, I was enabled to obtain a -picture of Ilocomah, a mountain chieftain, This tribe is in marked contrast to the Tagallo in that they have imitated the white man in nothing, not even in the use of firearms, their weapons being the poisoned The poison is said to be similar in its action to the Persian “Tshwin,” In that if an antidote is administered insanity immediately follows. W more by his incongruity than o height of his ambition to dress’like the white man and he is proud, indeed, if he may strut the street hat on his head. Next to carrying a gun this is his great- est pleasure. Among the many wild t pines the Morro are the fiercest and through the kindness HILE the male Tagallo presents to the artistic eye many opportunities for the study of color he shines N M N N N stherwise. It is the vith a “derby” Spear or arrow. ribes of the Philip- the period when the eggs are being car- ried by the female and up to the date when they reach maturity and are hatched. brickdust red color, | smaller than the eggs of the true lob- | ster. San Francisco market in sacks. Interesting animal is more active and | seemingly more intelligent true lobster. water with greater speed and quite | commonly it escapes from the lobster pot after eating the bait. | true lobster will be present numbers on the California coast as to | make a profitable fishery. Unfortu- nately up to date no success whatever | has attended repeated efforts to intro- duce it on this side of the continent. | The first attempt in this direction was | made in June, 1873, when 162 lobsters | captured in Massachusetts waters were | fetched hither in a fruit car especially | fitted up for the purpose. | a large fresh-water tank, an ice chest, Bay it is very numerous. In this. city $3 to $5 per dozen. The Government Fish Commission places California’s annual production of terrapin and frogs at 46,000 pounds. The bullfrog figures more_conspicuously in the markets of San Francisco each year, commanding from $2 to $4 a dozen. The fishery for fresh-water crawfish is comparatively new, and as yet the utilization of this animal is limited. is found in large numbers in sloughs or_streams. The eggs are of a brilliant and are much Spiny lobsters are shipped to the | This than the | It moves through the | The time may yet arrive when the | in such| ot 'to be omitted the gathering of sea- moss, which is collected by the Chinese from rocks along the c It is dried, packed in bales, and is exported to China, where it is used for soups. The Chinese consider the intestines of the skate a great delicacy. Skates of one species on this coast attain a remark- able size, specimens having been caught six feet in length and weighing 150 pounds. One product of the sturgeon is used exclusively by the Chinese—namely, The car had | the spinal marrow. In an average size sturgeon the cpinal cord is four or five feet long, consisting of long | white connecting links resembling sau- sages. These are cut open, and the je ly-like substance contained within is | scraped off and thrown away. What | remains is known by the Chinese and | the trade under the name of “hone.” g u | 1500 dozen are sold annually, at from | pi | From the list of queer fisheries ought | form size and bring a higher price in the market. They grow so thick as literally to stand shoulder to shoulder, feeding themselves, requiring no fer- tilizer, and yielding an annual interest as high and certain as any real estate. RENE BACHE. | N 7] Unconquered Morro in Native Cos- tume and Primitive Weapons. Visitors at an English country house are allowed to do whatever they like during the forenoon. An eminent geol- ogist, who was entertained at one of these houses, asked for coffee early one morning and started out with a suit of old clothes and a bag of tools to make a special study of the rock ledges of the estate. During the forenoon one of the coun- man entered into conversation with him. The geologist was seated on a ledge of rock and was making vigor ous use of mallet and chisel. The stranger talked with him in a patronizing way, and, while not receiv- ing an Intelligible account of the work on which he was engaged, was im- pressed with the supposed workman's intelligence and good manners. In- deed, he fumbled in his pocket and brought out a half crown, which he tossed to the man with the mallet. The geologist seemed surprised, but picked it up and put it in his pocket after thanking the gentleman. There was a dinner party at thecoun- try house in the evening and the same gentleman was introduced to the emi- nent geologist, whc at once began to laugh. “I have the half crown,” he said at once, “and I shall not give it up. It is the first tip I ever received, and I shall show it to my friends as a trophy of superior intelligence.” Lord James once had a similar expe- try gentry came upon him by the road- | side, and supposing him to be a work- | CELEBKITIES WHO TOOK TIFS. | rience. He was strolling through the | Temple Gardens In London when a | party of tourists encountered him and | asked to be directed to some of the | mst interesting places. | He volunteered to show them about. | and took them first to the Tempble Church and Goldsmith’'s grave, and finally to the famous Elizabethan hall | of the Middle Temple. His explana- | tions were lucid and interesting. and | when he parted from his new acquaint- an one of them gave him a schil- ling, and remarked that few guides were equally intelligent. The nobleman | took the shilling demurely and thanked | the stranger. He is saia to have kept it to this da and to have freguently told the story of his experience with the innocent tourists in the Temble Gardens. Another story is related of an Eng- | lish Duke who was standing at the | door of his house when a carriage rolled up. A near-sighted gentleman alighted, | asked if it were the Duke’s residence, |and on receiving a respectful nod from the supposed servant gave him a shil- ling. The Duke, perceiving that he had been mistaken for a footman, kept the shilline raised his hand to his fore- head and made the usual salute. The near-sighted gentleman went into the house, and in due time was presented to the Duke, and never had a suspicion that he had tipped one of the highest members of the British aristocracy at his own door. The Duke could hardly have offered a more striking proof that he was a gen- tleman by instinct.as well as by birth than by pocketing the unintentional af- front to his dignity. to San Francisco. During the past week he has been the center of crowds of eager seekers after knowledge and he has impressed by his personality even those whom he has not convinced by his arguments. Though he modestly styles himself a “Brahmacharin”—a student—his command of English, his high education, wide range of reading and thorough ac- quaintance with his subject, combined with a natural gift of unusual eloquence, make him well worthy the title of teacher. [OJOXOXOJOOXOJOYOROYOXOLOXOYOXOXOXO] ®® IOlOOJOXOROYOROJOY OXOXOYOXOYOYOROYOXO) foJoXololojokoloioolciolofoJolofoJofcofoRoJolo) OXOXOJOLO)] Y mission is not to proselytize | tion to the readiness with which one's persons, but simply to give 0\\_‘]_nh will walas given up. s and sclentific e problem of death seems to be o i especially interesting to those who bases for the beliefs that they | already have, and to show them | o' hust first try fo und what about those beliefs is the | thing of the problem o truth and what is but the corruption |learn of what man, as w with me. In order tv unders gathered there in later ages. A Chris- | tian who studiés theosophy as it should | be studied becomes a far better and! more rational Christian than before, | because he no longer possesses simply | blind faith, but has ccgent reasons for | things which he formerly had to accept | on trust, or reject because he was ig- | norant of their real meaning. I try to show indisputably that reli- | gion is a positive and exact science, and | that its truths are verifiable right here | on this earth. It is possible to know with certainty and precision many truths which people have in the past taken on faith alone, such as the per- | sistence of the individual after death, and the condition in which it persist and so on. Knowing these things m self I wish others to know them, and to that end I talk and travel. I am' often asked if theosophy 1s not a form of eclecticism. Most assuredly it is not. Theosophy enunciates a truth | first on its own basis, then says: “This truth is to be found in such and such | other religions.” It has everything in itself and recognizes all that is good and true elsewhere. It agrees with Buddhism, Parseeism, Mohammedan- | ism, Christianity and all other religions just so far as they deal with the truth. Theosophy is rich to overflowing, but eclecticism, on the contrary, is a beg- | gar, going about collecting from other | religions what it has not been able to earn for itself. One thing I notice particularly in this country, and that is that sc many seem to think mere opinions are of so much importance. ‘“What do you think?” I am asked, “What is your opinion con- cerning so and so?” Now my opinicn, | or the opinion of any man, is of no weight whatever, and such a query | should never be made. If you wish to | learn a certain thing go to one who kncws the truth abeut it and ask him | for that truth; -then meditate upon | what you are told, try to think it out | for yourself and understand it, and thus | you will truly learn and be benefited. The mere speculations of humanity‘ benefit no one. 1 find many persons who express sur- prise that I believe in magic. Such persons have nct yet mastered the foundation truth that thoughts are things. The mighty power of concen- trated thought is something understood by few. It is possible to create living forms by this power; it is possible also to deal death to living creatures. There | are persons who are advanced enough in knowledge to do these things. There | are persons who are able to wield the | subtle powers of nature, which sur- | round us on every side, as they will | Such persons are magicians and their | power is magic. If exercised for the good of the world it is white magic, if for selfish ends it is black magic, but magic it is in either case, and no one who has studied the subject can hon- estly deny its existence. Hypnotism— the dominating of one mind by another —is a form of black magic, for no one spiritually advanced would for a mo- | ment even try to dominate another’s| will, and much of evil is done in this| way. The responsibility for wrong acts | performed under the control of evil spir- | | | its or the will of another is in prapor- | tion. ! looks | light, consists. There are man every man. First the phy , Which is divided into the gross and subtle, or etheric; next the astral, which is sensational or emotional; then mental, which is divided into th tuitive and intellectiv 2 spiritual; all of these being apart f 'y the real self, which is the witness of alil the changes which take place in these different parts of man. Death is simply the pulling out of the etheric part from ihe gross part sulb After the n, the ethe part, to those who can clearly see like the physical. It is people commonly call the ‘“‘ghost” the dead person. It ordinarily hov over the dead person or the gra where he lies, and many persons who are not able to distinguish its individ- uality see it in the form of a blul which disappears when decom- position is complete. The astral part is left behind in what we call purga- tory, where it gradually disintegrates, and the intellective mind goes to pjeces in the lower heaven. After this the man begins to get into a condition to be born again—reincarnated, as we say. The plane of this reincarnation de- pends entirely upon himself. Much has been excused among men on the score of heredity. We say, “He cannot help sinning, because his father or grandfather or some of his ancestors did so before him.” This is foolish. We are given our bodies in a measure by our ancestors; but had he who is to inhabit that body been without sin in his past existence, or had he even lived above the plane of that bod ancestors, he would have been permitted to come back to one free from disease, mental or physical. Heredity is no excuse, for we come back to this life to just the surroundins to which we are entitled. It is possible for a person to grow so wise that he can decide the question of reincarnation for himself. If he wills to come back, he may do so; and if he prefers to remain outside this realm he can. Such power, however, comes only when the idea of separativeness |is wholly lost, when one no longer desires anything for his personal self. Disem- bodied egos are all around us on the astral plane. Were our eyves open we could see them constantly; but, seen or unseen, they are there. In our reincarnations we have to work out the penalties for our sins and mistakes in other existencés. We can go forward or backward as we choose. Karma and fatalism are two different things. Nothing happens by chance, and if we generate certain causes, un- less we can counteract' them we must suffer the results. Sometimes we can bring to bear on our life lines certain new laws and forces which will change things for the better. A man is entirely under fate only when absolutely ignorant and devoid of will power. Freedom is gained by wis- dom alone. e e Little Harry—Pa, what’s a foregone conclusion? Pa—Anything that's sure to follow something else. To give you an illustra- tion, if I were to lock the drawer of my desk it wouldn't b twenty minutes be- fore your mother would break it open for the purpose of finding out what I was trying to conceal.—Cleveland Leader. whose clan owes allegiance to none. drawn annually from San Francisco Bay and its tributary bays and streams is unparalleled, though the full re- sources of the waters are by no means developed or utilized to the practicable extent. This enormous productiveness is due largely to the uniform tempera- ture of the water of the bay and to other circumstances which are very fa- vorable to aquatic life. Many branches of the fishing indus- try on this coast possess a very pic- turesque interest, inasmuch as they are practically unknown elsewhere. One of these is the squid fishery. Monterey County alone furnishes 350,000 pounds of dried squid per annum. They are caught by the Chinese and cured for export. No salt is used, the squid be- ing dried in the sun, packed in bundles and covered with matting, each pack- age containing 135 pounds. In this shape they are sent to San Francisco, whence the bulk of them are forwarded to the Hawaiian Islands and to China. Most native Americans would have a horror of such a diet, but the Chinese regard squid as a great delicacy, and 80 likewise do many foreigners. That the Chinese consider the octopus, a nearly related animal, excellent for eat- ing is sufficiently well known. The oc- topus fisherv of California, conducted likewise by the Chinese, is of no small importence. The method of prepara- # are ‘disposed of as a fertilizer for tea plants and rice. The experts, of the Government Fish Commission reckon the product of the California crab fishery at nearly 3,000,- 000 pounds annually. The so-called “blue” or “Chesapeake” crab, which is the edible species par excellence along the Atlantic seaboard, is unknown on the Pacific Coa Its place on these taken a species not at all elated, which is termed In scien- phraseology as the “Cancer magis- ] This is the common cral of San Francisco Bay and of the Pacific—the largest of the edible species on this coast, and the only one commonly eaten in this city. It ranges all the way from Sitka to Magdalena Bay in Lower Cali- fornia. San Francisco Bay fairly swarms with these crabs. They are caught with nets, baited with fish and offal. Nothing is known about their breeding habits, strange to say, and no female bearing spawn has ever been seen by a naturalist: There is another species of crab, very abundant in the bays of San Francisco and Monterey, which would be considered valuable for food if the species just described should ever be- come scarce. It is the so-called ‘‘red crab,” and frequents the rocky shal- lows. The “yellow shore crab” and the “purple shore crab” ‘are found In enor- mous numbers all along the California coast, but are eaten only bv the Chi- nese. Their bodies are nearly square, and their claws large for the size of the and means of carrying an abundance of salt water, Nevertheless only forty of the animals were alive when the train reached Omaha and shortly after leaving that point the car and its con- tents were precipitated into the Elk- horn River by a smash-up. The second trial was made in June, 1874, 150 lobsters, all adult fe- males bearing eggs, being shipped from Boston. They were packed with sponges, which were ‘wetted from time to time with salt water. Only four of them reached here alive, and they were put into the sea at Oakland wharf, in San Francisco Bay. The third attempt was made in June, 1879. Twenty-two females carry- ing errs nearly readv to hatch con- stituted the shipment. One died en route; the rest were taken from g¢he Oakland wharf to the Bonito light- house, under the shadow of which they were put into the sea, in a sheltered bay. They brought with them over a million eggs read ' to hatch. The fourth attempt was made in June, 1888. By this time the business was better un- derstood, and the lobsters, 610 fn num- ber, were packed in trays with wet rockweed. Also 196 loose eges were brought along on cloth-bottomed trays. Three-hundred and thirty-two of the lobsters arrived in #ood condition, with 75 per cent of the eggs. The bulk of the consignment was planted in the vicin- ity of Monterey. The Albatross took beyond. When the war began T the road was littered with carts and thirty of the lobsters aboard and plant- ed them near the -Trinidad lighthouse. ”n > Wi s I S s A 2% Lo ), S & ON THE CALLE ALEX, SAMPALOC, MANILA. Sketched by a Special Artist of the Sunday Call. HE Calle Alex is the street that stretches on out into the splendid road to the water reservoir at San Juan del Monte and into the hill country the wealthier natives, fearful alike of per- secution by the Spaniards and Aguinaldo’s forces, retired into the interior and palanquins. ‘With the declaration of peace began the pilgrimage to the white city by the sea, and it was truly a beautiful sight to watch patanquin after palanquin and the bronze figures of their Chinamen bearers—the heavy bamboo cut- - ting into their shoulders with the jog and'the squeak tha - 1ng,Ttgxe blood r;d ;tx;esk of perspiration in theqbronle. 5 e ons o en came the brightly dressed Tagallo, Mestigo or Pampango woman lazi- ly puffing her cigarette, followed by the white draied flgurep aggthe rx;‘an, also smoking and lolling to the soft motion of the bearers' dog trot. I have seen seven women of varying ages followed in this way by the lord. For you must know that when a man marries in the Philippines he may never forsake his own or his wife's sisters, cousins or aunts, and their male and female ances- tors, and progeny, and the Tagallo is prolific. =~PIERRE N. BOERINGER.