The Romance of Norwalk

in Norwalk especially in the outlying districts, partly be¬ cause the people thought they were fakes and partly be¬ cause the men took the attitude that their women had something else to do besides gossip over one of the “new fangled” things. Edward Smith, commercial agent, still with the South Norwalk branch, recalls the time when discour¬ aged salesmen used to troop into the office with only four or five sales each to their credit, for the week’s work. Today finds the city with no less than 8067 installations, more phones being sold over the counter in a day than were formerly sold on the road in a month. In 1881, the central telephone office was in the Fairfield County Bank Building on Wall st. In 1896 it was removed to South Norwalk into the Sentinel Building, 97 Washington st., because Norwalk imposed so many restrictions on the company that it couldn’t grow. The branch moved into the H. Krieger and Co. building on West Washington st., in August, 1903, remain¬ ing there, housed on the second floor until March, 1912. At that time, the present building, 17 Washington st., was acquired. In 1925, enlargements were made, the company moving its equipment to the site of the present Charnok meat market, 65 North Main st., and remaining there from March to November, 1925. At the end of that time the branch returned to 17 Washington st. USE OF TELEGRAMS Just when the Western Union Telegraph Co. came to town, isn’t known for not even the main office has any records to that effect. It is known, however, that there was a Western Union here before 1895, the office being housed with the railroad station, at the time that the station and the tracks were still on the ground at Washington st., and South Main st. The tracks were raised over Washington st. in 1895. From this site, the company moved to 2 South Main st., then to quarters in the Telephone Co. building, then to North Main st., where the Angevine Furniture 340 ROMANCE OF NORWALK Co. now stands, 18 North Main st. and lastly to its pres¬ ent home, 29 South Main st. Telegrams were not used to any great extent in South Norwalk in the early days, most of the calls being for business, sickness or death. Few social telegrams were transmitted for they were looked upon as a great extravagance. Of late years, the cable has come into everyday use where once it was taken off the shelf only for very special occasions. Of course telegrams are still in the most general use. The South Norwalk Branch of the Western Union Tele¬ graph Co., estimates that during the year 1929, about 77,015 messages were sent and 91,250 were received. Fred B. Van Scoy is the present manager in South Norwalk. Audubon Dan was the first manager of whom there is any record. In addition to its Western Union service, Norwalk also has a branch of the Postal Telegraph Cable Co., at 42 South Main st., which company has a definite place in the service of the community. OYSTER INDUSTRY Chapter XXX Indians and Early Norwalkers Included Oysters in Main Diet — Norwalk First to Try Deep Water Oyster Plant¬ ing — First Also to Introduce Steam into Business — Causes of Decline of Industry — Present Norwalk Oyster Com¬ panies. First in the country to attempt deep water oyster plant¬ ing; first in the country to introduce steam into the oyster business; and foremost in the ranks of those who have given the world new ideas and new improvements in the trade, Norwalk, in the year 1880, boasted one of the finest oyster industries in the United States, bar none, and shipped her plump, highly prized bivalves from the Atlantic to the Pacific, to the south, to the north and across the ocean to Europe. In succeeding years, poor laws, heavy, unfair taxes, domestic sewage, industrial waste, lack of coopera¬ tion on the part of local and state authorities, an indifferent attitude and lack of support on the part of the public, worked great hardships on the business. Today finds the Norwalk oyster industry only a shadow of its former self but bravely struggling to regain its previous prosperity. Few there are, though they may have lived all their lives on the very edge of the industry, within sight of the sturdy boats which plough the Norwalk waters and the houses where the oysters are shucked, who really know much about the life story of an oyster, or its history off local shores. STORY OF OYSTER Although oysters on the surface of things may seem to be rather clammy water animals, they are mighty interest- 341 342 ROMANCE OF NORWALK ing ones. “From Homebed to Halfshell” could well be the story of the life of a Norwalk oyster, which does not last a month, a season or even a year, but four or five years. Oysters are male and female only at spawning time. The sexes are separate but without external distinction. The average oyster will produce about 16,000,000 eggs while a large one will give off about 60,000,000. The sex products leave the mature oysters during spawn¬ ing time, July to August, and mingle in the water. Fer¬ tilization follows their admixture. Segmentation results in five or six hours and from the eggs there hatch out free swimming larvae, cup shaped. An embryonic shell soon ap¬ pears, the free life ceases after a few days, then the tiny oyster sinks to the bottom and attaches itself to some hard, clean object by its left mantle fold which secretes a limy deposit on its margin. The tiny oyster, only about 1-80 or 1-90 of an inch in diameter, clinging to its new home, per¬ haps a shell, a stone or a branch, is now called “spat.” The spat grows rapidly, especially in warm water about 60 or 70 degrees, feeding on the microscopic life in the water. This life includes: minute animals and plants; protozoans, eggs and swimming larvae of many kinds of sponges, worms and mollusks, including its own; and last but certainly not least, microscopic plants called diatoms. Since the latter forms about 90 per cent of the oyster’s food it can readily be seen how necessary it is to place the growing oysters either next to a diatom garden or else in the path of a strong current which passes over such a garden. When the oysterman has picked his spot and. purchased the lots which go to make his oyster farm, his next step is to stake the four corners with buoys. He then smooths and cleans the bottom of all debris and snags, either at low tide when he can see what he is doing, or, if the water is deep, with dredges. When the bottom is clean a founda¬ tion of oyster .shells, gravel, or small pebbles is laid to serve as a “cultch” to which the tiny oysters or “spat” can attach. OYSTER INDUSTRY 343 In Norwalk, old oyster shells are generally used. Walk along Water st. and you will see piles of shells, many times as high as a man’s head, in the rear of the oyster plants. These shells, for the most part, are used for lining beds, in providing “cultch” to which the oyster spat can attach. The shells which cost about nine cents a bushel here, are distributed from boats or scows, from 250 to 600 bushels being used to the acre, depending on how soft the bottom is. It costs five cents or more a bushel to distribute. If the piece of ground cleared is near a spawning bed where mature oysters are living, the oysterman need do nothing further for a while, for the mature oysters will provide the eggs which will float over the new ground and settle on the fresh “cultch” just laid. Then the oyster begins to grow. If, however, the new piece of ground is not near a spawning bed, it will be necessary for the oystergrower to spread over the land some adult oysters in the proportion of about 30-60 bushels per acre. These will provide the necessary eggs for spat. Should the oyster grower not wish to take his chance on the germinating adult oysters planted on his fresh ground, he can secure seed oysters by dredging or by purchasing them and use those instead. For some time after planting, the new oysters are let alone. But they must be taken up and separated as soon as they can be culled without injury. This is usually at the end of the second year. Let’s stop for a minute and get the years of the oyster’s life straight. The fertilized eggs of the oyster before settling on the cultch of oyster shells, are known as spawn; after attachment they are called “spat”; from that time until the end of the first year, the tiny oysters are referred to as a set; various names are given oysters in other communities when they reach the end of the first, second, third and fourth years, but in Norwalk they are simply termed: one year olds, two year olds, three year olds. The most fertile oysters in these waters for spawning, are two and three year olds. Seed oysters are 344 ROMANCE OF NORWALK so termed almost any time after the spat stage. It takes five years to mature an oyster in Norwalk waters. Of late years, because of the pollution in the Norwalk waters, oyster growers here have been forced to transfer their oysters several months before marketing to beds in other parts of the state or across the Sound where they may be purified before returning to the Norwalk houses for shucking. The state only requires that the oysters from Nor¬ walk waters be transferred to clean waters for 15 days be¬ fore marketing. Local oystermen usually transfer them in the April or May before the dredging in September in order that the transported oysters may become acclimated to their new home and fatten up before being taken to the shucking houses.