This text was obtained via automated optical character recognition.
It has not been edited and may therefore contain several errors.

---

mt&na to Baltlt _e in Oysters
In the canning of cove oysters Biloxi stands second in importance in the United States, ranking next to Baltimore.
While it is true that a great many oysters are canned on the Atlantic Coast, south of Norfolk, those packed at Biloxi are always given the preference over other points, on account of the size and flpvor. It is claimed by many that Biloxi oysters are equally as good in every respect as those of Baltimore, the only difference being the label shoving vhere packed.
The oyster business at this point might be vorked up to much larger figures if the railroads vould make the same rates as can be obtained from Baltimore.
Labor Bates
The labor in the factories is mainly piece vork, wages running from 60 cents to Si.25 for	women and children,	while	the	day	labor
is paid 15 cents per hour.
Most of the capping of cans is done by machinery, and an expert machine operator will cap 20,000 cans per day.
Suitable and comfortable quarters are provided for the laborers and no loafers are allowed	around the	premises.
Coal is the principal	fuel used,	which is	procured	from	the
Alabama mines, while the cans are purchased about equally between Chicago and Baltimore, owing to the cheapness of the two points.
Fifty car loads of cans were required for the pack last season. Seasons
The season for coving oysters begins about the 15th of September and ends about the 1st of April, while in the shrimp business there are two seasons, the Fall and Spring catch—September and October and February and March.
The pack of figs comes in on an off month, July, when the factories are not otherwise engaged.
Raw Ovsters and Pickled Shrimp
Fully $80,000 worth of raw oysters and pickled shrimp were also shipped from Biloxi during the last yegr, and in the busiest part of the*season the Express Freights alone for a single day on raw ovsters, to say nothing of the value of the bivalves, have amounted to ^400. These figures "are taken from the books of the Express Company.