Chapter I: Front Matter

The Young Wireless Operator--With the Oyster Fleet

_BOOKS BY_

LEWIS E. THEISS

IN CAMP AT FORT BRADY. A Camping Story. 304 pages.

HIS BIG BROTHER. A Story of the Struggles and Triumphs of a Little
Son of Liberty. 320 pages.

LUMBERJACK BOB. A Tale of the Alleghanies. 320 pages.

THE WIRELESS PATROL AT CAMP BRADY. A Story of How the Boy Campers,
Through Their Knowledge of Wireless, "Did Their Bit." 320 pages.

THE SECRET WIRELESS. A Story of the Camp Brady Patrol. 320 pages.

THE HIDDEN AERIAL. The Spy Line on the Mountain. 332 pages.

THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR--AFLOAT. How Roy Mercer Won His Spurs
in the Merchant Marine. 320 pages.

THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR--AS A FIRE PATROL. The Story of a Young
Wireless Amateur Who Made Good as a Fire Patrol. 352 pages.

THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR--WITH THE OYSTER FLEET. How Alec
Cunningham Won His Way to the Top in the Oyster Business. 328
pages.

Cloth Bound--Illustrated by Colored Plates and Photographs

The Young Wireless Operator-- With the Oyster Fleet

_HOW ALEC CUNNINGHAM WON HIS WAY TO THE TOP IN THE OYSTER BUSINESS_

By LEWIS E. THEISS

_ILLUSTRATED BY_ FRANK T. MERRILL

W. A. WILDE COMPANY CHICAGO BOSTON

_Copyright_, 1922, BY W. A. WILDE COMPANY _All rights reserved_

THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR--WITH THE OYSTER FLEET

_This book is dedicated to the late DR. JULIUS NELSON, sometime biologist for New Jersey, and to DR. THURLOW C. NELSON, his son and successor, who have done and are doing for the oyster industry, what Liebig did for agricultural chemistry_

Foreword

The story of America's wonderful beds of oysters is the same as the story of her matchless forests, her remarkable deposits of oil, her countless herds of bison, and her innumerable flocks of wild pigeons; and that story is completely told in one word of five letters--waste. When our magnificent Pennsylvania forests were cut, millions of feet of lumber were wantonly wasted, left to rot on the ground after the bark had been stripped off. When that unequaled pool of oil was discovered at Spindletop, gushers were allowed to spout for days and hours merely to gratify the vanity of purse-proud owners, and oil was wasted by the hundred thousand barrels. We are paying for such wastes to-day in the high price of lumber and oil. And our children and our children's children will go on paying the price.

I live on the banks of one of America's noblest rivers, the Susquehanna. A hundred years ago one could throw a line overboard and draw out fish without number. Now, one can fish half a day without getting a nibble. Some day, perhaps, we shall have fish again in the Susquehanna. But it will be in the same way that we are gradually reforesting our denuded Pennsylvania mountains--at enormous cost, which means perpetually high priced lumber. It will be the same with our oysters. The enormous beds, which, properly conserved, would have supplied the nation with cheap oysters for generations, are gone.

Most of us know less about oyster production than we do about lumbering or oil drilling. Yet oystering is one of the few truly picturesque occupations that survive in American life. This book, like its immediate predecessor, The Young Wireless Operator--As a Fire Patrol, is written in the hope that young readers may come to understand the real results of such wastes--the permanent imposition of unnecessary and burdensome costs for necessities of life which should be cheap.

Contents

I. A FRIEND IN NEED 9

II. THE FLEET SETS SAIL 18

III. OVER THE BAR 28

IV. DREDGING OYSTERS 42

V. EVENING AT THE OYSTER PIER 56

VI. OVERBOARD IN THE DARK 67

VII. A LETTER FOR ALEC 78

VIII. ALEC'S FIRST LESSON IN OYSTER-CULTURE 89

IX. UNDER A CLOUD 100

X. ALEC'S DECISION 108

XI. A WIRELESS TELEPHONE 118

XII. ALEC GETS A NEW JOB 133

XIII. AN UNLOOKED-FOR FRIEND 150

XIV. THE CORNER-STONE THAT ALEC FOUND 161

XV. A NEW LIGHT 168

XVI. THE PLANTING SEASON BEGINS 180

XVII. A SEARCH FOR TRUTH 193

XVIII. A LONG CHASE 214

XIX. HOME AGAIN 234

XX. THE OSPREY'S NEST 247

XXI. THE GREAT SECRET 264

XXII. THE NEW CAPTAIN OF THE _BERTHA B_ 272

XXIII. ADRIFT IN THE STORM 282

XXIV. MISFORTUNES NEVER COME SINGLY 298

XXV. THE CRISIS 309

XXVI. VICTORY 318

The Young Wireless Operator--With the Oyster Fleet