The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1873-01-20
A STORY ABOUT PEARLS.

sIUhf ABOUT PEARLS.
We belonged to the same club. 1pre.
ferre1 his game Of whist to that Of any
one else, though he invariably won my
money. Why now, when happen to
see him, he Is always on the other side
OF the street, or just turning round the
corner ] cannot imagine, What I am
writing about happened some years ago.
II was Summer afternoon when I met
Clap Won Trap in the park. "Here,"
said he to- -me, "is the chance I have
been waiting for some time, that of SEQ.
ing you again and talking 10 yon alone"
and with this he drew small velvet.
covered box from his pantaloons pocket
and, opening II, displayed some OK.
continued. "Thos came from Caiifor.
MIA. oysters-pearl oysters-there in
greater quantity than the edible ones in
Chesapeake Bay. It's only question
! Of how many bushels, not OF shells, but
OF pearls, We want. Divers, tpsus they
call them, do the business now. Here,
take this one and look att. II is not
worth more than 500. There is itist
100 in this box. Tqke this one and
give 1t to your wife, with my eompli.
ments. Know the place where they are
tound2 Don't II These come direct
from the bed. The original Spaniarls
used to fish there two centuries ago, but
the very existence Of the place has been
lost to the whole world, excepting to
three men, and I am one Of them. You
have heard Of 'La Pepegtina, the most
beautiful pearl in the world, given to
Philip IL, King Of Spain. and now in
the royal treasures OF Madrid, only
equalod by the one belonging 10 the
Princess Yousoppoff2 Seen the Pere.
grina when you were in Spain? OF
course you did; as big as pigeons egg
worth sl50,OO0. Queen Isabella, they Do
say, tried to swallow II when she was
driven out, but could not bolt 1t,
and 50 was forced TO disgorge. That
pearl is fool to what we can find, and
tnat pearl was discovered rs far as tra.
lition goes exactly where our beds are.
have been waiting for the last three
weeks trying to find one good, solid fel.
low. to embark in this enterprise.
Don't talk to me about your fortune.
Here it is. We could, II we wanted to,
make pearls as cheap as glass beads, but
we are too clever for that; we will only
let them out rs they are wanted; no
breaking down Of the pearl MARKET
Every difficulty has been overcome"
he continued. "fhere has been no end
nf inpano;ft 1n.,;oI,n,l o,, ,,,n 49,, - II.
kind. There were lots Of people, during
tho war, who raeked their brains in.
venting subaqueous machines for hu.
man destruction. All of them failed
either they would not work, or the men
IN them could not bekept alive-all save
one, and 1 have secured the patent OF
that one. All you have TO do Is 70 build
your boat, put q dozen men in her-I
am willing to make the first trip in her
and down, down we go, to any depth
under water, and we can sail around
quite as comfortably one hundred fa-
thoms deep as q yatch would on the sur.
face OF the North River. Then there is
such an ingenious method for letting
the men out so that they can work under
water. Don't ask mo about the air to
keep them alive with that is the first
problem We had to solve. We are not
so stupid as 10 suppose that human be.
ings could live under water without air.
All modern inventions OF this character
start with the idea ofsupplying air from
the outside. Maybe, he went on, still
toying with the pearls, "you have read
those wonderful letters OF Otto Plasms.
You think 1 am not a reading man, but
am. He declares somewhere that on
shipboard the time must come when, in.
stead OF slowing away huge tanks Of
water for the use Of the sailors, or even
distilling sea.water, something else
must be done. He even asserts that
water in the Great Desert Of Sahara will
be sooner or later supplied to those that
use 1T by those simply natural but ever
progressive laws Of science.
By combining oxygen and hydrogen
in certain well.known' and definite pro.
portions, We can manufacture water. II
water can be produced, what is TO pre-.
vent our manufacturing air? Funny,
wouldn't II be, II that particular case
mentioned by old Adam Smith should
really turn up, that OF man having the
monopoly OF air2 Now follow me. All
we have TO do is to take in o cargo Of
oxygen and nitrogen. But you say, and
very properly, why not take in air at
once? Because IL would occupy too
much space, and make us 80 buoyant,
that no matter how we condensedit, we
would never sink. We take our sub.
marine boat, then, freight her with pick.
axes. rakes, put our men on board, aud
with our twenty-five, fifty, or hundred
pounds Of chemicals, down, down we
60. Here Iremember Won Trap plung.
ed his stick, an elegant Malacca, into
theground, and followed suit with my
canc, thrusting II into the soft sod away
aboye the ferule. "You grapple with
the oyster" continued my friend, NOV.
ing round his stick in the dirt, Select
ing only the biggest and fattest. We
collect fye-ten-ffty tons Of them,
Then up we come, and dump them on
the shore, and back again we 10 for
more and more. Here does not, howey.
or, end the business. The East, my
boy, and Ceylon, Coromandel, and Con.
datchyl Wewill nonopolize the trade.
Then what say you 10 coral, and the
Mediterranean, and the tons on tons Of
that delicate blush pink shade, worth
lis weight in gold, and then the more
vulgar but useful sponge; and, then my
scheme Is limitless In It's extent ! con.
ess II conf uses me sometimes, when !