Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1880-05-21
win oOmprehend all Of b but. anyway.

Will comprehend all OF ~ but, anyway,
l will tell it to you"
Then the grandmother told the follow
ing story: 90
''It was long time ago, Oh! very
long time. l was then young, and,
people said, lovely girl, about sixteen
years old. l was the only child; my
parents were rich, and all my wishes
were granted. | was vain and proud. 1t
was my sixteenth birthday, when my
father assembled great many of my
friends, and gave me beautiful surprise
party. After the enjoyments were over.
he came to me and gave me this little
Russia leather box. Great was MY de-
light on seeing its contents, and | ex-
pressed my joy in many ways. In CIV
ing them to me, my father said: My
dear Gabrielle, we will lave now three
beautiful pearls at home. understood
his meaning.
II went to my room WHre took time
to admire them. Oh! they were so beau
tiful and pure! l thought already in my
pride and vanity how l would wear them
at school, and how all the girls who
were poorer than l would envy me, and
so on. Then | went to sleep and had the
most extraordinary dream you ever
heard of, Aimee. This was my dream:
81 held in my hands one of the pearl
earrings, when suddenly it rolled on the
ground and then began to change its
form. 1t grew and grew until it was
about my size. Then it took womanly
form, and at last, stood before my eyes.
the most beautiful vision A lovely lady
was standidg before me. She had large,
blue eyes, the loveliest mouth and COM
plexion that you could imagine; beauti-
tul golden hair was hanging down below
her waist. Her dress was of white satin,
bordered with pearls, and her slender
neck and white arms were encircled with
large pearls, some of them as large as a
nut"
Here the grandmother stopped, look
ing at Aimee, who was in perfect
ecstacy, her eyes wide open, her hands
clasped in admiration. Then the old
lady went on:
"This beautiful woman took me by the
hands, and asked me if l had ever
thought how pearls were made, and all
they had to 60 through before they be-
came the shining round balls with a
thousand hues which l had so much ad-
mired. l acknowledged to her my ignor-
ance on the subject. Till then l had al
ways been lazy girl and an idle stu
dent, and knew very little. She looked
at me with her large, soft eyes, and asked
me if l would like to know the story.
Quickly l said Yes, and she told me
what follows:
One of the most productive, but also
one of the most dangerous enterprises, is
surely pearl-fishing. The pearl is found
in a particular kind of oyster, called the
mother of pearl, and the beautiful gem
owes its existence to the presence of a
foreign body in the shell, grain of sand
maybe, around which is accumulated a
nacreous substance secreted by the man.
tie of the mollusk. Its size depends on
the position in which it has been placed.
The pearl oyster is larger then the ordi-
nary oyster: sometimes they have a dia-
meter of seven inches. Often more than
thirty shells are examined before a pearl
of regular form and certain size is found.
So we must think how hard it must be
to find many of those beautiful pearls to
which we only give passing glance Of
admiration, But now how do we obtain
themp Before some recent inventions,
the toll of those men who went to the
depths of the ocean to find them, was
dreadful, and their life was full of dam
ger Very few men can do it. If they
would do this work even one month
every year, this would affect their health
a great deal. Very few who pursue this
occupation become old. Many have
dreadful cancers, their sight grows weak
and their bodies are covered with sores
many die from apoplexy, and how many
alas! fall victims to some large fish. Ant
still you will find plenty of miserable
people, most willing to be pearl fishers
even when acquainted with its conse
quences; their pay can hardly procure
them food. The greatest depth to which
they can go is about nine fathoms, ant
they remain under water no longer thai
half minute, and during this shor
space of time this is what they do: Th
diver holds with the toes of his right foo
a rope, which is attached to stone, faci
litating his descent, and keeping him a
the bottom of the sea. With his lef
foot he holds net, with his right hanC
the stone weighted cord and with hi
left hand he pinches his nostrils. A
soon as he reaches the bottom of the sea
he picks up as quickly as possible, oys
ters, and at given signal is drawn u
again by his companions waiting 70
him in boat. Science progresses ever
day, and has helped the pearl fisher
great deal. She has created ingeniou
apparatus for the use of divers, whic
enable them to reach considerable depth
where they can remain whole hours; 6
the same time they can breathe freel
and more easily. With some of thes
apparatus, robust man can reach
depth of twenty-five fathoms. All tn
is due to science, which every day ad
vances one more step, and by this graz
nal and slow progress. how MANY suffer