The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1881-09-15
Tie Pearl Fisheries OF Lower California.

and costly black pearl, which is found
in a state of great perfection in the
off La Plaza. The latitnd g
is little south of Key West, in Florida,
and not far north of Havana. Since
the recent Mexican fever began, an in
public interest has been taken
in the resources OF the ancient Empire
of the Montezumas. and the gold and
silver and other precious products Oh
that land are exciting much curiosity
among American capitalists. As the
pearl fisheries of Lower California be-
long to Mexico, they will, Of course,
rank among the other natural riches OF
that country. Chief Engineer Magee,
of the United States Navy, who has
lately returned from the Gulf of Cal
ifornia, was found at the Fifth Avenue
Hotel recently, in company with one OF
the principal pearl merchants of Mexico,
who had just arrived from Paris,
whittier he had been to dispose of his
annual harvest of precious stones.
This merchant, while hoping to see his
country developed and American cap
ital. industry, and machinery encour-
aged for this purpose, did not think
that the present condition of the pearl
fisheries of the Gulf of California would
warrant the investment OF more capi-
tai or labor.
The following facts were given dur
ing the interview: Pearl oysters are
found from one to six miles from shore
in from eight to twenty-one fathoms
of water. The 1000 divers who are
engaged in searching for them are
generally employed under the contract
system, as they make greater efforts to
discover the pearls than they do when
hired by the day. Boats, diving appa-
ratus and money for provisions and
outfits are supplied by the merchant
on condition that all the pearls discov-
cred shall be sold to him at such prices
as may be agreed upon-in other words,
that he may have the refusal of all the
pearls found. Sail-boats of five ton
burden and containing six men each
are fitted up with sleeping and cooking
accommodations, and six months are de-
voted to pearl diving up and down the
coast from May until October and
November. The total product of a
years work is estimated at about
$500, ,000-that is, valuing the pearls at
the first cost price. The United States
is very poor place to sell pearls of
any kind, and black pearls, which are
most valuable are bought exclusively
by wealthy and titled people in Europe.
St. Petersburg ranks next to Paris as a
good market for them, while in the
United States there is great demand
for diamonds of extraordinary value.
Of the entire yield of Mexican pearls
ten per cent. are white, forty per cent.
blue, and fifteen per cent. black. The
blue stones are of little value. The
oyster in which the pearl is found has
the shape of large clam OF saddle rock
oyster, but it is smooth and brilliant,
with all the colors of the rainbow.
The shells, which are known as mother
of-pearl, are carried once a year in
ships of 1000 tons. around Cape Horn
to Hamburg where they are sold to Ger
man merchants and manuf acturers for
saving into buttons, knife handles.
paper-cutters and thousand other
ornaments for boudoir and studio
Americans are beginning to use
this material, and it is thought
that there will be large demand for
pearl shells in few years. They are
worth from $400 to $500 per ton. Bos-
ton buys more of them than any other
city in the United States.
The value of pearls depends entirely
upon their size. shape and color, and
perfect condition. There can never be
an arbitrary schedule of prices agreed
upon, for what one man may be willing
to pay 81, 900 another man would not
be willing to pay a tenth part OF that
sum. The Russian mobiles are espe-
cially fond of rich black pearls, which
scarcely find sale in the United States
except as a matter of speculation tc
send abroad. Sometimes it is weeks
, and even months before hundred
dollars worth of stones are discovered
The choicest pearls that are found during
a season are worth from 81 200 to S5, ,00(
apiece. The cheapest pearls are SOLD
by weight. Generally pearls are about
the size of bullets and found in the soft
oyster near the place where it joins the
shell. Then again, just at the close Of
| a long and Improbable, season an eXpe
rienceGi diver may find few pearls worth
fortune. Strange things happen dowr
| in the wild solitudes of those distant
| fisheries Poor men sometimes find
| pearls that a king might envy, and i
the divers were frugal they could otter
rise above the obscurity of poor pear
/ fishermen; but such successes are gen
orally followed by dissipation, which
soon leaves the man as penniiess as ht
was before.
The Mexican divers of the Gulf 0
California are said to be the most exper
in the world. They go down into deel
water and remain for a long time. Ii
former times many men were lost il
this perilous pursuit after submarine
treasures. English diving suits ar'
said to be the safest and most satisfac
tory, and superior to the celebrated
French armor, but American hose-pipe
are unsurpassed. Several years agt
large number of divers lost their live
in one season because of the defectiv,
English hose tubing. Since then Their
have not been many serious accidents
The loss of life caused by the exposur
and hardships of pearl fishing is consid
cradle, and the men generally retir
after few years of active service t.
spend the rest of their wretched days il
trying to find relief from rheumati
paralysis which generally closes pearl
fishers life. The lower currents of tn
sea, at depth of eighteen or twent
fathoms, are very cold even in th
Ufoplcs- Nllie tile pressure is oppressive
The blood grows cold and thick, S
that the joints stffen, the muscles con
tract, and only the strongest constitu
ton can long survive the hardships c
the pearl-tishing.
The divers see great many sharks
but, as Il rule, they do not fear them
although they sometimes cut or brea
the pipes which supply the men wit
air from the atmosphere above. TIL
danger most dreaded by the brave fish
ermen is the celebrated devil-tish
; "They are all we fear" said the mel
chant. "They lie near the bottom O
the sea. At first sight they seem il
significant and harmless, but if dive
or the air pipes come within their reacl
their long, shadowy tentacles or finger
suddenly clutch the object with q DOW