Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-12-05
FlEsH-WATER PEARL FISHERIES.
Home Production or the Gems---Eow
They are Eti.i%ed--- Forced Pro-
6uction.

Home Production or the Gcms---Now
They are Utilized Norced Pro-
duction.
Cor. Cincinnati Enquirer.]
Later, in conversation with an authority
on pearls, the dealer said: "Fresh-water
pearl fisheries have long been of more or
less Importance III this and other countries.
In the west the best localities have been
found in st. Clair county, Illinois, while
rutherford county, Tennessee, and the Little
Miami, i'll Ohio, have produced many valu-
able pearls, as well as many other streams
from Texas to along the Ohio. One of the
finest pearls was taken few years ago from
stream near Salem, N. j. 1t was over an
inch across and was sold in Paris for over
$4,000
''Do European rivers produce pearlss"
asked the reporter.
In Scotland" said the expert, "there is an
equally good harvest of them; in fact, the
pearls there are better They come princi-
pally from the rivers Tay, Isla, Doom and
others, and the pearls are preferred by some
to their marine fellows. In single summer
pearls valued at $50, 600 have been taken
from the Scotch streams, and 7 believe all
these passed through the hands of Uger, the
great Edinburgh jeweler. The shell that
produces them is the common black unis, SO
rich in pink and silver tints in the interior.
The pearls are formed by small particles of
dust or mud lodging in the inside that are
covered with pearly nacre by the animal At
the hinge OF the shell is a pearly prominence
that is also sawed OFF,
elbow are they util;zedg' asked the re-
porter.
SIN thousand different ways" was the
reply. ''The majority Of these pearls found
in the Ohio valley by the fishermen and their
children find their way to the large manu-
featuring jewelers. of New York, where they
are bought at what seems fair price; but
the toughest piece of pearl, that perhaps the
fisherman received half cent for, sells for
maybe $40. How? Why, just this way
and the speaker took out pin that was made
of a great piece of pinkish pearl, shaped ex-
aetly like an elephant 81 paid $50 for that, u
he said, ''and the pearl part was probably
sold for song; but you see the wholesalers
buy up the pieces and divide them up Some
look like fishes, others horses heads, birds
eggs and animals of various kinds, so, with
out much work, they are mounted up in scarf.
pins, are odd, become the fashion, and the re-
, old pieces are worked off The small perfec.
pearls are much used in onyx iewelry, set in.
'Have there been any attempts to force the
growth OF pearls.' asked the reporter.
ga good many" the dealer replied. ''The
famous naturalist, Linnaus, after observing
: the efforts of the oyster to repel invasion
thought that by boring the shell, in fact
; initiating the parasite, he could force theil
growth, and to this end the Swedish govern
ment paid him 81 800; but it was complete
! failure. The Chinese are, however, success
I full. They seed their oysters and produce
small pearls, and, by placing figures or i'm
ages in the shell, they become fastened ant
covered with pearly lustre in time. This
trick was used by the Buddhists for lone
time, the instigators pretending that it was
natural growth. In Japan the oysters az,
sailed, particularly the fresh-water nussel-
A., uno hyna."