Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-12-05
FRESH-WATER PEARL FISHERIES.

Home Production OF the Gems--- How
They are gIti,ixe:.---Eorced Fro.
0wcticn.
[Cor. Cincinnati Enquirer
Later, i'll conversation with an authority
on pearls, the dealer said: 'sFresh- water
pearl fisheries have long been of more or
less Importance i'll 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, sthere is an
equally good harvest of them; in fact, the
pearls there are better. They come princi-
pally from the rivers Tay, Isia, Doom and
others, and the pearls are preferred by some
to their marine fellows. In single summer
pearls valued at $40, 600 have been taken
from the Scotch streams, and I 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 tie inside that are
covered with pearly nacre by the animal. At
the hinge of the shell is pearly prominence
that is also sawed of.n
How are they utiliz3ds' asked the re-
porter.
SIN thousand different ways" was the
reply. 1.-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 great piece of pinkish pearl, shaped ex-
actly like an elephant. II paid sector that
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-
suit IS an enormous sale, and in this way the
old pieces are worked off. The small perfect
pearls are much used in onyx iewelry set in. -
"Havo there been any attempts to force the
growth of pearls!' asked the reporter.
"a good many ihe dealer replied. s'The
famous nssaura1lst, 1innseus, after observing
the efforts Of the oyster to repel invasion,
thought that by boring the shell, in fact,
initiating the parasite, he could force their
growth, and to this end the Swedish govern
ment paid him 81, 800; but it was complete
failure. The Chinese are, however, success
full. They seed their oysters and produce
small pearls, and, by placing figures or i'm
ages in the shell, they become fastened and
covered with pearly lustre in time. This
trick was used by the Buddhists for long
time, the instigators pretending that it was a
natural growth. In Japan the oysters are
sailed, particularly the freshwater mussel-
uno hyna,"