The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1884-11-15
PEARLS.

W a = --Ralsdm Shdsp, " Huapcrss Mdcasiaae.
Y3.Ia3 s=eSS44 l---lzs4s-iE - ;aos
? . +. $50; r.. ,7,s., s.: PEARLS. s =
y. -, ~ a4,,k -. ~ ----7-F Fs14aA %
Their origin ana the yvaysm which
= TlleY, ares Gathered-An Important
|. - Scotch Anduasry-V&lusble Finds
Artificial RheductIOn Possible.
Z The Apearly is 50 associated with the
2 Orientthat it'sOunds like q geographical
blFhaef to read that the Lay pearl fish
cries have openedNtith usual prospects
OF success Yet the theme of so many
pots and the object of-so much extrava-
igance has, perhaps, been almost as. long
T7- sought for in the Scottish rivers as in
the remoter seas of the Easty Great
Britain was at one time celebrated for
its pearls, and-We-have the authority of
Spetonius for raftiTTpiHg fEat it was the
repntationf bf 0NrAis islands for the possess
49, sion of these treasures that stimulated
|. 2 Cesar to uRdertake fhemost fanpus in
vasion Of which historX has preserved
any repoRGk III We ere 1oId that after he
ronquered England he presentedFa as a
i thank-offering TO Venus 'Genetrix q
buckler, eoYered. withkpeafls, which was
hung up in her temple. Whether these
" we're actually obtained from Britain
dannot now be decided; but there is no
doubt that, though aPliny refers in dis
paraging terms to the small size and
poor water of the Northern margarine, .
the patrician ladies of Rome were glad
!, to barter the spoils of many plundered
Kingdom for the ornaments which in
more modern times. have fallen into
such disrepute. At no time, however,
during at least eighteen hundred years
have Britishspearls altogether ceased to
he amohg the commodities of COM
n1erce.s Specimens are said to exist
q a among the Scottish ssrDWn Jewels, and
\ = one itori the Conway, u Pfesented by
Sir Richard Wynn to the Queen of
Charles IL, ranks as an ornament of tie.
British crown. In our day large num-
beers have been purchased by the Queen
% and Empress Of the French, and the
'A' Weather of the Scottish ladies have al
ways set the fashion of encouraging the
trade by wearing bracelets, necklaces
and rings set with native pearls, and
since the Lead hills and the Strath of
4 sKildSnan still yield the precious metal
Fsee in gold which has never crossed
~ the sea. .ti''
The pearl Of the fresh-water mussel
} is fouad in almost every river where the
ID mollnsls.in question can prosper, though
! : naturally sullen streams, with many
uhdisturbed pools and muddy bottoms,
are most Favorable to their growth.
Hence we have. pearls from Norway and
Sweden, from the rivers Of Tyrone and
Wenega 4fa from naahY ut the streams
t1of the Northwest of England and Wales.
4 Very fine specimens also come MoldaA
~ and WUttawa, in Bohemia, and for ages
afreah-water pearl .fishetR has existed
in the Iltz, in Bavaria, from which at
llA ~. 41,a
tiHental jewellers. N I, y,ia FL
It. is, however, mainly In Scotland
: sthat the business is followed with any
- thing like system. Far ages the .Tay,
Doom, Don, .Teith, Forth, Ythan, Spey,
Ugie and Earn have proved more or less
fruitful, the dull season being compen-
sated for by those in which d gem of
more than ordinary value has beenfished
up In all these rivers and in some of
., smaller importance, a few people-gen-
orally old men, women, and children
are engaged during the summer months
in searching for the mussels, buoyedHlp
by hope of finding in one out of fifty or
sixty the object they are eager TO OBJ
tain. Indeed, ever since Mr.. Unger i'm
parted a stimulus to the business. some
of 1.-THE smaller Streams have been SO
ovkr3shed-as 10 render the labor of
- searching the mud scarcely remunera-
tia In the River Earn, atributafy to
the Tay, in some parts of the Tay ITSELF
and in the Doom, it is, however, still
worth following, mussel-g gathering being
among certain families not only trade,
but their sole means of livelihood.
A more agreeable. pursuit Of the man
ual order can scarcely be Imagined, so
Iobg as the days are long, and the sun
is warm, and the shady river lovely
with the umbrageous' foliage of mid
summer and early aaltamn. Pearl-fish-
ing in Scotland has, moreover, much of
the gambling excitement attendant on
the pearl-6sbing of the East, without
the injury I'd, health and the imminent
danger Of sa4ocation and sharks which
impart p3rlous emotion to that
fearfully suicidal calling as. practiced
off the coast Of Ceylon, in tho Persian
Cult and in the Bay Of Panama. AS
Icy Sed in the Earn or the. Doom it is
4 Ut of fact aa pleasant . ---.s,:z
&iurins 2 Z III day, intlnitely "a. "a Il
,se;-s Il fhe wost of times. an ,s,,e,
Hr9ssasle TOYS 81 ii Ii North aee9
~ xo,,ga weather, bare teeI, 49, srarcel
oIon tyaams LAYING t4eir legs, ~; 4;, IN
q risky to the constl tHslo1s Ma citize
sslo,on Is 90 the va - Flowinr
ssI1b ID afraid Of the Nlnu .hs'year. Al
Nm fbF eleven montns = sne ;,srs ssor
- tlse twelfth IN the Joy ny s,,r
sfsbeTweed. PeaEl-hshing 7, 'eS'sS