The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1885-07-07
AMERICAN PEARLS.
How They Are Obtained from the Lower
California Fisheries.

ntOSt VI IhC 'dludulC SCLuS LOuuu III
the fisheries of Baia California have
been sent to Paris, the great pearl mar
ket of the world. About all the COM
petition that exists is confined to few
French houses, which have agents at
La Paz, who buy up the stones as fast
as found. 1t seems strange indiffer-
ence on the part of the United States to
treasures so easily within her reach, not
to mention the merchants of England
and Germany, that France is permitted
to secure all these gems for a nominal
sum. and then sell them again to these
same countries ut an enormous adj
vance.
1t is difficult to approximate the value
of the Gulf of California fisheries, be-
cause the fishers themselves place a
mere nominal value on the pearls in
their consular invoices before sending
them to Europe. Thus a superb gem,
which may sell for $500 when first torn
from the red hand of the coral reef,
will bring in Paris from $1,000 to
50, 900. Yet, with the haphazard policy
that has always prevailed, the annual
yield of the g~f beds is estimated ut not
less than $3.50, 900 worth, while five
times that amount would more fifty rep
resent the real value of the pearls rs
sold in Europe. The frequent occur
renee of black pearls in these fisheries
has given them unusual Importance.
those gems being now the rage on the
Continent, to be worn by people in
mourning. Rare and beautiful pink
pearls are also occasionally brought up.
more valuable than diamonds of equal
size. During the year 1888 several not
able specimens were found. Among
them was light-brown pearl. fecked
with darker shades, which weighed
sixty-five karats, its estimated value
being $4,000. 1t was brought
up by Manuel Urbano. and
purchased by the pearl firm
of Gonzales & Ruffo. who sent it to
Paris. Another. found by Napoleon
Savin, was pear-shaped, white. shot
with dark specks. 1t weighed forty
four karats, and sold for $500. At
the same time Messrs- Pablo, Hidalgo
& Co, pearl merchants of La Paz,
secured another gem from some I'M
known Indian diver for which they
paid $40 and received s., 800 for it in
France. 1t was oval shape. of light
sandy color, perfect in contour and
brilliant in luster, weighing thirty-twO
karats. That lucky diver, Sayin. found
two other treasures last year, weighing
respectively forty-five and thirty-one
karats, which together, because of their
surprising luster. brought $1,000.
But the most famous treasure of all
was secured years ago near Loreto by
a Mexican diver. who came up into the
sunshine with the loveliest gem of the
sea grasped in his dusky hand. a per-
feet pearl, weighing 100 karats, which
may to-day be seen in the royal crown
of Isabel the Catholic.
The profit of the fisheries is by no
means limited to the pearls them
selves. The shells are also coveted.
the poorest selling upon the spot for
from 10 II cents per pound, while
in Europe, where the lining of the
shells is worked into buttons and knife
handles. they bring from 20 to so
cents per pound. MANY OF the larger
shells are shipped to San Francisco.
where, a. mother-of-pearl, they find
ready sale at from S1..0 to 10 per
pound. For centuries the Gulf coast
has been noted for its genealogical
beauties, but the shells of the pearl
fisheries are most highly priced, some
of them being fully fifteen inches wide,
and marvelOusly beautiful when pol
ished. One may find them for sale in
IL. ehnN1 70 faI lr,,e
prices, with birds, flowers or land
scapes deliberately carved upon them.
The meat of the pearl oysters, though
unstable in the American market, is
also made a source of profit, being
readily bought by Cinnamon, who dry
the leathery little biyalveS. or seal them
up in cans and send them to their
brethren III China or in San Francisco.
Those scions of the Flowery Kingdom,
who reside in great numbers around the |
gulf, are never employed as divers, but |
are engaged in the unsavOry occupation
of digging and shipping guano from !
caves and rock-bound |
coasts, where sea-birds have been de- |
posting it for centuries. 1t is we'll |
known fact that pearls are sometimes
produced by means that are partly arti- |
fetal, especially in the Japanese fisher !
les. That gem of puresr ray serene so
priced by admirers of precious stones in |
ali ages of the world. is but the result |
Of some lesion suffered by the oyster,
It's solidified tear of suffering. Hence |
an injury is often purposely inflicted by |
between the shells small
stone or shot or bit of gravel, and then
The oysters are again put to bed. This
process Is said to be successful in pro-
iucing great quantities of pearls, but
hose thus formed are inferior in luster
and less desirable for marketable pur-
poses. No such attempts have been
made in the Mexican fisheries, for those
supplied by nature are sufficiently nu-
merous- Francisco Cor. NJ Y |
Sun.
From a research into some old docu-
nents it is learned that before the rev.
II