The Arizona sentinel., 1886-09-11
CORAL FISHING.

Exceedingly Hard Work Performed by
 Frugal Neapolitan or Genoese Sailors.
 The value of coral depends on its color and its size: The white or rose tinted variety stands highest in popular esteem, perhaps chiefly because it is the rarest. It is mostly found in the Straits of Messina and on some parts of the African and Sardinian coasts. The bright red coral, in which the polyps are still living when it is fished up, stands next in value. Dead coral has a duller tint, and is consequently sold at a lower price Two entirely different substances bear the name of black cor al. One of them is not, property speak ing, coral at all. and it is commercially worthless, as it breaks into flakes in stead of yielding to the knife, though it is often sold as a costly curiosity to fore; gners. The other is the common red coral, which has undergone sea change, probably through the decom- position of the living beings that once inhabited it. It is not much admired in Europe, but in India it commands high prices, so that large quantities of it are exported every year. These are the four important distinctions of color, though they, of course, include inter med ate tints, which rank according to their clearness and brilliancy.
 The size is still more important matter. The thickness of the stem of the coral plant-we use the commercial and entirely unscientific expression determines its price, and many branch of red coral is valued more highly on account of its thickness than a smaller piece of the choicer rose color. The reason for this is clear. A large straight piece of material affords an op- portunity to the artifice; a crooked one, if it is only bulky enough. can at least be turned into large beads; mere points and fragments can only be used for smaller ones, or made into those horns which are said to be invaluable against the evil eye, but which do not command a high price in the market, perhaps be- cause it is overstocked.
 The instrument with which the coral is taken consists of two strong beams of hard wood, which are fastened together in the form of cross by metal clasp ingS, to which q weight is added. Strong hempen nets are fastened to the arms. When a bank is reached this pr mitive instrument is lowered, and moved up and down against the sub marine rocks by means of a capstan turned by the whole of the boats crew. except the padrOne, who directs the movement of the apparatus by means of a second rope, which is attached to the chief one some feet above the point where the latter is secured to the center of the cross The of the nets, and remain hanging in them. Those that are broken of by the woodwork are usually lost. In some places, espec ally on the coast of Sar- dinia, the end of the arms is surmount- ed by a circle of curved iron teeth, like those of a garden rake, but larger and stronger, below which open nets are suspended. In this case the beams are nearly double the length of those gen erally used by the largest boats, as they often measure six or seven meters that is, nearly eight yards end to end. It is only by this means that coral can be obtained from the lower surface of shelving rocks; but the teeth are apt to fracture the stems in such way as to render them almost worthless; and so this form the instrument is rarely used where the other can be employed.
 The banks, or rather rocks, that are most ire Iuently visited lie at depth of from 250 to 450 feet below the surface of the water; it is very rarely that an attempt is made to reach those which