The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-01-19
THE PEARL DIVER.
THE MAN WHO PERILS HIS LIFE TO
ACORN BEAUTY.
His Work and Wages-Methods of PEARL
Shell Fishing-Diseases Which Follow
the Occupation-The West
Australia Fisheries.
lCincinnati Enquire-.l

1
belonging to the colony of Queensland, are
situated 200 miles from Brisbane and more
| than 2,Oc0 miles from the city of Sydney
! Torres straits are about eighty miles in
width and separate Queensland from the
| island of New G:Iinea. They lie between
the parallels degrees - minutes and 10 de
! gTees 10 minutes south latitude The navi-
! CATION of the straits, although said to be
! safe and practicable, is in fact very diff
cult, on account OF the innumerable islands,
reefs and shoals scattered through them.
| a good diver can earn from $50 to $50
per month. He usually signs signs shipping
| articles for period not exceeding three
years at q fixed sum per month and interest
in the catch or lay. Mr.. Bayne of Sydney,
the owner OF important station at Prince
of Wales island, and who for many years
has been engaged in peaFl-shell fishing states
that several divers in his employ have
earned as much as $500 per month The
divers and crew are composed of South Sea
islanders and Malays and few Chinese and
Lascars. The diver is the captain of the
boat, and the men have TO obey his orders
The duties of the tender consist in waiting
ON the diver, helping him TO dress
and looking after him while in the
water. The pay OF the tender is from
SO to Sl2 per month, with a small interest
in the catch, generally from one-sixtieth to
one-eigitieth part of the value of the shell
tenders, who compose the crew. The tend
ers are shipped in regular ships articles,
and are paid off like any other merchant
seamen
METHOD or FISHING.
The method III pearl fishing is for num-
Der OF vessels to start out together and fish
tie same ground. Each vessel carries
supplies to last fortnight When in about
eight fathoms of water, if the tide is slack,
the diver will jump overheard.
His boots are hesSily weighted with
lead so as to hasten his descent
Upon reaching the bottom he walks
leisurely along until he comes to patch of
shells, then lie signals to theSboat to cast
anchor. He carries with him sack or bag
to bold the shell, and rs soon as it is filled it
is lifted up, cmptied out and sent down to
him again, he being able to remain under
water several hours ~ q time. Some divers
remain down faom . o'clock in the morn
ing until O'Clock in the afternoon
The shell lies open On the ground, and
great care is required in handling it, for is
touched in the wrong way it will close upon
the hand ike q vice. Accidents of this
kind not infrequently happen to inexper-
fenced divers, who are obliged to signal
those above to lift them up and remove the
shell from their hands
THE TRUE PEARL OYSTER
The monsoons, which blow in the straits
from May until the end of September are
often so severe that boats have to Law up for
as much as ten days at time The average
catch for each boat is from one to one and a
half tons Of shell per month. Unlike the
fisheries III Ceyion and the Persian gulf,
there is little or no difficulty in removing
the shell, for it either lies loose on the ground
or is only partially buried III the mud or
sand. The fisheries of the coast of West
Australia, and especially at Sharks bay,
t1Nn
Avicula Margaritifera. For long
time this shell was supposed to he val
useless Oh account OF its thin and fragile
structure, but now there is n great demand
for it both in America and in Europe. 1t
is especially priced by the French and Ger
man artists for fine inlaid cabinet work
A mass of pearls in the form of a perfect
cross was found ii Nickel BAY West Aus
tralia, last year, each pearl being the size of
large pea, and perfect in form and color
The oysters in the West Australia fisheries
are generally removed by passing an iron
dredge over the banks but divers are also
employed. Pearl oysters are gregarious in
their habits, and whenever one is met with
it is almost certain that vast numbers of
others will lso found in the immediate neigh
borhood.
TILE DIVERS OCCUPATION
Divers arc expert swimmers, and they 90
down to depth of four or five fathoms,
where it is said some of them can remain
two minutes The occupation is an I'M
healthy one, and soon produces deafness and
diseases of the chest and lungs. Blood not
infrequently flows from the mouth, ears and
nostrils after the usual dip of forty or fifty
seconds, which Is repeated fifty or sixty
times day. The men also run the risk of
being eaten by sharks, although death from
this cause is not apt to occur, except in I'M
tried fishing ground, rs the noise of the
divers is almost certain to drive the sharks
away. The authorities of Queensland have
often been unjustiy censured for allowing
the natives to follow the occupation of div
ing.
Mr.. Henry N. Chester, the resident mag
istrate at Thursday island, says in a recent
report or the fisheries that the natives are
never overwolked. and that they are ALWAYS
We'll fed and kindly treated. He further saws
that payment IS usually made them in
blankets, clothing. knives, hatrhets and
beads, and that whenever they are dissatis-
fed with what they receive they seek otEer |
employment. Mr.. Chester is of the opinion
that the competition for their services is of |
such q character TO invariably secure for !
them fair treatment. III the available !
adult population of the island are employed /
swimming divers, under ''the masters
ana servants act" and, while their pay is !
snail, 1t is made in the presence of the To- /
cal authorities, and all the old men, women /
and children receive food in seasons of /
SANITY.
NJ. Chester admits, however, that the oc-
cu.2itioa OF a diver is dangerous, and not
nj all conducive To longevity, but adds that /
the los of life among the natives from such /
causes is More Than cUunJerbalanced by the /.
abundant supply OF wholesome food given /
them, and by the decrease in infanticide
and other savage practices to which they |
were formerly addicted.
What Physician Says.