The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1889-01-19
ABOUT Mo1HER.of-pEARL.
Where the Largest Supplies Of this
Material are Obtained.
Boston Herald.

\ ~A~A~~~SAs
How little people usually .kno1
about many of the things whicl
they have in common use. This i
notably true in the matter of tn
material known as mother-of- pearl
which is used for jewelry, croche
hooks, paper knives, knife handles
and a variety of. other objects
Where does it come from, and how
is it obtained? are questions which
are not readily answered. From 1
writer in La Nature-an agent O
the French Government, sent to in
quire into the matter of the pro
duction of mother-of-pearl-it il
learned that this article is the prin
cipal production of Tahiti; that
this is what stimulates her com
merce and gives rise to the relative
important exchanges which take
place in the far-off lands of Ocean.
lea, and that this is what attracts
those vessels which, for a century
past, have been sailing among the
desolate and wild islands that make
up the archipelagoes of Taumotu,
Gambler and Tuhuai. On account
of its rarity, mother-ofpearl has
always been an object of luxury.
Before navigators wentto that part
of the world which is lost in the
immensity of the Pacific Ocean, it
was still rarer than it is now; it
had more value, perhaps, but it was
assuredly neither more sought for
nor more priced. At present it is
much employed in the manufacture
of many objects, and, like many
other desirable materials, new uses
are being constantly found for it.
The mother-of-pearl employed III
the industries is furnished by the
various species of shell-fshes, the
most esteemed, most iridescent, and
also the most beautiful being that
produced by the pearl oyster.
Again, two sorts of pearl oysters
are distinguished. One of these,
known as the pintadine (meleagrina
margiritifera) is found in China,
the Indies, in the Red Sea off the
Comore Islands, to the southwest
of Australia, in the Gulf of Mexico,
and particularly off the Taumotu
and Gambler Islands. The other,
more commonly known as the pearl
oyster (meleagrina radiate) is found
in the Indies, in the seas of China,
in the sea of the Antilles, in the
Red Sea and to the north of Aus
tralia. The pintadine has a harder,
more azure and more transparent
shell, and one that attains larger
dimensions than that of the latter.
Some have been found that meas
ured as many as IL inches in diam
eter, and weighed more than 20
pounds. The meleagrina radiata
rarely exceeds four inches in it's
largest dimensions, and never
reaches a weight Of five ounces.
The two species furnish pearls. Ac-
cording to the fashion or the pre-
vailing taste, sometimes those of
one are preferred and sometimes
those of the other; nevertheless,
those Of the pintadine have a
brighter lustre and more transpar-
ent and intense tones than those Of
its congener.
1t is difficult, the writer says, to
estimate the money value of the
pearls collected in the French pos
sessions Of Osceanica. In his opin-
ion, it would amount to about $780,
600 year. The most important
market for fine pearls is found in
The pintadine comes from the
tropics. The Archipelago of Tau
motu and Gambler, as already stated,
is the point where it is found in the
greatest abundance. Here it finds
surroundings that are most con-
genial to it. This archipelago,
which was annexed to France at
the same time as the islands of Ia
hiti and Moovea, consists of eighty
islands, almost all of which yield
mother-of-pearl, and seventy-two of
which are inhabited intermittently
by individuals of the Maori race.
This people are said to be industri
Gus, docile, submissive, of mild and
gentle manners, observant ofslaws
and regulations imposed on them,
and are at the same time one of the
poorest classes of people on the
globe. The narrow tongue of land,
or rather the crown Of arid reefs
that surround the lagoon Of these
coral islands, and which is desti-
tute of vegetation, scarcely affords
this people sufficient food for their
and precarious existence.
While the neighboring happy pop
ulation that dwells upon the fortu-
nate shores of the Society Islands
leads a life of ease and pleasure,
where everything grows without La
bor and in abundance, the unfortu-
nate Taumotuan is reduced to the
necessity Of feeding upon the CO.
coanut and a few rare and meagre
seeds of pandanus (nearly the only
fruits on these sandy shores}, fish
and shell fish. which. during several