Iuka reporter. (Iuka, Miss.) 1888-1894, 1890-12-18
AMERICAN PEARLS.
THEIR HISTORY AND WHERE
THEY ARE FOUND.
Pearls Among the Southern Indians
Finds in the Mounds OF the Ohio
Valley Values, colors, Shapes
and Other Peculiarities.


and Other Peculiarities.
d by popular consent pearl is consid
cred as one OF the gems, although from a
scientific point of view the term should
be restricted to such gems as are of min
eral origin. Pearls have long been
known to the world, and in the Book of
job, which by many is regarded as the
Oldest book in the Bible, we find them
referred to. Wisdom is valued in price
above that of rubics by the sacred
writer, who adds: ''No mention shall
be made of coral or of pearls" Pliny
refers to the lavish use of pearls anon
the Romans in his time, and saws :
''They put them on their feet, and that
not merely on the laces of their sandals,
but they must needs tread upon them
and walk with them under foot as well. +"
Contemporary accounts of Columbus
and OF the great Spanish invaders who
followed him are filled with descrip-
lions of the rich stores of pearls found
in Peru, Mexico and elsewhere. The
stories of pearls found by De Soto are
fabulous. Bancroft and other histor-
ians have told how these gems were
gathered for that unfortunate explorer,
who came to found an empire, but died
and found lonely grave in the mighty
Mississippi River, whose waters he was
the first to discover.
Later we hear of 5000 pearls being
collected from the natives of Virginia
by member of an expedition sent out
by Sir Walter Raleigh, and, indeed,
down to modern times writers continue
in describing the magnificent pearls
found among the Indians. Colonel
Charles c. Jones, in his Antiquities of
the Southern Indians" published in
1873, tells of his having seen specimens
''as large as pepper corns, and not
wanting in beauty
The magnificent specimens still found
along the Gulf of Lower California
readily indicate the source of these
pearls of the early historians. Kunz,
in his Seems and Precious Stones, .
tells of black pearl found in 1881 that
weighed 1872 grains, and was sold in
Paris for 81, 900, while at the Worlds
Fair held in Paris during 1889 there
was exhibited set of seven black
pearls from this district valued at
1872, 900. OF course these pearls are
all obtained by diving, and Browning
has aptlY suggested their vail "a few
lines
''There are two moments to a divers
life--one, when beggar he prepares to
plunge; one, when prince he rises
with his pearl" Robert A. Wilson,
who has written of the fisheries at La
Paz, says: sit is common to see girls
with strings of pearls around their necks
that would bring a large price in London,
and there are women in La Paz who
have pearls of extraordinary value, but
are SO poor that they have not means to
buy food"
But the pearls that are found in fresh
water form an important addition to the
stock of our American jewelers., snd
doubtless it was from this source that
many of the splendid specimens de-
scribed by the Spanish explorers were
obtained. DR.. Isaac Lea of Philadelphia
made special study of the fresh water
mollusks in which pearls occur and gives
list of fifteen varieties of unios in
which pearls may be found. At first the
rivers in Ohio proved to be the chief
source of supply for these fresh wa -cr
pearls, and from near Waynesville in
that State many valuable specimens were
found. Professor Frederick w. Put
nam of the Peabody Museum in Cam
bridge found over ''sixty thousand
pearls-nearly two bushels" in an In
dian mound in the Little Miami Val
ley.
Gradually the sources of pearls have
increased until specimens have been
found in nearly every State in the Union
This year Wisconsin seems to have been
the great source of supply, and recent
account from Chelton County states that
more than three thousand of the gems
have been taken out " of the Manitowoe
River. In one week 5000 pearls were
found, and in one day 200 specimens.
1t is reported that pearls found are of all
colors, and that experts place high
value on some of the choicest of them.
Several Wisconsin pearls are in the pos
session OF Tiffany & Co. in this city,
which they value at 5000.
Thirty years ago New Jersey was the
great source of unto pearls, and one
weighing ninety three grains was found
at Notch Brook, near Paterson 1t be-
came known as the "Queen PEARL" and
was purchased by Tiffany & Co., who
gave the finder 81, 900 and watch and
chain forit. Subsequently it was sold to
the Empress Eugene of France for 3d.
500, and to-day is considered worth four
times that amount.
In older States fine specimens are now
seldom found, on account of the unfor-
tunate contamination of the water courses
by sewerage and factory refuse, so that
the pearl -bearing mussels are not so
abundant as formerly Kentucky and
Tennessee have proved fruitful sources Of
supply, and from Texas in recent years
several very handsome specimens have
been obtained.
As a rule, fresh water pearls lack the
luster which is the great characteristic
Of the Oriental and saltwater pearls, but
the former are highly valued for their
oddity and prismatic colors. Kunz, in
his book on American gems, in describ-
ing the color of the unto pearls, says:
"They present an extended series of
shades, from dead opaque white, having
but little value, through various tints OF
pink, yellow and salmon, passing through
a more decided form of these colors, or a
faint purple, into bright red, so closely