Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-06-01


ut Torris strait diver of Malayan stock
| from Timor in the sea who dives alone from
q slight canoe; he never takes a companion
with him, and always dives in % and even
| 80 fathoms to beds which no others can
reach, and from these untouched fields he
brings the finest pearls. The "basket" Of
the diver is shallow net hung on metal
hoop and weighted by leaden bullets strung
upon the mesh. Twenty shells are counted
| a "basketful, and If an experienced diver
cannot gather that many in one trip below
he seeks richer spot; on good ground the
| expert will bring up three and four basket
| fuls" in the net at once.
DANGERS OF THE WORK.
It is not a trade for men Of weak hearts,
| for the stopped breath and the pressure OF
| 90eet of sea water with its weight OF 62 pounds
the cubic foot will bring on palpitation
| of the heart and burst the weaker vessels,
causing distressing and often dangerous
hemorrhages. But the divers are all stall
wart savages, in such rugged health that the
physiological danger never occurs to them.
Two dangers constantly menace the diver
and he must always keep them in mind, one
in the water one at the bottom. Where
grows the oyster there also thrives the giant
trldachna, a monstrous bivalve whose shell
is from to feet in length, firmly anchored
to the bottom. It lies with its scalloped
shells yawning a foot or more apart. Let
anything soft touch the soft folds of its
mouth and the shells quickly snap together,
and not dozen men out of water could get
them apart, far less the single diver,
fathoms deep, who may have dropped into
them or have inadvertently swept his hand
within its shells when cropping in the gloom.
If such fate befall him there is only one
thing for him to do-to amputate himself
from the enormous molIusk and rise to the
surface, fainting, bloody and mutiIated.
This bottom danger is constant terror to
the diver, the hnpassivity of the great clam
is superior to all his courage, he cannot
fight against a rock that yawns and closes
with such force as to crush his bones to
splinters.
BATTLES WITH SHARKS.
His other foe might seem to the men of
the land a greater menace, but the diver
fears it not at all. This is the man-eater
shark which here grows greater than in any
other sea and is often found with a length
OF 40 feet. The straits fairly swarm with
these great monsters. yet the diver is in no
danger as the stone quickly drags him down,
for his mo ovement is SO rapid that before the
shark can awaken to the knowledge that
there is food in reach, the man has sunk far
below. He is in no danger when at work
gathering the oysters, for these sharks are
not ground feeders and even if they follow
the man to the bottom will simply nose him
as something strange. The danger comes
when the diver rises to the surface, the shark
lowering overhead, sees the man rising from
the green depths.
Then'it becomes q combat between the
man and beast. The diver seeks to gain
the surface for single gulp of air, and
then attacks his enemy. As much in his
own element in the water as the shark he
dives and lodges, keeping always close to
the hungry brute waiting for the chance to
sheath his knife behind the pectoral fin;
then he dives to avoid the death thrashing
of the beast. Hundreds of sharks are killed |
every year by the pearl divers, and some
times years elapse without diver to the |
record Of the sharks.
When the sun is setting the boats return |
to their vessel, the last load of oysters Is |
hoisted aboard, and as the course is laid for |
the rotting ground the tamished divers eat |
enough to make up for their days abstinence.
Landing in stencil of horrible proportions
the crew spread their days take upon the
sand close to that which they got the day
before, and 60 to rest undisturbed by the |
ing they 60 forth for another day in the
water.
THE PRECIOUS HEAPS.
Meanwhile the others terd the precious
heaps ashore, with arms always close at
hand, and casting watchful glances out to
sea, that they may not be taken unawares
by prowling Malay pirates. The shells
caught on any day remain alive for three
days, subsisting on the water inclosed be-
tween their tightly-locked valves. After
the third day the shells open and decay is
rapid. Then comes the time for washing,
and then for the first time the result of the
catch appears. Shells and rotting flesh are
heaped upon a coarse sieve and sluiced with
abundant water, which leaves nothing in
the pan but shells. These are carefully in
spected, and those which contain baroque
pearls cemented to the surface are saved.
The remnant OF flesh is washed in sieves of
even finer mesh, and thus the pearls are
graded as to size. Last OF all the remainder
is lett to soak in a sack of fine gauze, which
holds the pearls and the finest grains of
nacre.
Then come the dealers. who grade the pearls
BY form, putting in the highest grade those
which are truly spherical and those which
have perfect pear shape. After this comes
, grading by water, which is the trans
parency OF the surface, and by orient, which
is the brilliancy OF the matter within.
WILLIAM CHURCHILL.