St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1891-10-10

NGTON, ST. TAMMA,
MODERN PEARL FISHING.
Ne Week h the Gulf Of Calisorni, a n 4
Now Conducted.
''Whatever Of romance has hitherto
enshrouded the naked fisher for pearls
in the sea, he is now practically q sub
marine laborer who is equipped with
all the modern paraphernalia for div
Ing"
So writes IN agent Of the United
States fish commission Of the pearl fish
crman in the Gulf of California in . re-
port upon the industry about to be pub
lished.
According to his account, the pearl
and pearl shell fisheries of the gulf,
which are among the most important
In the world, are farmed out BY the
Mexican government to q concern in
San Francisco called the Pearl Shell
Co. of Lower California The latter EN-.
ploys from four to FIVE hundred men.
Fishing begins early in May and is car
ried on until December. working along
the east coast of the peninsula and up
the Pacific side as far Is Margarita
island.
Instead Of plunging. after the old
fashion. for brief sixty or ninety sec
onds at . time into the sunlit green
water that cover the oyster banks, the
diver puts on q rubber suit with glass
fronted helmet, suitably weighted with
lead, and descends to the bottom, where
he gathers the treasure-bearing bivalves
at his leisure. He is supplied with air
for breathing purposes through q rub
Der tube by companions in q boat
above, and it is their task also to
pull up the loaded wire basket as
fast as he fills it During the first
year or two after the introduction
of this apparatus the company
lost its divers at the rate of one q
month by drowning, owing in nearly
every instance to . break in the air
tubing; but such accidents no longer
occur. partly because defective English
tubing has been discarded in favor of q
superior quality manufactured in New
York city. An accessory to the diving
suit has also been added in the shape
of . small sheet iron reservoir Of COM
pressed air. which can instantly be
made to supply the man with five min
utes' breathing material in case of q
breakdown Of the machine. Its connec-
tion with the divers helmet is effected
by the simple turning of q cock. Ow-
ing TO the pressure of water in the
depths and the weights necessary to
overcome buoyancy, the novice dressed
in this armor has as much difficulty in
maintaining the perpendicular on the
bottom rs q child that stands alone for
the first time.
In conducting the fishery the divers
are located in camps at favorable
places along the shore. Each camp is
supplied with diving suit and an air
machine which is mounted in heavy
barge-like boat This boat is daily
rowed from camp to the place of opera
tion. Arrived there, one man is diver,
one tends his signal rope. one hoists
and empties his basket of shells, two
turn the cranks of the air pump and
two are at the oars to keep the boat
over him and carefully follow his wan
dering course upon the bottom in
search of shells Thus it requires sew
cral persons to operate each diving out
ft. young boys being frequently en-
ployed rs attendants The diving suits
are mostly imported from London.
About thirty of them are kept in con.
slant use during the season. They cost
9 ~f
schoonerS ranging from twenty to $50
tons, are employed in distributing. the
diving squads over the area being
supplying them with provi-
sions and transporting their ever-ac-
heaps of shells to the store
houses at La Paz.
The diver. having all the time he
wants for his work, can select at his
leisure the oysters for his basket
dim and grecnish, the light is
sufficient at depth of dozen fathoms
or more for seeing what he is about.
The bivalves. which are the true pearl
oysters. though resembling not at all
the edible variety, are found always
edge upward. and usually in groups.
II is the work Of moment to cut them
away from the rocks by severing the
byssus by which each is fastened It
IS all . gamble. Sometimes . days
work will not yield q single pearl of
size, while again q score of shells may
contain twenty thousand dollars worth.
Tho oysters, having been taken ashore,
are opened under official inspection.
the final process with each one being
10 squeeze the meat in the fist lest,
perchance. it hold gem in its tissue.
The pearls secured are stored in q
,afe at La Paz, preliminary to shipping
hem to San Francisco They are sepa-
rated into grades, according to size and
the great majority being lit
lie, imperfect and of not much value.
One the size Of q bluebird's egg is =
yreat prize, and If without flaw is worth
,nc thousand dollars perhaps The
black ones are all sent to Europe, be-
.ause over there they fetch larger
prices than the white ones, although in
he United States they are not equally
1t may be mentioned in
that the biggest pearl known
S two inches in length and weighs three
ounces.
The principal revenue of the COM
,any, however. is not derived from |
,earls. but from the shells of the pearl |
oysters, the bulk of which are shipped |
o Europe, where they are sold for
rom ten to twenty cents . pound. and
ne made into ornaments, knife handles,
buttons, and all those articles for |
which fine grade Of mother-of-pearl
5 employed. It is perhaps. unneces-
ary TO refer to the fact that the pearly |
Material which lines the shell is pre-
isely the same substance IS that which. |