The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-13
MIDDLE KINGDOM CURIOS.
JeWelry, CrOCkeTy and Buttons Made
From Oyster Shells.

The Chinaman at Home Throws Away
Nothing Wonderful Work in Silver
Carving Silver More Priced Than
Gold in Chjna-The Honesty Of Chi
nese Silversmiths.
DR.. Edward Bedloe, Of Philadelphia,
consul of the United States at Annoy,
China, who recently furnished through
the medium of the consular reports so
graphic and amusing description of the
insect annoyances his successor would
have to contend with, deals with more
pleasing subjects in his latest reports.
DIR. Bedloe is collector of Judgment and
experience, hence his observations of the
curios of the middle kingdom have been
from more intelligent standpoint than
that of the average American in China,
who stumbles over oddities without recog-
MIXING them. And these observations he
has from time to time embodied in his
official reports. The consular reports for
August, advance sheets of which have
been issued, contains a long letter from
Consul Bedloe, in which he says:
NOTHING WASTED IN CHINA
Nothing, even the shells of the sea
goes to waste in the extreme Orient life
is too fierce. Everything no matter how
humble, is utilized in some way. Thus,
for example, nearly every form of shellffsh
is used for food After the extraction of
the living organism the shells are not
thrown away, as in the western world.
Some are reserved for the button-naker /;
others for the glue boiler. At least
dozen industries are supported by what we
would call the refuse Of shells. When
these industries have exhausted the raw
material what remains is sold to the
Iime-kiln and the kitchen gardner.
There are few, if any, shell
mounds in the Fiowery Empire. One
family of the univalves (the Strombus)
is used for making fish horns, TOW trump
cts, war horns, and the like. The animal
is extracted and sold in the market. The
shell is boiled, scraped and dried and the
minor apex or spindle cut of at an obtuse
angle with the axis of the warped sur
face. The resultant shape is a success,
so far as the production of noise Is con-
cerned. AS musical instrument it is o
dire failure. The toy trumpets emit
squeaks which may please the juvenile
ear, but not any other.
The fish horn is on par with the tin
monstrosities with which Christmas is
celebrated. The war horns, heavy and
awkward, give hollow roar, more like
the below Of a stray calf than call TO
glory. All of the implements Of disson-
ance are durable and cheap. You viii
see fish horns which have been used by
father, son and grandson, until the rough
exterior has been polished by years of
handling into pearly enamel In the
country districts the farmers wife uses
1t to call her husband home, and the
herdsman to attract a lingering or stray
ing charge. In ancient times the she'll
war horns were in common use. Military
progress has replaced them with brass,
especially on the coast In the far interior
shell horns are still employed.
JEwELRY or SHELLS.
Another and ingenious way of using
shells Is as buttons, sleeve links and hair
pin heads. For this purpose q small shell
Is employed, ranging from one-fourth of
an inch 10 an inch In diameter. It is
cleaned and polished and half filed with
molten solder. Before the metal cools a
wire loop or hairpin Is inserted in the
middle Of the molten mass. The loop be-
comes the shank Of the button, which is