The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-07-28
CHIsEsE sHsLL PIcKEKs.

and Children Who With Bowl and Iron
 Rod skirmish Along thS BsAehos-seed
 Pearis and Mother of Peari-sheiiworh
 Ornaments. Table Ware and Figures.
 From tho New York Sum-
 At low tide all along the China coast, but more especially on the barren
 shores Of Fokien can be seen tens Of thousands of natives busily picking shells and other things left by the re- eeding waters. The picture is nearly always a pretty one. The groups are composed of men. women and children. The men are few in number. and work with as little clothing as modesty per mits. They are red-bronze in color. erect. spare. sInewy and graceful.
 The women make e special toilet for the occasion. The head is bare and the black hair oiled and brushed until 1t shines like furnished ebony. The back hair Is decorated with metal pins. enamel pendants and artificial flowers. A neat coat of dark color falls to below the hips. and a pair of old trousers which can be rolled up to the thighs completes the costume. They have beautiful legs and feet. these working women of China. Each toe Is separate and shapely, the instep Is high. the an- kle small, the calf we'll curved and the knee round and dimpled.. The skin varies in color. from white to rich brown, and is smooth as velvet.
 To see them in a group among the rocks at low tide. some stooping till their foreheads almost touch the ground, others half kneeling. and still others striding from stone to stone, is a charming picture.
 As for the children, those of China are much like home. They are as noisy, boisterous. playful and spirited, and, 1t must be added, trifle better be- haved. They seldom fight or quarrel at any time.
 When shell picking they work hard fifteen minutes and then romp and play half an hour. Big boys and girls car ry littles ones on their backs. Babies are strapped to the waists and the shoulders of their brothers and sisters. The strength and patience displayed is admirable. An urchin of five, who does not weigh more than fifty pounds, will carry an infant of twenty pounds on his back four hours at stretch and never cease laughing and testing dur ing the entire time.
 Juvenile modesty is not in vogue in the far east. The favorite costume of the small boy and small girl alike when shell fishing is a necklace. Young maids of nine and ten supplement this with a light sash around the waist. The children go in packs rather than groups. Twenty or thirty of them to- gether on a few rods of shingles or under the piers of jetty make an ami mated picture often seen.
 The implements are very simple and consist of bowl. small or large, and a sharp-pointed irop or steel rod. The shell picker has no fads or fancies, but attacks every shell encountered. Some times, though rarely, he runs across a good sized clam, conch or terebra, and great is. his. rejoicing. A large conch is godsend.. The meat is regarded as a great luxury. and brings from five to twenty cents; the shell can be readily sold to 8 Chinaman for a cent and to a European for five. The total value of the find, therefore, ranges from six to twenty-five cents. In this country, where the wages of strong man vary between six and twelve cents day, this is very large amount of money.
 When it comes to finding 8 pearl oys- ter or spiked conch, which is equiva- lent to a fve-dollar note or two months wages, the happy discoverer can find no words to express his delight. He goes home speeches. to his family. shows his treasure trove, and then al- lows them to do the celebrating for him.
 Usually the shell fisher goes from shell to shell, prying each open with his pointed rod and transferring the flesh to his bowl. He is as quick and skill ful as an oyster stabber in the Fulton market. In an hour he has filled the bowl to the hrtm. ss'
 All the lower forms of marine life seem to be equally welcome. Oysters, clans, snails, squids, small fry, mus sells, scollops, razors, sea slugs, ,shrimps, and prawns are but 8 few of the forms he utilizes as food Some are as large as cent but the great majority are about the size of a pea. The mixture of sea life makes good food, appetizing, and cheap.
 The workingman who cannot spend an hour or two at low tide to d6 his own shellflAh gathering can purchase . bowlful for cent and fraction.
 In opening the shells the operator keeps his eyes and attention on the alert. Besides the little animal within there may be pearl. In addition to this many shells can be sold for the nacre they contain, and still others have a slight value for manufacturing f1S~
 If there ib a pearl, it is promptly con- cealed in the mouth or about the cloth ing. If the shell is valuable it is washed and carefully preserved. It is seldom that pearls of even moderate value are discovered, but seed pearls of a very common sort are constantly found. They are sold as low as a cent apiece, and are used in cheap embroid- cries and other personal ornaments The numbers of>these seed pearls are They are 50 cheap that the poorest coolie can purchase them by the dozen for his wife and children, while farmer or shopkeeper may buy B thousand without being extravagant.
 In the utilization of the shell after the 1 edible portions have been removed the