Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-12-02
KENTUCKY. PEARL HUNTERS.
The Men Who Follow the Business
cnsfonallx Find a Valuable StOn.


From the ST. Louis Globe Democrat.
The continued dry weather of the past
summer and fall, which has caused many
Of the creeks and rivers of Kentucky to
90 rearly dry, has been very favorable to
the pearl hunters in the Cumberland and
other rivers, and quite a number of fine
specimens have been found. especially in
the Cumberland river which seems to be
the most productive of pearl-bearing mus
sells. One of the, well-krown pearl hunters
told a correspondent that he had found
several pearls curing the past summer that
were worth from s75 to 800 each, and
large lot of smaller and cheaper ones.
The leading pearl hunters, who prospect
w, and down the Cumberland, send their
pearls to Chicago. Philadelphia and New
York. Several years ago an old man pick
Ell up mussel from a sand bar in the
Cumberland river, near Point Burnside,
station on the Cincinnati Southern railroad
and upon opening the oyster-like bivalve
found a magnificent pearl Of fine size ana
color. A pearl hunter who ran across the
old man shortly afterward. and to whom
he showed the gem, at once recognized the
value of it, and bought 1t for a trifing sum-
afterward selling 1t for $500. Such finds as
this, however, are few and far between.
The pearl hunters work whenever the
water is not too cold for them to wade in
They find the mussels lying on the sand
tars pick them up and, prying them open,
feel for the pearl, and If there is no pearl
drop the mussel back into its place in the
river. The pearl is found clinging to the
walls of the mussel's shell and close to the
mouth of it. The large majority of the
pearls, a matter of course, are oddly
shaped and irregular in form, and for that
reason are worthless.
Now and then pearls of beautiful color
are found, but useless because of lack of
ia
fourd and put upon the market by these
wandering pearl hunters. vary in size from
the dimensions of the head of a pin to the
size of a pea, and bring from 80 cents to
$50 apiece. Few of them reach the $50
mark, however.
The pearl hunter who searches the Ken
lucky streams is usually Shiftless. easy
going fellow, who is at home most at any
place, and makes his bed upon the bank of
the stream readily as he would in the
r1ost deliberately furnished mansion. When
he has good luck on trip he waits until
all of his money is gone before he strikes
out upon another journey. Now and then
a more busness-lke operator is found,
who will carry a camping outfit and live
in true sportsmanlike style while at work.
The pearl hunters say that one reason
why the streams of Kentucky are more
productive of pearls than the rivers in
some other states is because of the lime
stone bedrock, which seems more adapted
to the purposes of the pearl-bearng mus
sells than the formation underlying many
streams in other sections of the country.
Pearl mussels are, therefore, found in near
ly every waterway in the blue grass state,
but for some reason only comparatively
small number of men are engaged in the
hunting of them, which frequently pays
great deal better than most any form of
labor. The excitement attendant upon the
industry. too. has something of the effect
of the fascination of the diamond fields. for
the next one" is always expected to be
$500 beauty One OF the most valuable
f0llnl
pearl hunters say, came from the Miami
river, in Ohio.