Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1896-02-05
AMERICAN PEARLS.
SOME VALUABLE FINDS IN KEN
TUCKY STREAMS.
Men Who Stake Business Of Scar
ing for the Pearl-Bearing Mus
sels-A Fascinating But Un-
certain Occupation.
UYHE d-y weather of the past

a. y suumer and fall, which
/ caused many of the creeks and
riyGrs in Kentucky to go
nearly dry, yas veryifavorable to the
pesri hunters in the Cumberland and
other rivera, and quite e number of
fine specimens have been found, es-
peciaily in the Cumberland River.
which seems 70 be the most produo.
tive of pearl.braring mussels. One Of
tie well-knowu pearl hunters told the
writer that b. had found several
pearls during the past summer that
were worth from $75 to 500 each,
and o large lot Of smaller and cheaper
ones.
The leading pearl hunters, who
prospect up and down the Cumber-
land, send their pearls to Chicago,
Philadelphia and New York, Tiffany
getting the best of them. Several
years ago an old man picked up
mussel from q sandbar in the Cumber.
land River near Point Burnside, d sta
tion on the Cincinnati Southern Rail
road, and upon opening the oyster
like bivalve found magnificent pearl
of fine size aud color. A pearl hunt
er who ran across tho old man shortly
sfterward, and to whom he showed
the gem, at once recognized the value
of it, and bought it fer small sum,
afterward selling it Tor $500. Such
finds as this, however, are few and far
between.
The pearl hunters york whenever
the water is not too cold for them to
wade ,,in 1t. They fad the mussels
lying on the sandbars, pick them up,
and prying them open, .'feel" for the
pearl, and if there is 10 pearl, drop
the mussel back into sts place in the
river. The pearl is found clinging to
the wall of the mussePs shell, and close
to the mouth of it. The large major
ity of the pearls, as 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 desirable form.
The round pearls, usually found and
put upon the market by these wander
ing pearl hunters, vary in size from
the dimensions of the head of pin to
the size of pea, and bzing from fifty
cents to $50 apiece. Few of them
reach the $50 mark, however.
Tho pearl hunter who searches in
Kentucky streams is usually shiftless,
easy-golng fellow, who is at home
most any place, and nakes his bed
upon the bank of the stream as read
lily as he would in the roost elaborate
ly furnished mansion. When he has
good luck on trip he waits until all
MS money is gone before he strikes
out upon another journey. Now and
then more business-l;ke operator is
found. who will carry 8 camping out
it, good tent, etc., ana live in true
sportsmanlike style while at work.
The pearl hunters say that one rea-
son why the streams OF Kentucky are
more productive of pearls than the
rivers in some other States is because
of the limestone BED rock, which
seems more adapted to the purposes of
the pearl bearing mussels than the
formation underlying many streams
in other sections of the country. Pearl
mussels are, therefore, found in nearly
every waterway in The Blue Grass
State, but for some reagon only COM
paratively small number Of men are
engaged in the hunting Of them, which
frequently pays greet deal better
than most any form of common labor.
The excitement and Anticipation at
tendant upon the industry, too, has
something Ct 6fe effect of the fascin-
alton OF the diamond fields, for the
ssnext one" is always expected to be n
$500 beauty. One of the most valua-
ble pearls ever found in the United
States, the pearl hunters say, came
from the Miami River, in Ohio
Globe-Democrat.