Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1897-01-06
DEAD" PEARLS HIS FAD.
An Ohio Banker Who Has Queer Col
lection of Fresh Water Gems.

lection of Fresh Water Gems.
Mr. ). H. Harris of Waynesville
O., a banker and collector of fresl
water pearls and archaeological speci
mems, has lately acquired a larg,
number of what he calls dead
pearls. Mr.. Harris has for many
years been known as an expert II
Judging pearls, and nearly all the
gems of any consequence that have
been found in the Little Miami river
have passed through his hands, ht
having paid from 25 cents to $42I
for them as they came from the mus
/sel shell.
His collection, varying in numbers
and value, as he has at different times
sold from and added to it, was fol-
the first time exhibited to the gen.
eral public at the Paris exhibition in
1873, where it attracted much atten
ton. Two or three years ago it was
believed that the pearl industry in
the Little Miami had about died
away, and it is probable such is real
ly the case, yet the high waters OF
the present year have unearthed
new mussel beds, and piles of fresh
ly opened shells may be seen along
the banks of the little stream. A
few pearls of good quality have been
found, and Mr. Harris, following his
usual custom, has secured some of
the best of these and placed them all
Immediately in safety deposit vault
in Cincinnati
He often runs across cUlflOS that
are outside of the regular line and
he has secured what could perhaps
not be found in any other collec-
ton in this country. He has been
prominently mentioned in nearly all
the books on gems and the articles
in newspapers and magazines on
pearls that have been published in
the last decade. Thus it was that a
Scotchman, who has been nearly all
over the world exploring rivers for
whatever curiosities he might find
and who is always anxious for new
fields to look over, had his attention
drawn to the Waynesville collection
and visited him some months ago.
During a conversation between the
two gentlemen it developed that the
traveller had in his possession guam
tity of what appeared to be pearls,
but which we're totally unlike any
thing heretofore classed with these
valuables. Mr.. Harris, ever on the
alert for something new, immediate
~ examined and gained possession
of the entire lot, which he designated
as dead pearls. They are identi-
cal, in his opinion, with those that
were in an ancient C. 5alogue made in
1749 by an Englishman, John Win
throp, F. R. S., classed as unripe
pearls.
The real value of these dead pearls
is very small, their worth lying only
in their oddity and rarity. Many of
them are of dark brown or nearly
dead black color, and they vary
from these through the shades of
lighter brown and very dull yellow,
some of them having streaks and
blotches of nearly pearly white. A
very few of them have points that
are almost brilliant, and these would
make fairly good settings for studs
or other ornaments. In shape they
are most oddly at variance and diff
cult of description One is a little
larger than the short cross section of
a common lead pencil and looks as if
two small specimens of the pictured
old fashioned beehive had been fas-
tened together by their bases anoth
or resembles toy top and another a
miniature walking stick. Some are
cone shaped, some irregularly elon-
gated, some banded by a raised Sec
ton of a lighter hue, and some look
as if they had been turned out by a
lathe. Cincinnati Tribune