Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1897-04-15
MEXICAN PEAsL FISHING.
The Annual Yield Of the csIf Of caIifor-
mia Il About s350Seo.


The agent Of the English pEsprietors Of
the concession granted by the Mexican re-
public for q monopoly of rearl fishing In
the gulf of California recently arrived in
San Francisco and gave somo interesting
details OF the present methods employed in
their industry, which has continued ever
since the occupation Of the country in the
time of CoriS.
The whole coast of the gulf of California
sbounds in pearls, and the concessions
control the entire territory. Until within
the last few years native divers were en-
ployed, and the depth TO which they could
descend did not exceed 35 feet. With the
introduction of diving apparatus the limit
of depth was increased to 80 fathoms
The best divers could formerly remain
under water not to exceed two minutes. A
modern diver thinks nothing of a two
hour stop In water 100 feet In depth,
though at greater depths the stay is neces-
sarily shortened ON account of the enor-
nous pressure of the superincumbent wa
ter A diver when upon the floor Of the
ocean looks about for the oyster, which he
tears from the object to which it is at
tached, and places it in a small bag hang
ing to rope, which is hauled into the
boat on given signal Sometimes the
number of oysters secured Is large and at
other times only few are caught.
Tho diver does not confine himself to
the pearl oyster alone, but if he sees rare
specimen of coral or new species of shell
he places it in his bag and sends it to the
surface, whero it becomes the property of
the concession and one source of its large
income,
Last year hevalue of the pearls harvest
cd in. Lower California was alone $3.50, ZOO.
In addition 5000 tons of shells were ex-
ported, which were valued at 81 $50, 900
more. Pearl fishing is the entire occupa-
tion of the natives, and La Paz, the head
quarters, city of the peninsula, with
about 2,O0O inhabitants, is solely depend
ent upon the industry. The business is
one of chance, and the pursuit is fasci-
mating one to the natives, who are born
gamblers.
Every oyster does not contain its pearl,
and only at intervals, and rare ones ut
that, is really valuable pearl discovered.
The largest one ever found was about
three.quarters of an inch in diameter, and
was sold in Paris to the emperor of Aus
tria for $4,000. Many black pearls are
higher than the pure white. The large
majority are seed pearls and are only of
moderate value
San Francisco is not the market for
Mexican pearls, though it ought to be.
The harvest is exported straight to Lon
don and Paris and distributed from those
great markets.
The dangers Of pearl fishing have al
ways been exaggerated, possibly to give a
fictitious value to the beautiful gems The
loss CT life in the fisheries in Lower Cali
foTnia was undoubtedly larger before the
introduction of the diving dress But it is
not an established fact that the deaths
were always caused by the shark or octo-
pus, though these marine monsters were
without doubt responsible for the loss Of
many lives. Every diver has plenty of hair
raising stories to relate of narrow escapes
from death, but as he is the only witness
of these affairs it makes the difficulty to
substantiate them so much the greater.
The occupation at best is hazardous
one, and those who were engaged in it be-
fore the introduction of diving apparatus
were always short lived. The demand in
the worlds markets for pearls of extra
beauty is always far in excess of the sup
francisco Call