The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-09-02
THE AMERICAN PEARL.
characteristics of the Dival1cS
Which Produce Them.
From the New York Tribune

which Produce Them.
From the New York Tribune
The recent discovery of valuable pearls
in the muddy bottoms of Arkansas lakes
and the excitement in that part of the
country recall similar pearl discoveries Of
former years George f. kunz the miner
alogist and gem expert, who has been con-
nccted with Tiffany u co. for many years,
has given much attention TO American
pearls, and he told Tribune reporter yes
terday many facts of interest concerning
the freSh-water varieties. The rivers and
lakes of the United States are, he says in
habited by several hundred species of hi
valves called by the general term of Mai
AIDES. all of which bear pearls often of
great size and beauty. OF these Naiades
the most common type is the unto. or or
binary river mussel. The whole Mississippi
basin teens with these mollusks, and the
forms there are for the most part distinct
from those of the Atlantic watershed and
OF the old world. All OF the uuios have an
irdescent inner coating 20 their shells but
there is a wide .aration in color ranging
through tints of pink, purple and brown
The colors o. the pearls depend upon the
tint of the shell lining TO which they are
attached. brilliant pink pearls being found
in the beautiful rose conch shells. and a
similar spOndence being noted in 9TH
ct mollusks.
A pearl is made up of carbonate OF lime,
intermXed with layers OF animal matter.
IL is supposed that each one has for a
nucleus some particle of foreign matter
which has become inserted in the shell.
and WHICH irritates the molusk until it
succeeds in forming over ii a coating,
which is constantly being thickened. Thus
the pearl grows, and If removed before ii
is ripe" as the pearl-seekers say. much
may be sacrificed in point of size and con
seQueutly of value. Ii is advisable says
Mr.. KunZ, to search every creek and river
where limestone is the characteristic rock
of the country, since the mussels usually
secrete pearls under this geological condi-
ton. Since it is possible to open thou
sands of mussels without finding a single
stone of value, the pearl-fshers learn TO
know from the outside appearance what
specimens are likely to prove worth the
trouble. The finest pearls are contained
in old, distorted and diseased shells Odd
protuberances often mark the location of
the gem inside, which, by drawing all the
animals forces for its sustenance, has
weakened the shell at that part and
caused il TO become deformed.
Besides being of many colors, the fresh
water pearls show a wide variety of
shapes. Many are perfectly globular,
while others are formed like cartridges,
mallets, buttons and even take the more
fanciful aspects of feathers or fish-like
creatures. Pearls have been found which
in tint, size and general appearance were
precisely like a drop of molten copper.
The white pearls are still most priced for
general use, although those of other tints
are often really handsomer, and have be-
come quite popular in this country.
Some of the earliest American pearls
came from near Naynesvile O., $1,000
worth being collected in that neighborhood
during the pearl excitement of 1878. Large
and valuable pearls from mussels have
been obtained in New Jersey but the
streams there have not been productive
in recent years. 1t was in 1857 that the
Queen PEARL was found at Notch
Brook near Patterson. IL is round has
a beautiful luster, weighs ninety-three
grains and measures about five-eighths Of
an inch in diameter. 1t was sold by Tiff
fanny & Co. to the Empress Eugene of
France for $500 Owing to the rise i'm
the value of pearls it is worth four times
that sum to-day. There was great ex-
citement after this discovery, and thous-
ands of mussels were destroyed in fur
weighing 400 grains, which, Mr.. Kunz
says, would doubtless have been the finest
of modern times. was ruined by boiling
open the shell in order TO extract 1t.
Early in the summer of 1889 some mag
nilicent pearls We're found in rivers and
creeks in various counties of Wisconsin.
More than $4,000 worth We're sent TO New
York in three months. In color they were
copper-red. purpiish-red and
dark pink. The pearl fever" in Wscon-
sin ragged violently in 1890 and 1891. Hun
dreds of men, women and children focked
to the creeks, the men and boys assuming
the task of getting the mussels out of the
water while the women and girls opened
them. From one TO fifty pearls were often
md Il, ..f,, IL han
Wisconsin streams seemed to be worked
out, and the fishing grounds changed. At
present the chief pear.-producing states
are Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas and Ar
kansas
The pearls are usually found by farm
ers, who hunt for them in their spare time,
or by unemployed country villagers. who
are looking out for some method Of maxi
ing money quickly without too much hard
labor. The destructive mode of pearl
fishing which prevails in this country is
for the fact that rich streams
soon become exhausted. Mussels are de-
troyed by the bushel, and, in the haste of
the pearl-seekers, sufficient time is not
taken to sort them over first, pick out
those which promise rewards and throw
the others back into the water
In Saxony and Bavaria the pearl-fisb-
ers have instruments by means of which
they can open a mollusk without iniuring
it. If no pearl is inside, the shell can he
closed and the animal restored to its ele-
ment again. Such device here would be
of immense saving. The factory refuse
and sewage which pollute so many
streams i'm the more thickly settled Darts
of the country are also responsible for
the determination of the molusks there
in, and other destructive agencies are TO
be found in freshets and the depredations
of hogs and muskrats in search of food
In fishing for pearls the shell Of the HI
valve should be opened as soon as II IS
taken from the water This is because
the stone is injured by being left I'm the
shell until the animal decays. Sometimes
a pearl which appears dull and worthless
is merely coated with an outer opaoue
layer, which being removed by means of
a weak acid solution leaves the lustrous
gem in its beauty.
So much Importance is now attached tn
the fresh water pearl fisheries of the
that the United States commits
sion of fish and fisheries has instituted
through Mr.. Kunz, a general inquiry re-
garding them. Circulars containing oues
tons, with blank spaces left for answers
have been sent out to all the important
fishing grounds, and many replies. giving
c,,ll detailed inforn1a tfap ba,,e