Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1899-05-11
O~UEENSLANDS ILL-LUCK
ATERRlBLE HURRICANE ALMOST DE-
STROYS HER PEARL FISHERIES.

P-opitious. II is Extremely Lucrative
The Divers Get Many Scares Below
From Sharks and Poisonous Fish.
The terrible hurricane that recently
overwhelmed the pearl and pearl she'll
OF the northeast coast Of
Australia, destroyed the
ives of about half the men and half
he vessels Of the fleet engaged In the
fisheries. On az average about 1000
men and 200 boats are engaged IN
.hese fisheries for five months In the
The dispatch from Brisbane, !
Queensland. says that three schooEers
and eighty luggers were wrecked and
400 colored and eleven white men We're
drowned. The vessels employed III
these fisheries consist chiefly OF strong,
!ugger-riggeu craft averaging ten tons
burden. The crew Of each lugger III
cludes the diver, the tender who holds
the lie lines and attends to all sig
nails from the -dlver, and four working
hands. Most Of the men are colored,
Of various natiopalities, aborigines llv-
ING near the fisheries. South Sea ISL
.nders and Manila, Chinese, Japanese
and Malay divers.
II the fotes are propitions pearl div
ing in these waters is lucrative, but
jhe dangers are numerous. The great
est peril is that brought by the terri
bic windstorms which visit this coast
and carry everything before them.
Few vessels Of the pearl she'll fleet
ever outliva one OF these storms. The
tender keeps lis eye out for any signs
Of q hurricane and when they are dis
covered the pearl-ishing business IS
suspended and the boats seek refuge
in some sheltering cove The divers
get many scare below. The sight Of
a tifteen-foot shark making a Decline
for q man is enough TO weaken the
stoutest nerve; neither is it pleasant
to have a large turtle persist III Guilt
waiting neighborly relations. The lit
tie stonetish Is one of the enemies of
the divea. 1t seems to make its habi-
tation beneath the pearl shell and the
diver is sometimes bitten when he
picks up the shell. The bite is poi
sonous, though not fatal, and the vic
i'm often suffers severe pain for "
aral days. The business OF diving is
most injurious to health. Some of the
men do not w~ithstandssits EFFECTS, but
die il a few months, while deafness
and incipient paralysis frequently at
tack the divers.
The shell is now pretty well worked
| out In the shallow waters and SO the
naked native divers are not SO much
employed as they formerly were, fol
they cannot work with success beyond
a depth Of sixty feet, and most of the
shells are now obtained only by means
Of men wearingthe well-known divers
dress. One hundred and twenty fee
is the greatest depth from which the
shell is profitably taken and few
divers can stand the strain of pro
longed work under the pressure a
that depth. The man in q diving
dress usually remains under water al
hour or two.
Pearl shell fishing was formerly
carried on along the north coast 0
western Australia, but those ground
are pretty we'll worked out. The new
grounds lie on both sides Of Cap,
York Peninsula, across Torres Strai
to New Guinea and down the north
east coast of Queensland nearly t.
Cooktown. The quest for pearls i
merely Incidental to these fisheries
which are carried on for shell, o
mother-of-pearl. On an average abou
1000 shells are taken for every pear
that is found and yet the ever presen
hope of securing a fine pearl stimu
Iates the interest of the workers. Th'
finest pearls Of fashion are said to b
yielded only by the mother-pf-pear
shell, such as is found in thesd water
and in the Persian Gulf. The pearl
of the Queensland region are Of fin
size and quality. but not one shell i
thousands produce a perfect spec
linen. The most valuable pearl fin
thus far on the Queensland coast
that known as the Southern Cross,
cluster Of six pearls in the shape Of
crucitix, which was valued when
was exhibited in London in 1856 &
$780, 00. 1t was found at low waite
by an old beachcomber, who sold
for $50. The best pearl shell is thre
!, II four years old and large shell
weigh from six to eight pounds a pal
out as the possible shells they ma
contain do not depend upon the &C
II size Of the shell, many small shell
are ruthlessly opened as though the,
vas no law for their protection
Nearly all the pearl shell goes to Il
London market and the pearls
Paris. Sydney and Brisbane capt.
is chiefly interested in the industr
but in 1892 the japanese also enters
, the field and now hold about q fifth
the trade.
4 These fisheries have for years he
Oh important position among t
3 industries Of Queensland, huctuatil
between the sixth and eighth place
the list Of her principal expor,
The calamity that has destroyed h,
!, Of the pearl she'll fisheries feet b
y -