Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-12-28
BUTTONS OF PEARL.
Muscatines Great Button Making
Industry.
WEALTH In HER BEDS OF MUSSELS

what the Mckinley TnrlRDid Toward
the Growth and Prosperity Of an
Iowa City-Something of the Man
Who Invented the Process.
The Muscatine Journal Of Saturday
last consisted of mammoth forty
page edition dedicated to pearls and
Prosperity Contrary to the usual
rule, this special" edition is filled
with many columns OF reading matter,
shows that with the aid of republi-
within the past few years been built
up in Iowa, an industry which ten
years ago was unknown and unheard
of in this part of the country. We re.
fer to the manufacture of pearl but
tons from mussel shells to be found in
the Mississippi and other fresh water
streams. The journal gives the fol-
lowing statistics:
Number of pearl button facto-
ries in Muscatine ............. Isl
Number of men, boys and girls
employed ..... .......... 1900
Amount paid out in wages each
week ....... ........ ....... 600
Total output in gross of buttons
each week ..... Northumberland S, 900
Total amount of rough shells
used weekly (tons) .......... : 175
The Journal says: ",Vell does the
city merit the name of the Pearl City,
for in no other town in the United
States is this industry carried on to
| ~. ~. &.
her greatness in this particular. She
above any other city in America and
of capitalists and interested parties
the world over, many of whom have
paid visits here to investigate the won
derful industry introduced into the
Western Hemisphere BY ]. F. Boepple
at Muscatine."
The Beginning.
A man who has originated an indus
| try. that gives about 5000 people en-
ployment, and made it possible for
some $3000,000 worth of hitherto
valueless product of nature to be dis
posed of up to date, may justly be
considered public benefactor.
j. F.iBoepple has done this good
service for the people living Oh the Up
per Mississippi by originating the
pearl-button business. But for Lis in
| telligent and persevering efforts, mill
lions of mussels would still be resting
| unprofitably In their beds on the bot
tom of the river, and thousands of men
and women would be seeking other
work in the already overcrowded lines
of labor. Before j. F. Boepple con-
ceived the idea of gathering these OBJ
scure bivalvess and turning their
shells into 9 "a sa.able commod
| ity. it is a matter of fact that no one
had thought of putting them to that
use. The history of his struggles in
establishing the new form of manufac-
| turing is interesting and instructive.
j. II. Boepple learned the trade of
button making at Echlingen, Wurtem-
burg, and worked at it for some years
in Vienna, Austria and Hamburg, Ger
many. For eight years he operated a
button factory at Ottensen, Holsten.
His attention was first drawn to the
Mississippi river mussel as suitable
material for the manufacture of but
| tons by some shells sent to him by a
| friend from the United States.
C.dnes to America.
When the button industry in Ger
many declined, owing to an adverse la
| riff imposed upon imported material,
Mr.. Boepple conceived the idea Of COM.
/ ing to America and establishing a fac
dant and cheap supply of shells would.
be at hand. On his arrival in this
country after overcoming a host of diff
| fculties, with the unflinching courage
and perseverance that wins victories,
J. f. Boepple finally succeeded in es-
| tablishing small button making
plant on the Iowa river, near Columbus
Junction, whre he turned out the first
buttons made from the shells of fresh
water mnssels in America. Suisse
quently he settled in Muscatine, and
established a factory on more ex-
| tensive scale, obtaining the mussel
shells from the Mississippi river. It
may be interesting here to state that
though the button factories have been
in operation in the east for many years,
the material used in them consisted of
| imported shells, owing to the fact that
| the oyster and clam shells found on
the Atlantic coast are unfit for button
stock. Since Mr.. Boepple caused the
Mississippi river inussel to be utilized
these eastern factories draw their sup
| plies of material largely from this Vi
| entity either in the form of shells or
| button blanks.
| Many Obstacles 10 Overcome.
Mr.. Boepple did not escape the dis
agreeable experience that no pioneer
in any branch of industry escapes. He
suffered from the envious opposition
land dishonorable competition of I'M
scrupulous rivals. Instead of giving
Mr.. Boepple due credit for introducing
a lucrative line Of manufacture and
initiating his methods, some of these
stopped at nothing to deprive him not
only of the honor but also of the profit
of his undertaking. His factory was
entered at night and drawings made of
his machines. The work people he had
trained were lured away from him.
Yet he withstood and overcame these
obstacles with the same fortitude with
which he conquered the first difficult
ties presented BY the undertaking, and
today operates the two largest and
best equipped button factories on the
Mississippi"
Its wonderful Growth.
i In a little building on Linn and
-.