Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1899-05-11
TO STOP PEARL FEVERS.'
THE GOVERNMENT WILL PROTECT
MUSSEL FISHERIES.

SUNNI ANcihdhRdpiC
The United States Fish Commission
Is taking steps to protect the wonder
tul pearl fisheries with which nature
mas endowed nearly every State in the
Union and to put stop to pearl
levers" 1t is really remarkable to
look back upon the history of these
levers and see how they have, from
time to time, attacked the people of
this country, not only in late years,
but away back in the prehistoric past
The first victims were the mound
builders. Recent examinations of
some of the mounds in the Mississippi
Valley, especially at certain points in
Ohio, show that this forgotten race
treasured fresh water mussel pearls to
an astonishing extent. On their
hearths have been POUNDS bushels of
decomposed pearls.
Columbus and all the Spanish dis
eoverers were attracted by the valu-
I1diafs. Later D5 oot0 anu MS i0I,
lowers got the pearl fever, and it is
related how, near the Bay of Espiritu
Santo, now Tampa Bay, Florida, De
Soto came upon the town of an Indian
chief called Ucita. When the Span
iards discovered the pearls possessed
by the Indians they were all seized
by very bad form Of the pearl fever,
and went so far as to rife the Indian
graves and sepulchers, securing $50
pounds Of pearls.
The greatest pearl fever of modern
days broke ont in 1857 at Notch Brook,
near Paterson, n. J. 1t ragged until
men left their regular business and
women left their homes to become
pearl hunters. In fact, some of the
victims were driven to the insane
asylum by the excitement, which
started with the accidental finding in
Notch Brook of fresh-water mussel
pearl weighing ninety-three grains.
1t was of surprising luster and color
and became known as the queen
pearl" Tiffany & Co. sold it to the
Empress Eugene of France for $500,
and to-day it is worth four times that
much.
The news Of this find was spread
over the country, and men, women
and children rushed to Notch Brook
from all parts of New Jersey and the
neighboring States. The fresh-water
mussels, the shells of which are pearl
bearing, were gathered by the millions.
During the excitement large, round
pearl, weighing 400 grains, which
would doubtless have been the finest
pearl of modern times, was spoiled by
boiling to open the mussel shell. At
first it was the custom of the hunters
to wade into the stream and gather up
and open the shells while standing in
the water. A boy who was opening
shells in this way dropped c giant
pearl in the water and it was never
found. Then the hunters gathered
the shells upon the shores and opened
them by heat, until they discovered
that the heat would destroy the luster
Of any pearls which might be within
the shells. Oyster knives were final
~ found to he the best, and for
months the shores of the streams Of
New Jersey were piled with decaying
mussel shells which had been opened
and found to contain no pearls.
During the first year Of the fever
over So, 900 worth Of pearls were sent
to the New York market, but q de-
cline came then, and during the next
three years not more than $4,000
worth were found. This was largely
due to the wholesale destruction Of
the mussel shells, which, after they
were found not to- contain pearls,
could have been replaced in the
streams, and would, perhaps, have
been pearl-bearing later.
The second fever of any note broke
out in 1876 at Waynesville, Ohio,
when $4,000 worth of pearls s.were
found in a short time. In 1889 more
than $40, worth were sent from
Wisconsin to New York, and since
that time Wisconsin has produced
$3.50, 900 worth Of pearls.
The year 1897 witnessed very
widespread outbreak of the pearl
mania, which extended through Ar
Kansas a State previously unaffected
by it. The fever seized the whole
population. The ordinary Iforms of
labor were abandoned, and the people
focked to the streams to gather mus
sells. AS in New Jersey, the pearl
bearing shells were soon cleaned out,
and for the time the supply was de-
stroyed.
A peculiar feature Of the Arkansas
fever was the finding of pearls in the
mud along TIE shores of streams. A
local impression prevailed that the
mussel crawled upon the shore and
shed his pearl, but it is more scientific
to conjecture that in the agitation OF
the shells by floods and freshets the
pearls were shaken out.
During the 1897 excitement young
man from st. Louis was spending his
vacation on the shore of Crooked Lake,
Mo-, and while sitting on a log with a
negro guide discovered o fine pearl
lying close on the shore near him. The
negro told him that the native chill
dren often gathered "them things"
to play with and took him to a spot on
the shore Of the lake where they were
lying around in great profusion. The