The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-06-11
TO INDUCE PEARLMAKING.
1y EXPERIMENT THAT IS TO DE
TRIED ON CERTAIN SHELLS.

GO common. :" remark ed q man who stood look
ing admringly at n pile OF haliotis shells on
the beach. they would be- worth fortune.
| What is more attractive than the abalone yet
they bring hardly $50 ton"
| The speaker was right. The shells were
| beautiful: every color OF the rainbow cleaned
| and glstened as the sun struck them, produce
| inc blaze OF color and when the back OF the
| shell is polished 1t is even more beautiful.
IL am interested in pearls" continued the
| stranger and particularly in an experiment
| which understand is to be tried here; that is.
| to force certain shells like the haliotis to make
pearls to order. OF course it Is n slow process.
| but then one smart man can set good many
| shells to work in a day in n very simple man.
| ner. My informant said his method was 10
| select base OF wood or metal the exact size
| and shape desired. and by boring II hole
| through the haliotis insert the penrl-shaped
| object and plug 1t so that 1t will remain in ono
| position. What would be the result? Why.
| the animal would at once begin to protect
| itself by covering the intruder with pcarly
nacre which it takes from the shell-
secreting glands around it's mantle. and would
| continue this until the foreign object was COW
| cred with pearl. 1t might take month. and
perhaps four. but there would be certainly
some results The natural pearls these shells
produce arc said to be valuable. and don't
| doubt it, large black pearl was taken from
| haliotis she'll at what is known as Catalina
| Harbor. on this island. years ago. 1t was found
| by Portuguese fisherman. who sold 1t for SO
to traveller. The latter. 1t is said. got 500 for
| 1t in San Francisco. and from there 1t went
| East to a big jeweller. who paid very large
| sum for it.
california. the lower portion constituting
| the peninsula" continued the pearl expert.
| seating himself omfortaby in one Of the boats
| hauled up on the beach. as II for long talk.
has provided the world with some OF the
| finest pearls. Taking in the islands. there is a
coast line OF pearl fisheries equal to perhaps
| thirty Ave hundred miles. The original white
| discoverer was undoubtedly Cortez. The
| tives were working the fisheries, and he sent
| some OF the finest pearls to the Queen OF Spain.
| Later u rule was established that one tenth
| OF the annual find should go to the King OF
| Spain. About one hundred and fifty years ago
one Juan Ossio worked the fisheries. and tradi-
| ton says that he obtained 800 pounds OF
pearls. so many being taken that they
| tually became drug and lost their value. Attic
present time the work Is carrie d on with sys-
TEN. The pearl oyster is found far north the
18th degree. those taken in bays where the fresh
water pours in being the most favorable locali-
| tics. Generally the season lasts from June to
| December. about three hours day bein g
| given for diving. A good days work for a man
| is to collect 100 shells. though some improve
| on this. A gang of 400 men will produce in q
season 1000 tons OF pearl oysters. there being
| about Z 900 shells to a ton.
The most successful divers are those who
use the diving suit Each diver has five help
| ers. four attending the pumps, while tho
othe watches the line. The diver takes down
| q basket fastened to line and fills it with the
| shells ms fast as he finds them. The various
crews live on small vessel. to which they re-
| turn at night. The shells OF each diver are
are opened under careful watch. The smell is
| opened by one man. who examines 1t. while
both men being closely watched. A pearl is so
small that i is an easy matter to Slip it away.
hf them ns for s aayf Viii rSpa1
long wait. + he. catches Of the various years
the coast OF sonora produced about, S4O.OO6
IN pearls though Ct 2 an earlier nerod this same
THE stories and histories of the pearls OF
California would make volume; The finest
and weighs in the neichbofhood Of 400 grains.
| One Of the Presidents OF Mexico had famous
over over some ne pearls were taken in 1ss3"one
et w 6T2T t TINT n TfSRsa 1S srRs
psSri was, taken Which brought s759S3. While
still another was, sold for 5000; This pearl
diving on his own account somewhere. and he
| evidently did not know its value as he sold it
the gem, That weighed thiirty-tWo carsts, WIN
the eHy rnfs Wsts pearls valuable
on k" yom the ,So! rspy bpG pearl
brought in Paris ,siiooo. In 1850 seven black
WERE Wb NHte1 La 81 the s N We AZ FTr in
came from the Gulf Of Sc Calit9rnta near dnSye
mas The gulf is noted for its, fancy pearls.
ones. There Is a colccton OF pearls in this
state that shows them of all coors from pure
SPHERES anI oSr pf Sos
rem ne "a are owned in California.
many Of the pearls went sixty years ago ono
OF the finest pearl necklaces ever seen was
posed Of $40 pearls, of the lirst water At that
time II was valued AT, Sl5o,0Oo some mag
Hfi W % IN s n Ss%H Fl rS Juf
had an American pearl which weighed 800
reign Of Charles " some beautiful pearls we ere
sent sen to Sp min from America, ,,.,-,,.
centuries Tor their production, The French are
a"sarcd in TH HH" in "I Paris WIFI WITH " nea
"rnnm%niI IN tnat rreatrd much talk Experts
ana single pear which sh" wore in her hair
E snrnd TTf nt the S o4 m9q bn nIr it.
| very clever manufacturer of pearls. who tor
years years had had made the gems to order. They
cred with layer Of the GIistcninG matter
TAKEN TAX = fr2 en- the scales o. certain fishes al
way were often usci by the rosscssors Of T. pearss
OF ofn %ndTTht%9 value when they I'D not wish
dIuceh and The Legitimate in lnstry iadc fair ITO to
employed to catch the littl" nsh. others care
trny removed II" scales and caught the mita-
shapes hat had been prepared The Chinese
rronccivc4 the trick Of placing little statues OF
covered with the nearly lustrc. which th@y sod
! rs miraculous objects to the suucrstitious In
| vantage of the natives in similar way, Thcv
nt%r h CWf hG Tnna dolls in Gr oysters ana
| IN" natives. who gave them valuable pearls IN
"It would No ir,oro-,ir,, ., l.,.,, ,uL,.. -