The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-01-14

In shallow waters, and In deep waters
from 20 to 25. "A diver will earn 9200 O
year in deep water If he is an excellent
diver.
The oyster Is Of no value at all, al
though the grisly part is edible, and made
Into curry by the crew. I would not like
to recommend 1t to you. The shell Is
then cleaned and the outer edge chopped
off. It Is brought into Thursday island.
where it Is packed in cases ranging from
200 to $50 pounds.
MARKET FOR SHELL.
1t is then shipped to London, which is
the market Cor this product for the world.
1t is sorted into. piles, one to five and
six; that Is, according to the likes of the
buyers or the manufacturers Of buttons.
cutlery, etc. Some Of the people in the
colonies had started to sort it themselves
That is known as colonial sorting.
Colonial sorting Is not appreciated in
London. Perhaps this brokers desire to
have the sorting in their own hands,
knowing the requirements Of the buyers.
The prices have ranged from about si00
to 1000 per tom.
Some shells will Fell for s425, the very
grubby, bitter shells; the fine shell has
brought as high as $1,000 per ton. We
can work at the industry at a profit at
that price If there are any gentle
they wish to procure their shells direct
from the shelters, they must be pre-
pared to take the Shell as we get 1t.
would like It to be understood that we
do not manufacture the shell, only take
It as nature gives 1t to US, and any deal
ers must be prepared to take 1t as we
get 1t. T have been asked II would
book an order for ten tons Of pile one.
could not possibly do It, for I might
have to get seventy or eighty tons Of
she'll before I got ten tons Of pile one.
Then they tell me. II want The fiat shell"
In each pair of shell the bottom is fiat
and the top Is the cup, II we are going
to send all the flat shells to America, who
will take the cup7 If there are any gen.
tlemen here who are interested in buying
shells, they must thoroughly understand,
II they wish to do business direct, that
they must be prepared to take the shell
in all kinds and quantities.
ALLUsIoN TO PEAREs
T might, perhaps, before concluding,
make a partial allusfon to pearls. We do
| not carry on the Industry for pearls, al
though we are very glad to get them.
There have been very many ideas ex-
pressed to me as to how they are got
ten: whether the divers put the shells
in their mouths. These divers are closed
In suit.
It is very difficult to get out. unless
you have the aid Of a tender and one
crew. The helmet and corslet, which Is
very heavy piece Of gear, is very.
closely sealed up, and on the shoulders
are put two twenty-eight-pound leads;
the boots weigh ffty-six pounds.
I have opened as many as 5000 shells
and have not seen a single pearl, and
yet>>on another occasion the very first
shell L opened found a handsome pearl.
So you see that is a matter Of luck. The
price ranges from $500 to $4,000.
Queensland pearls have been sold for
more than that. It is a matter Of their
size, color, shape and equality.
pearls We are told by scientists that
when the shell Is feeding-it feeds with
it's mouth open to the tide, SOFAS to get
all the animatculae that Is edible to It
1t gets a very little sand or seaweed,
and n IS This irrttaHsss which 1t Is unable
to ejegt that is the bed of tho pearl - Y
lTheSogstsa4 coats this irritarit ovefsWith
saliyas4ands thus mares the pear. We
Khave no scientific opliton as to .hoW.1ong
At takes for a sheHs to form the pearl,
but this r can statest hat very fns pearls
nave %DGen IQulfG III e5llicl SiiSl45s tA las
life of the shell is known, but the
early growth is sidefed pretty rapid.
1t. originally attachss aself.sto any OBJ
stacle, and It does that by what Is
known as byssis oEs sthaIl sanchor. The
shell attaches itself 4es any obstacle at
the bottom and rernas tta le by that
byssis until 4 T. is heavy enough to resist
| the force of the tidsss Some experiments
were carried sout BY gayXille Kent s Mt. His
idea was fhatt he could ice PEARLS IN
the shell. - 70 SNs
There is one specimen that he has now.
That is a fairly ssaed shell IN which he
bored "a hole. Tflat raised q blister. in
side. The oyster coated that over and
so formed very respectaole looking
blister. Pearls are really made in layers,
and an expert In spearl taking. as we
call 1t. can reduce q pearl to any size he
likes. We often do it. as we may got
I'm excellent pearl with a small flaw. To
lido that we have got to take effsthe outer
coating, but we are very often disap-
pointed #a