The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-07-15

while the pearls gotten during the same
time sold for $i-0gO.
The fishing goes on abrUt the Island Of
BasI'an and IN other grounds in the west
srn part of the archipelago. such as at BON
gao and Tew! Tawi. IS wei a. in the s-as
| not Ear from Su!u. The seas have not yet
been carefully pr"sYectel, however.
Among the Divers.
TIE method ~ diving for pearls as fol-
| lowed by the natives Is exceedingly simple.
They use no diving suits. but go naked into
the water tying heavy stones tn their feet
/ to help them sink t. the bottom. They
usually choose grounds where the pearl
oysters are not more than forty feet below
ih. surface The oysters are attached To
the rocks. and the diver cuts them loose
with his knife and puts them in net bag.
He then gives the signal by Jerking the
rope about hts waist. ana Is dragged To
the surface.
The MoIvS ar expert divers and swim
m.rs They have trained themselves 10
holding their breath under water. and some
can remain below the surface for about
two minutes al a time. The business is ex
c.edinsIy dangerous FOR there are runner
Gus sharks. and a man Is liable to lose a
l.g or an arm. if not his FIFE.
After the shells are gathered they must
be cleaned and the oysters shucke,i out be
fore they are ready FOR sale. They are
often piled up on the shore ana left there
80 decay. In order that tf-a pearls may BE-
sque- zed out. Not all Of the oysters have
pearls I'm them. hut very poor shell may
sometimes contain very line pearl. - that
great care is used In handling the product
How Pearls Are Formed.
Pearls you know. are caused by some
foreign substance working i;s way into the
flesh of the oyster. /: may be grain %
sand a small pebble or other foreign mat
ter The oyster tries t" protect himself
from 1t 10y putting q coating of pearl about
it. and this coating goes ON and ON until at
last We have "a p-ail.
Indeed | am told that pearls are now be-
ing made I'm Japan and China by taking the
oysters from the STA and carefully opening
them just wide enough to slip particle OF
sand between the leaves of the shell Ths
oysters thus treated are planted and Ted
ana within short time each begins Ia
grow ii pearl. 1t j. said that the French
bore holes through the oysters shell and
insert little silver of glass and about
this the oyster grows a pearl.
/ have seen something of the pearl fisher
les al inherent parts bl inc NtIii Cp4ilC
Of the best until recently have been in
Ceylon, but more are DOW being discovered
In the Persian gulf where about se.coe.oeo
worth are taken out every year The fish
ing there Is done by naked Arabs. who
plug up their Roses and ears before they
go down into the water. and. Hike the
Moros here tie great stones to their feet
to enable them to remain down the more
easily. In Panama the diving is done by
III. nativ. Colombaus. They find both
pearls and shells. and some OF the shells
are exceedingly fine. Not long ago a sea
captain made u contract with the natives
Of Panama hay 10 clean the harnacles from
the bottom Of his ship. They did So and
among the shells fastened TO the hull found
an oyster containing pearl worth $500
The Captain claimed that the pearl should
be his. but he was not able to persuade the
ColomJians to give 1t up.
am told here that the best pearls come
from oysters which are about four years
old, and that they range greatly in value
according to color and shape. Those which
are perfectly round are most priced. The
mos: Of the Sulu product consists Of small
pearls. many seed pearls being found. The
largest pearl known in the world Is about
as big around as an English walnut 1t
weighs three ounces. bu; its shape IS not q
perfect sphere.
| fird It very difficult to get much infor-
nation from the English concerning the
pearl Industry here. They have succeeded
10 the business Of a Chinese. who evidently
found II quite profitable. for he is said Ia
be q millionaire. and is one of the richest
men of the Philippines. The English evil
GENTLY have a good thing and prefer to keep
the details concerning it secret.
What they pay the Sultan / do not know,
nut am told that the Chinese gave him
sl.c1 n month for the privilege OF fishing
IN the deep waters OF the ARCHIPELAGO
One Of the queerest places in Joio IS the
market 1t IS largely patronized by the
Moros. who are the chief peddlers and mar
het sellers. The business beSias at 6