New-York tribune., 1901-08-11

veteran pearl hunter announced last Thursday
that he had located the largest and richest
clam bed ever discovered in the Mississippi he
involuntariy inaugurated a klondike rush
among the pearl hunters of the great river.
The bed is said to be over mile in length,
seven eight rods wide and is estimated to be
| from three to five feet in thickness. 1t is a few
miles north of Langdon, Mimi, and about fif-
teen miles from ST. Paul.
Marion Kish is a noted pearl hunter. He dis
covered most of the principal clam beds on the
lower Mississippi, and so when ne said that he
| had taken some fine pearls from the new deposit
his word went as gospel among the nomadic
fraternity.
Coming through Langdon this morning the
Pioneer Limited. of the St Paul Railroad, l
could see the broad expanse of the Father of
Waters dotted with boats, while the shores on
both sides were sprinkled with dlngy gray tents,
the camps of the fortune seekers. Here at Red
Wing the Information furnished that
| .cammers' from as far down Prairie du
Chen are coming up to prospect the discovery.
| 1t is a curious but interesting fact that the
Mckinley tariff is responsible for the revival of
| this pearl hunting industry. When triumphant
Democracy Matched the Wilson Tariff bill it
froZe out of little button factories all over
the East, and opened the doors to the French,
German and Swiss product. The Mckinley tariff
reversed this and result has put hundreds
| Of thousands of dollars into the pockets of East
workers and Western pearl hunters because
there is profit in hunting pearls unless the
shells can be disposed Of These Mississippi
CLAIMS, the home of the fresh water pearl, are
utilized in the manufacture of the so-called
pearl buttons OF commerce The finding of
pearls is the velvet of the Hbusiness.
/
tres of the shell trade. There the blanks from
which the buttons made are punched
| sawed out and shipped by millions every year
| to NeW-York, Philadelphia and NewEngland
points where the finished button is turned
The chips, refuse, remaining after the blanks
are cut from shell are pulverized and sold to
| be used in poultry food preparations.
Romance has clothed the pearl with some
| thing than its beautiful lustre. 1t is
palms. spice laden breezes, 1.-the. dusky figures
| in loincloth and copper anklet, with marked
prediction for water and sub-aqueous prowl-
| ings among oyster beds. All these are the
| dreamy suggestveness of string of pearls
| around the throat of beauty.
Reality out here along the mud banks of the
Mississippi deSpois romance Of its charm. The
nght canoe or catamaran mas no counterpart IN
| the awkward plank of the Occidental in
| land pearl hunter The crystalline waters of the
| tropics give place to the brownish sediment of
| sluggish river current The 1.-the diver in plct-
| uresque nudity is the antithesis of the indi-
vidual in oVerals and gum boots, who has
| prediction for water save as chaser for
| something red liquid and hot, and whose vocab
| ulary of descriptive and awkward profanity
would make heather vince.
OF course, all Mississippi pearl hunters are not
| of this class. There are some thrifty, 5hreWd
men among them. But the life of pearl hunter
| is hard one and not conducive TO comfort or
| religion. OF the thrifty class take Albert Fred
| erickson, for instance, of Red Wing. Frederick
| son has averaged five tons of shells per week.
He found pearl that netted him $l61 30. and
! in six weeks from starting had tucked away
$500 clear money in the bank.
Pearl hunters make pretty fair wages Two
men will average five or six tons of shells per
week. Early in the season the factory price
| ST 30 per ton the shore. 1t has been rising
gradually till IS 30 is the ruling figure W.
| Every pearl found is clear profit. About once
! in two weeks a steamboat with a couple of
| bargeS in tow comes along and takes the shell
catch down to the lower river factories
The Mississippi clam lies the bottom of the
/ river, with its shells half open. AS the hooks
! attached to pole, ten feet in length, pass
over and touch the shells they close the dis
| turbing metal with a viselike grip, which does
not relax for hours. When he thinks his hooks
are full the "clammer'' raises the pole hangs it
on the uprights his scow, then, turning his
| craft, drops another pole into the water, and
while keeping the scow broadside to the current
/ tears the CLAIMS loose from the hooks and toSSeS
! them into the bottom.
The shore outfit comprises tent for shelter
and usually sheet iron oblong affair twenty
! inches by six feet. The CLAIMS are boiled in this
! until the shells open and then the process of
/ picking over the meats begins This is sim
/ ply running the finger through the clam after
/ it is separated from the shell to discover if
! meat is thrown into the river to become food
| for the fishes.
While the clans found here at Red Wing are
! the best for the button trade because they
thinner and larger and produce blanks to
/ the shell than other varieties further down the
J river, they are not noted for pearls. The mig
ger head thick black shell, useless for M
mercial purposes, is the real pearl clam. One
! TO ton is a good average, for they are rare.
/ When q pearl hunter pulls up 'nigger head
! he never waits to steam il, but breaks it open
. at once To discover if ii contains a prize.
Some wonderful stories are told about the
a.riC Il oil,