Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-08-03
pair Of shells is about two pounds.

a pair or shells Is about two POUNDS.
The shells lie in the bottom of the sea,
and they are also fastened to the rocks,
especially to the coral rocks. Oysters DO
not like sand or dirt, and they will not
thrive where the tide moves the SAND
about Within the past few years an at
tempt has been made to raise them artin-
cially in a cove in Friday Island, but 1t
has not succeeded. The oysters seem to
like the coral. formations Where they
fasten themselves to such rocks they grow
to great size. There are many caverns In
the reefs, and they will attach themselves
to the roofs of these submarine caves. q
dozen joining themselves together and
hanging, as Ii were. by one set OF threads
| The fastening by which they are held to
the rocks is much like tassel, consisting
of a cartilage or muscle that extends out
near the hinge of the she'll. and then
branches off in mu1titudinous threads, eacn
of which CLUES itself, as 1T were. to the
rock. The diver cuts the thread, and thus
gets off the shells
Millions In Shells.
Most of the money in pearl fishing comes
from the oyster shell, not the pearl. A half
million dollars worth of shells are taken
from two fishing grounds Of northwestern
Australia annually, and the output from
Thursday Island is even larger. There are
pearl fishing stations scattered about with
in hundred miles of this point, and go
boats and luggerS are constantly engaged
in the business.
Many tons of shells are found in others
group has already produced about $4,000 600
worth of them, having exported something
like $1,000 tons of shells to Europe and
! there are other islands almost rich. 1t
Is said that the Tuamotu beds are almost
exhausted but it left alone the oysters
grow rapidly and a fishery will reproduce
itself in seven years.
The shells are worth from $500 to 81 900
per ton for the better quality, and even the
smaller shells of the poorer species bring
from SIS to $500 per ton. There are ships
which go from island to island and buy
the shells from the SavageS. trading to-
bacco, calico and other goods for them.
They give as high as from $50 to 800 per
ton but this is for stuff that will sell in
London for about ten times as much.
Among the Divers.
There are hundreds of pearl divers here at
Thursday Island. Among the best are the
Japanese, who will stay longer under water
and risk more than any one else. There are
many natives from the South seas and also
Danes Swedes and Malays. but the pro-
prietors of the ships say the Japanese are
the best and that the others are always
pretending to be sick.
The fishing is done In small boats or
luggers. The boats go out in fleets or one
larse boat of, say, 100 tons, and several
small ones. The smaller boats are for the
divers. Each boat has a pumping appara-
tus to force air into the diving dresses
when the men are under the surface anu
costs about $1,000, so that the business Is
by no means cheap one.
Before going down into the water the
men put on diving dresses. to which air
mines or tubes are attached. They are first
clad in thick flannel and then In these
dresses with metal heads, so framed at the
front with glass that the diver can see out.
Each diver wears boots Soled with plates
of copper or lead The weight he carries
is usually about $50 pounds, but sometimes
less. Often there are twenty-eight pounds
on each boot. and 1t is important IN go
ing down the diver keep his feet below
him. If he should lose his balance and turn
over or his boots should fall OF his legs might
fly up in the air. II one boot falls on that
leg will bob up in the air and he must as
far as possible keep all the weight under
him. If he Is searching for shells at the
bottom of the sea he must straddis them
and stoop down.
string in It. He fills his bag with shells
and then jerks the signal line, and Is pulled
up. The shells are counted and weighed,
and he is paid according to what he has
found some men making much more than
others There is one diver who has gath
cred 1O05 pairs of shells in one day, but
half this number is good work.
The Dangers of Pearl Fishing.
The business is very dangerous. There
are sharks and poisonous fish and squid.
The sharks follow the iuggers. attracted
by the pieces OF salt beef, which are now
and then thrown from the boats. They DO
not trouble the divers unless they are
naked except when very hungry. and II
they come near the diver can open an es-
cape valve in his suit and make noise
which usually scareS them away. AS
rule the divers are not afraid OF the
sharks but they do not spear fsh or other
animals at the bottom OF the sea without
first ascertaining whether there are sharks
about, for the dead fish would surely at
tract them.
Another danger is the veki or great sduid
This marine monster has long arms which
he fastens upon anything within his reach.
If disturbed he vornits out an inky fluid
which discolors the waters about him, and
the diver is liable to be bewiidered In the
gloom and to fall against the rocks
In the native fisheries much of the div
| ing is done by the women, who go down
without diving suits. They fasten stones
do not plug up their nostrils and ears as
do the pearl divers of India.
Finding Pearls.
The pearl fishing companies OF Thursday
Island are extremely careful in opening the
shells No one can tell whether oyster
may not contain hundred dollar or a
thousand dollar pearl, and the pearls are
so small they can be easily stolen. The
opening is done with a knife much like
common table knife, with thin, flexible
blade and strong handle. good operator
miss a pearl. White men will never let
the natives open the shells without watch
| ing them. The shells containing the pearls
have sometimes a curious appearance by
which those who are experienced can tell
that they have pearls in them. Such shells
are always laid aside for the proprietor or
| the foreman of the sloop to open, and the
foreman usually watches carefully the
opening of all the shells.
Sometimes one oyster will contain dozen
small pearls and sometimes more. Such
oysters are usually diseased and their shells
rough. But STILL perfectly healthy oyster
may contain a fine round pearl of large size,
so that the divers do not believe that the
pearls necessarily come from diseased oys-
tiers. One Of the biggest pearls lately dis
covered sold for $500. another brought
5000, and pearls worth 500 are quite COM
mon. The fishing is done on the basis OF
the profit In the shells. and the pearls are
clear gain.
Artificial Pearl Making.
The pearl oyster farm which was estab-
lished on Friday Island was started by
company with q German scientist at its
head. The bay was stocked with young
oysters and the German was employed to
put little piece Of glass or grain OF sand
inside the shell Of each oyster. with the ex-
pectation that the oysters would throw out