Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1901-08-30
PEARLFIsH1EG MvEnEzuELA
try on the shores OF Margarita
Island.

u
Remarkable Revival OF the Indus
try on the shores OF MarEarita
Island.
When the Spaniards landed on the
shores of Margarita island, off the
north coast of Venezuela, four CEN
turtles ago, they found the necks of the
| natives adorned with strings of pearls.
They lost no time in securing posses
sion of these valuable ornaments at
little expense to themselves, for the
native pearl market was well stocked
and prices were low. Margarita was
one of the islands discovered by Co
| iumbus in his journey of 149s. The
Spaniards were very eager, Of course,
to discover the place of origin Of the
pearls and only a year later a man
named Guerra found the pearl banks
OF the south coast; it was not long
before other banks were discovered
around the shores of the island, says
the New York Sun.
This new source of pearlswas a mag
net that drew Adventures to the is
land. The neighborhood of Margarita
became one of the busiest regions i'm
the Spanish main. Margarita is quite
large island, though smaller than
Trinidad. Its extremities, the larger
part of it, are connected by a narrow
isthmus so that it has something the
appearance of dumb-ben. For cen
turtles the fishing grounds of Margari-
ia have contributed to the worlds sup
ply of pearls. but in recent years the
industry has been almost abandoned
as the banks seemed to be about ex-
hausted, while the pearls fell in value
so that fishing was not profitable.
The past few months have witnessed
a wonderful revival of the industry
Pearls have advanced in price owing
to the fact that supply from larger.
grounds has fallen off. The large fish
cries of the north coast of Australia.
for example, have been yielding com
paratively few pearls, and the industry
is now carried on there, not so much
for the gems as for pearl she'll, or
mother of pearl, as it is known in the
trade. Times had been very dull in
Margarita for many years, but there
is now extraordinary activity in the
Island. Buyers from different parts
of the world have gone to Margarita
to Live on that sandy and not particu-
laply inviting island. Their business.
of course, is to purchase from the ma
tive fishermen the gems they wrest
from the shallow depths around the
island.
There are no such lively scenes on
the Grand Banks among the cod feet
as are witnessed to-day in the waters
over the beds off the northeast and
northwest shores of Margarita. About
1000 natives and 400 sailing vessels are
engaged in the industry. The long
neglected beds have had time for re-
cuperation, and the gems fetch good
price in the Paris and other markets;
so this is a harvest time for the ma
tives who are improving each shining
hour. The Venezuelan government, al
ways alert to discover new source
of revenue. is deriving considerable adj
vantage from the industry by taxing
all the boats engaged in it. These
boats are from three to fifteen tons
in size, and the whole feet is on the
grounds during most of the daylight
hours. Frss-r. ~ n.
Back and forth the vessels sail over
the oyster beds dragging big iron
scoops which are soon filed with mud
and oysters. They are then brought
to the surface and the shells are
opened and gracefully examined. This
is a crude and wasteful method of
fishing for pearls. The great objection
to it is that it tears the small we'll
as the large oysters from the beds,
though the small shells should be left
undisturbed to grow and increase in
value. A French company has just
begun fishing with divers and diving
apparatus, which is the preferable
method. The Venezuelan government
taxes only the boats of the native fish
ermen. but the foreigners must pay
royalty of ten per cent. on the profits
of their enterprise.
3. The results thus far this season
justify the opinion that the value Of
the output this year will be about
5000 900. It would be much increased
If the shell of the oyster were more
valuable, but it is found to be too thin
for the manufacture of buttons and
other articles such as are made from
the shell of the Queensland and Bahr-
Elm islands fisheries The thinness Of
the she'll is said to be due to the short
life of the Margaritan oyster, which
is not usually more than eight years.
The pearls, however, are of fine quail
ty and beautiful luster. Most of them
are white to yellow in color and some
times an almost priceless black gem
is brought to the surface. In May
last a large white pearl was sold in
for 81, 200. Such prizes, how
ever, are not found often, though
every time large oyster is opened the
fisherman hopes he will find a pearl
of unusual value. Most of the pearls
go to Paris, which is regarded as the
great center for the distribution OF