Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-07-12
DOMESTIC PEARL TRADE
VALUABLE RESOURCES OF Wa
TIERS ABOUT JoLo.
Trade Worth Many Millions Now in
Foreign Hands-Fine Collection in
Possession of Sultan.

Our new possessions in the orient reach
down to within five degrees OF the equator
where, scattered over a tropic sea as
though sown from the hand of a creative
giant, is found the Julo archipelago. says
the New York Tribune. This is point
where extremes meet. Free Americans find
slavery recognized as a part of the social
system The missionaries OF the latest Pro-
testant faith find followers of the false
prophet making treaties In the sacred lam
guage OF the Koran. and teachers gather
their pupils from the harems of sultans and
dattos.
The pearl and shell fisheries of the Jolo
waters are little known to the world at
large. and only to a limited degree to COM
merce, yet upon the authority of expert tes-
timony they rank in quality and product
ana possibility of DEVELOPMENT with the
famed and ancient grounds of Ceylou and
the Persian gulf, and the more modern
areas of Australia and Torres strait.
The fishing grounds of the Joio archipel-
ago are credited with contributing today
the greatest number of the finest round
pearls that find their way into the channels
OF commerce. The pearls themselves are
simply side issue, or, rather, a by-product
the pearl oyster shell. the mother-of-pearl
OF commerce, being the principal object of
the hshermans quest They weigh from
one to eight pounds a pair, some of them
being as large as dinner plates and almost
as round.
They are shipped in large quantities to
singapore and London, and the business
like many other Industries in the Philip
pines, is, to large degree, in the hands Of
china men. who pay the natives from 40 to
n cents pound for the shells, and 1t is
estimate that only from Il to per cent of
the shells contain pearls.
Under English and Chinese Control.
Aside from the irregular and crude fish
ing of the natives. there are two companies
one English and one Chinese, with head
quarters at Jolo, which pursue the business
in a systematic manner. with suitable YES
sells, and equip their divers with diving
suits and employ all the modern appliances
Tor deep-sea explorations. The companies
named pay certain sum TO the Sultan of
Joio for the privilege of fishing. and that
the business is profitable may be assumed
from the fact that the Chartered Bank of
India, Australia and China and the Hong
Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation
have extensive interests In 1t.
The conditions essential to the greatest
development of the mother of pearl and the
pearl-bearing molusk are a reefy bottom
near mud, and especially where there is a
luxurious supply of submarine vegetation.
coral cups and another beautiful coral
growth resembling coach whips" four or
five feet in length. Sweeping tides and an
abundance Of living reefs are particularly
favorable to the growth Of this beautiful
HlQeSCenI mOlluSk. IheSe conditions exist
to perfection in the waters of the Jolo
archipelago. where pearl fishing is now car
ried on to a limited extent, and also along
the coast of Palawan. as well as along the
Mindanao shores of the Jolo and Celebes
seas.
1t is estimated that the area suited to the
growth and propagation Of the pearl oyster
covers approximately 1900 square miles,
an area large enough to furnish supply
of mother-of-pearl more than sufficient to
meet the present demand of the entire
world and the Imagination only can pic
ture the number, beauty and value Of the
beautiful pearls "of purest ray serene" that
await discovery in the warm waters Of
those far-off eastern seas.
While most mollusks secrete mother-of-
pearl. there are few that yield pearls, and
the best producer of both is the pearl oys-
ter of the Jolo waters. The finding of the
pearl, however is as uncertain as the find
ing of rich nuggets in placer mining. 1t
has been found that in opening over 5000
shells not a single pearl worth s-5 was en-
countered. and again. as many as dozen
have been found in a single shell; and
there is a story current that an English
man a few years ago found a shell devoid
of the. oyster, but containing sixty-ttve
pearls.