The Brunswick news. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 1901-1903, 1902-11-09
MAKING PEARL BUTTONS
MUSSEL SHELLS IN THE MISSISSIPPI
A SOURCE OF WEALTH.

China Sea Trade Droops-Not an Uncom-
mon hing for n i-herinan to Find
Pearls, and One Gem Was Recently
sold for the Handsome sum of $4,000.
in the matter of the maqrfacture
OF pearl buttons the centre Of activity
has shifted from the China S5a TO the
river towns OF this Mississippi section,
Wri,es the Muscetine (Iowa) cores
pondent CT the Philadelphia Record.
Altogether unknown in tlis region It
dozen years ago this industry has
grown to sucl proportions that it now
employs the services Of thousands Of
PEOPLE. and the output has become 20
great that it materially affects the but
ton market of the world
About twelve years ago a German
hutton maker OF the same of Boeple
wandered into Muscatine from the ola
country He saw for the first time the
'uussel shells of the Mississippi river.
He examined them closely and express
ed the opinion that they were good
material for buttons. Up to this time
soft water shells were considered i'm
practicable. for any such use, and au-
thorities on the subject were naturally
skeptical in regard 10 Boeples opinion
Of their usefulness. He persisted in
claiming that the "niggerhead" mussel
from the waters Of the Mississippi ry-
or would make, if properly handled and
finished, the finest pearl buttons yet
produced. He took some specimens
to the factories at Waterbury. Conn.
and after considerable experimenting
one concern there determined that
with some changes in their machinery
the shell of the strange musse from
the great father Of waters" would
make button to compete with the
best of those from other parts of the
world.
First one concern and then another
began to use the Mississippi shell UNI
til the foreign one was almost aban-
doned. In the beginning the shells
were shipped East in the rough and
prepared for use after their arrival
there, but the freight rates were so
high that one enterprising firm soon
shipped that part of its machinery
which makes the BLANKS" out to Mus
catine, and what generally results
when some pioneer leads the way to
q good thing, others soon prohted by
the example and came also The indus
try has spread both up and down the
river until almost every town Of any
importance, from St Paul, Mimi.
to Alton, ILL.,, is now engaged in some
form of the industry.
The manner of catching the mussels
is interesting A fisherman eQuips him
self with what is known TO the elan as
a John boat" This is a flatboat on the
order Of scow, about 20 feet long
and IL feet wide. Upon the inside
of the boat are placed eight uprights,
which are between three and four feet
high. and have crotched tops Four
Of the uprights are placed on each side
of the boat. at just enough distance
apart to accommodate the four 10-foot
pieces of inch gaspipe that rests upon
them. To each Of the gaspipes is at
tached 20 four-foot stagons. similar 10
those used on an ordinary trot line,
and each stagon has four hooks, with
four prongs.
The fisherman goes out in his John
boat" with as much confidence as If it
were the finest craft ahoat Once in The
stream he casts his gaspipes, one by
one. AS the hooks drag along the
bottom Of the river they come in con
tact with the open shells OF the mus
sells. which Immediately close UP on
them. Thus attached they are brought
to the surface and taken Off The dis
lance the hooks are dragged each time
depends altogether on the thickness OF
the bed and varies from three boat
lengths to an eighth Of a mile
The rivers OF Arkansas are said to
be so thick with mussol bed that they
crop out OF the water When it is low.
The men put on rubber boots and
shovel the shells into the boats In the
Upper Mississippi district shells are
quoted in car lots. ranging frcm Is to
80 ton in weight, but the Arkansas
dealers have astounded everybody in
the business by sending ont Quotations
on 500-ton lots and promptly Cling all
order sent them. The men sell the
mussels to the button factory operators
at SO much per 100 pounds. The wages
they make depend upon their diligence
and the lucl, they meet with in getting
in thick bed, but range from $3.50
to SIS per day There is one big mussel
bed near Canton, Mo, about eight
miles in length
The process Of making the shells in
to buttons is interesting The shells
are first cut Up into blanks the exact
size Of the buttons are going to be;
then they 90 to The grinder, a machine
which grinds the black off mem;
after that to the facing machine,
wAica cuts the face on then; next 10
the hacker which beyels the back;
then the drill which pu;s IN tho eye
holes; from here they 90 to the polish
ing room, where the glossy finish is
put upon them; after that they are
sorted. pat on cards and boxed UP.
There are aGcut forty factories in
a