The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-01-26
DEEP SEA DIVING 4 GAMBLE.
PEARL FISHERS VINO ARE NOT
AvERSE TO SPECULATE on.
Away On In the Persian Gulf These Ani-
phibIans Prefer to Take chances ON tie
Outcome of Their dangerous Calling
-Big Profits Sometimes In q Venture.

IutItftNNis fTtftF w
Outcome Of Their dangerous Calling
-Ing Profits Sometimes In . Venture
The commuters we're telling fish stories
The Englishman. who In visiting a mar
He'd daughter In jersey. listened. with the
uormai Englishman's interest in sport.
Much Of a fisherman yourselff' asked
,ne OF tho commuters.
swell, / don't go in for 1t now, i never
mw n tarpon or a muskallonge, but I've
hndcd a salmon or two, In my time, said
he Englishman modestly- Then he added
'Tve seen queer fishing. though, and once
I caught a Ash that / sold for 81 500
The commuters looked impressed. They
Sad been testing the elasticity OF truth a
rifle themselves.
-WlIat were you fishing for?' asked the
most curious,
Pearls said the Englishinan quietly.
That was outside of the commuters
preserves so they quieted down.
1T was q long time ago. the English
nau went on -but IL was good sport. l
think ! preferred IL To salmon fishing. I'm
unpatriotio enough to like the Far East
better than the Scottish country, ! was
born in India. Give me a blue sky and a
broiling sun and a sea bluer than the sky.
| hate your gray worlds.
Il was sent home TO my grandfather
when l was a youngster. but as soon as |
grew up and was my own master, | began
globe trotting. trotted into a good many
put of the way corners most OF them in
Asia. Southern Europe isn't 50 bad in
tho summe time. Did you ever &c coral
hshing down on the coast Of Corsica or
sieiiyl No; weil that mas it's picturesque
features too. And / suppose you never
dshed for sponges?
-I'ye gone out with coral and sp onge
6eets. but once l spent n whole season with
pearlers on the Bahrein banks in the Per-
sian Gulf.
Il hadn't any idea of staying there when
] happened along. I was travelling with
Q couple of jewel merchants. | had seen
pearl fishing on the Ceylon ranks. The
Government ran things dow there. you
know, but the Ceylon haul had never equal
led the Persian pearl harvest. Anybody
could fish in the Persian Gulf. The divers
came from all along the coast, but the
rights of the different outfits were defined
BY custom. The Bshrein boats stuck to
their limits, the Pirate Coast boats TO theirs
Il dropped down there early in June.
ne DGdTl ScdNDn DtkhlS ln ohhitt Duh
OF tlle June diving is done in shallow water.
At least. that's b way 1t used to be.
Bppose diving apparatus has changed
things there as everywhere, although they
tell me the native divers still work along
in the old way In the Gulf. | got the pearl
fever. IL WASN'T that | cared so much
about the pearls. but the whole thing in
tererted me. So ! stayed, bought a boat.
hired some divers and went into business.
One literally bought the divers. The
we're beastly poor. The whole
trade was run by merchants. They owned
he boats and loaned the divers money for
lie seasons work. at a Shylock rate of
int crest. IL the fishers lad big luck, they
pay out and find Themselves rich
NJ the end 81 the season. IL they had poor
luck, they might be- in debt up 10 Their
and starve. My men thought
they had a map ! put up the money and
them equal shares with me in all
findings.
Now ] tell you, the pearl business IL the
biggest lottery speculation ] ever ran up
against. IL beats the Derby and Monte
Carlo and your national game OF poker;
fakirs, spectators all focked
10 the pearl district In season. Nobody
knew what he was getting II he bought
ihe oysters u~nopened. They were worth
3, a hundred in that State. You
might buy a car load and get nothing.
Then again ! knew Of natives who bought
small basketfuls OF oysters and found
enough pearls In them TO set them up for
-sometimes the divers received wages
starvation wages. More often they got a
certain share Of the oysters. Usually there
wasn't a fAed scale. A man was paid
according To his skill. The boats were 81
different sizes, ten To twenty tons. There
were usually three OF Tour thousand Of
them on ths hanks from June 90 september.
and | romembsr the year ! was there, the
value Of the annual hAul was estimated az
ftOO .OO0 and c450y0 OO sterling
Ordinarily ten men went With a boat ana
along five big diving stone When
Hnd half The men s,Tpp-d and
wont over the sldN Thsn the diving STONES,
90 rope I, wers lowered from the
boat. The diyef stopped up his moss with
ciny or a put a small hasksl an his arm.
drew . long breath, 80, one foo! on tbs
In the boat let tho stons ~. TIP down
10 tLs LDttOm. You'll hear all sorts ~
wild stores about tlss length 81 tifns thess
VIII stay under ~stsf, but they are
fairy tales Men who knew told ne that
seconds ~As iis linni and uhat thsfe
seTs miglhy fe~ diysfs Who ouuld siay
aosa fof q minuis Only Two - ny msn
could laat a. ssnOnds
When ths diver has picked up az many
shells ~ lac can ho comes "a Tho s4nanr,
AID tho man la tho boai hauls no STONE
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las dosn again When ls 10 played oct
r. ass# into Tie luiai aud ilIs oil,sr man
tska hls fun fsuulng ga . hazis q
lay lnani in uysfHrs, shieti be- ~uuld usually
sell unolsnsi to diver sOsid sam ahoui
tey ,slas q dive
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sald al,Ypi us synafalgs dtlH dls.fs ilsI
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