The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-08-01

ear, and several others, rank with the
niggerhead, and are sold with them; while
the deer's foot, which on the hinge side
Is in the exact form Of q deer's hoof, the
pocketbook, elephants ear and razorback
are much less valuable. The yellow sand
shell, used by Mr.. Beopple when he be-
gan the manufacture Of buttons from
Mississippi river clam Shells, is now re-
jected at the factories, as, while it Is
beautiful in color and texture, It Is thin
and brittle and requires careful handling,
which, with the machinery now In use,
makes the cost Of manufacture too high
for profit ..
A clam fishers outfit in addition to the
boat already described, Is q pan for cook
ing the clans. a bin shed, and portable
dwelling Of some kind AS the nature Of
his calling makes him an itnerant, every
thing he possesses Is movable, whether
It Is poor and cheap, or, according to his
standards, expensive and handsome.
| Glass distinctions exist among clammers,
| as In other communities. A clam fisher
| Of the middle or lower class lives in q
| tent, orr in a shack constructed Of drift
| wood and building paper. These are
| large or small, good or poor, according to
his state. If he be an aristocrat among
clammers, he has a houseboat which IL
| his permanent, tho movable home, and he
! holds himself q little aloof from the other
clammers Of any camp whore he may hap
pensto be. When he finds a pearl he does
not call his fellow fisherers to examine
and pass Judgment upon It, neither Is he
called to share the excitement Of a
valuable find: and 80, however much he
may enjoy his exclusiveness, he loses
clammers' camp.
| Whe ma fisher has taken as many CLAIMS
as he can boil and sort in the after part
| Of the day, he draws up his boat and
lights a fire In a furnace Of rude masonry,
on which is mounted big sheet iron pan.
This he fills with CLAIMS and water, and
when they have boiled about twenty min
utes the CLAIMS are open and ready for
sorting. From the pan they are shoveled
into a large, shallow box called a sort
ing tray, which Is fastened on standards
driven Into the ground, making 1t about
as high as an ordinary table. This co.
cupies one side Of, a rough shed, under
which the shells to be sold are piled
since to allow them to bleach in the sur
makes them difficult to cut and work
successfully. It Is when the clam fisher
Is taking out the meats and sorting the
shells that he finds pearls, and his fingers
are as sensitive as the fingers Of the blind
He detects, .unerringly, the least hare
substance in the soft meats he Is handling
/ the eager hope Of the gambler seeming
to be concentrated in his finger tips.
Pears follow no law as to position
Seed pearls are sometimes fastened on thu
frilled lip Of the clam, forming continue
Gus edge, not unlike pearl beads on BIZ
Of lace. Often pearls are embedded II
the thick portions Of the mussePs body
and frequently they are unattached in tn,
shell. AS those which are not attached
often fall out when the clam opens, tn,
water in which they are boiled is CAREFUL,
strained. Upon any foreign substance IL
J the shell the clam pours a nacreous sub
stance, which is largely carbonate Of lime
,, This, deposited in exquisitely delicate lay
ers, is as smooth as is the lining Of tn
shell. The size and shape of the foteig1
substance determine whether pearl o
baroque pearl is to result. The latte
, are being much used, and may be seen II
almost any jewelers. window. Some o
!, them are beautiful in color and lustel
/ and are effective as pendants, as tn
? petals OF flowers, and as the bodies O
plrds and insects set about with gems.
The pearling over of any substance 1
: the shell Of the clam is an instinct Of self
8 preservation as, If the intruding matte
be not made smooth, it irritates the soft
!, skinless body, and death is the ultimat
:, result. Once this pearling process be
|. gins, 1t goes on indefinitely, and the pear
: whatever It's shape, grows constantly lar
ger. Occasionally the deposit after Z
time grows coarse, like the outside of til
shell. When this Is the case, the pea
As what is known as a ''peeler," that /.