Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-06-20
MOTHER OF PEARL.
Of What It is Made and Some of Its
Many Uses.


From the New York Commercial.
Perhaps it is called mother of pearl
because in its tightly-locked bosom lies the
jewel snow drop that graces the delicate
throat of a queen. 1t is plain sea shell
The outside is rough-ribbed gray-the color
of a November twilight the interior mar
Vicious prism that has stored the hues OF
the rainbow.
The manufacture of mother Of pearl Is an
Industry of no little magnitude in New
York and hereabouts. This city and New
ark are its centers. Thousands of persons
make livelihood converting the shells into
! numerous useful and pretty articles of COM
merce. If we were asked what Is mother
of pearl used for. the reply would proba-
bly, be buttons. Thousands and thousands
Of buttons of all sizes. are manufactured
in New York annually, and the process is
exceedingly interesting. But buttons are
not all Knife handles, umbrella handles
revolver handles, pen holders, jewelry and
score of additional pretty and useful arti-
cles are made from mother of pearl.
The finest shells come from the Austria
liam archipelago They are white and eX-
tremely pretty. dark-tinted shell is
found off the coast of Japan; these are
from the worlds great pearl fisheries Cali
fornia produces some and the interior rivers
of the United States have their pearl pro-
| ducing shells. The pearl divers bring the
shells to the surface where first search
for pearls is made. The shells are then
shipped to London. the worlds great clear
ing house for mother Of pearl, where they
are again submitted to careful scrutiny for
jewels. The American manufacturer gets
his supply largely from London. In the
factory. as the shells are cut. another
search for pearls is made and not infre-
quently it Is rewarded. Not all the pearls
are found loosely slowed in the closed
| yl4~4 10
Sometimes they are secreted in the hard
casing of a shell and are only brought to
view by the cutting saw. In Canal street
factory the other day workman sliced a
$500 pearl into two beautiful sections and
rendered 1t worthless before he realized
what the saw was doing.
The manufacture of mother of pearl has
steadily increased in the twenty-five years
since 1t was begun in this country. The
genius of the inventor has found no substi-
tute for the product of nature and the
shells are not SO numerous as they were.
They cost the manufacturer an average Of
70 cents pound. The finished product.
therefore, is expensive and is likely - be
more so. as the demand is continually
growing for mother Of pearl articles
The shells are about eight inches wide
and weigh less than half pound. They
are shipped from London in 3OO-pound
boxes. Workmen Of skill in the mother of
pearl factories are mostly foreign born,
though American boys are being trained in
the craft. Inc men are EnSl1Sn, french
and Bohemians. who learned their trade
abroad. In the factory the shell first goes
to a skillful operator. who saws off the
rough edges. or the bark" 1t Is then cut
into strips. If it Is thick one, and GER
tain parts are selected for the heavier arti-
cles The thin. fiat shells go to the button
machine. where the discs are bored from IL
very rapidly. These round segments are
engraved on another machine; on another
holes are bored or the brass eye for the
thread is pressed in. then boy polishes the
outer surface Of each one by a momentary
touch on carborundum wheel, making
2, 400 revolutions a minute. Arising from
the sans and cutting and polish machines
is fine white dust. that settles over the
interior like -four in mill. but the work.
men are apparently robust and make no
complaint of evil effects Of breathing it.
While there is considerable waste material
in each shell no portion of the white mother
Of pearl is permitted to go to waste Very
small buttons. rosary beads ETC.. are made
from the rejected fragments. The larger
and better parts of the shell are carefully
selected for ornamentation of the articles
heretofore mentioned. A very pretty watch
fob for men Is made of piece of delicately
tinted mother of pearl artstically arranged
in filigree gold setting.
From the Mississippi river along the bor-
ders of Iowa the greatest quantity of fresh
water shells Is obtained. and 1t has become
profitable business Useless portions are
sawed off there. and the entire product is
shipped to eastern manufacturers