Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-02-27
They Are Not Becoming Much
Scarcer as Has Been Re-
Gently Reported
THE DEMAND is MUCH GREATER
Increased Use of Pearls in Manufac-
ture of Various Ornaments Worn by
Women Has Made an Usual Demand
for the River varieties-Where They
are Found.


pearl bearing clans are becoming
scarce in the rivers in Wisconsin and
in the Mississippi river along the east
ern boundary of the state is emphat-
iically denied by l.. w. Bunde, of Bunde
& Upmeyer, who probably buy more
pearls in this country than any other
concern in the United States. Accord
ing to Mr.. Bunde, the number of pearls
taken from the Mississippi river be-
tween st. Paul Minn and Hannibal,
Mo-, last year, was more than double
that of any previous year, and his firm
alone paid out in round numbers $780,
900 to the pearl fishermen.
There will be more men working on
the Mississippi river the coming sea-
son than ever before, and we are look
ing forward to a much larger number
OF pearls being offered for sale" said
Mr.. Bundle emphatically.
How do 1 account for the increase
in prospect? The men are getting
much better prices for the clam shells
than they were before. You see, last
September, some foreign buyers APP
peared at Prairie du Chen and bought
up large quantity of shells, that the
button factories in this country had
turned down, claiming the price at
which they were held was too high.
This had the effect to send prices up to
s14 and SIS ton for the shells, which
the American buttonmakers would not
take, paying 81 and S. ton for them.
NJ, inf
game, and the fishermen are now get
ting what they ought to for SHELLS. AT
the prevailing prices men can make
excellent wages ct the business, and
then there is sort Of spirit of gamb-
ling involved as they stard n chance
of finding the pearls, which would
say. velvet
For the last three or four years /
have spent some time at Prairie du
Chen each year, and l have seen
twenty and thirty boats working within
1000 feet of the hotel, out there in the
river. The CLAIMS, 1T must be under
stood, are found in beds, and when the
boat passes over one of these beds the
fishermen gets q rich haul. Occasion
ally toward the end of the season the
CLAIMS become scarce, but they seem to
be as plentiful as ever the following
spring. 1t does not seem to be any
trouble for u boatman to get seventy
five shells on single drag of 200 feet.
There were probably 1000 men en-
gagged in fishing for CLAIMS on the Mis-
Sissippi last season, and there Will be
many more this year. There may be
fifty miles at a stretch where they have
not succeeded in finding claims. but
even in this territory there is a chance
of making a discovery at any time.
THE difficulty is not that the supply
Of pearls is becoming exhausted here in
Wisconsin, but that the demand is in
creasing at such a rapid rate that 1T
is difficult to keep pace with It, Pearl
jewelry has advanced 200 per cent dur
ing the last fifteen years. Why, during
the last five or six years we have been
using more pearl jewelry than ever be-
fore-that is, jewelry set with perfectly
round and smooth stones. Formerly
pearls were used as settings for ear
rings or brooches, in which from two
to ten of them were used. Now we are
making collaretes, and neck chains, and
ropes of pearls, which will require from
400 to GOO pearls to make them. They
have been becoming more and more
fashionable each year for the last five
years.
Our chapter. or irregular pearls
which are called "baroque,' have found
a market in Paris, London and st. Pc
te,sburg, and from there in all parts
of the world. They came back to us
here handsomely mounted. we buy
pearls all over the United States and
even Mexico There are none OF them
any better than the Wisconsin pearl
and the Mississippi river pearl is the
best of them all"