The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-10-09
Cannelton Is an Important Cen.
ter for Shipment of the Ri
valves to Factories.
ARE USED TO MAKE BUTTONS.
Once in a While a Fisherman
Finds Valuable Pearls Among
the Fresh Water
MUssels.

REPUBLIC SPECIAL
CanueIton. Ind. Oct. s-This city IS
gaining a reputation as a shipping point
FOR mussel shells. Thus far his sessor
ebout rs tons of shells have Left this place
for the button factories at Muscatine. Ia.
Most o. these shells were obtained from
the Ohio River. about half q mile below
the town.
Til manner OF getting these shelly out
OF the river and the method OF preparing
them for the market form q novel indus
Try.
The mussei fsherman's outfit consists OF
q Goat and a pair OF dredses. a dredge
IS composed OF a common gas pipe. to
WHICH quite O. number Of hooks are at
tached. Each hook on a aredge has four
prongs.
Fastening a strong rope to his dredge,
the fisherman drops it overheard. and as
Els boat floats with the current the dredge
orags along the bottom of the river.
The mussel lies in the water with shell!
open, and when a prong OF a hook strikes
wlthin the opening between his two shells
the poor. deluded mollusk thinking he has
something good TO eat. closes down on the
nook with a vicelike grip. After floating
rSenty or thirty yards the dredge is pulled
up and the remaining dredge is dropped
out on the opposite side OF the boat. IL ia
not unusual for a fisherman to get 100
musseis at a single drop OF the dredge.
Aiter the fisherman has obtained az
many mussels as his boat will conyeniert-
~ carry he rows TO the shore. and tho
'~cooking-out' process begins. Tho mus
ELS are conveyed from the boat to a tank
mnssa I9iG ar .op 70 ieg Bounds Here the
ooIllns ioosens the meat from the she'll
me smells are h shoveled ont on a
plasIorIn where they are sorted and
leaned for shipment.
The price pafd for shells this summer
IVES SIC a ton I. o. b..
While the shells form primarily the
prnIcipa! Proauct Of mussels. the fisher
man not infrequently Strikes fl II,ckv"
by finding a valuable pearl.
A pearl to be Of first quality must be OF
9ood ulster and either round, button or
form, but have 4 brilliant color tRer also
nave value. though not as great as the
perfectly formed, smooth ones. An ire
quarry shaped pearl is called a barodue.
A pearl to be of any great value Should
be not less than one-eighth OF an inch in
diameter and in color should be white
PINK. purple. brown or black.
perect in shape. but OF a dull lead color.
These are worthless and are known as
dead pearls.
Another product OF the mussel deserv-
ing attention Is the slug" The slug" is
always irregular in form and is composed
OF the same material that goes in the
composition Of pearls. though it does not
possess sufficient brilliaucy Of color 10 be
pdLp4G" SIuBs are USED IN
the manufacture of cheap jcwelry and the
price for them usually ranges from 81 to
$i.5D an ounce.
These products OF the mussel. pearls.
Daroques and "slugs," are always formed
by the mussel to protect Itself from irri-
tation. Some foreign substance. usually
a grain OF sand. gets between the shells
This frritates the mussel. and to protect
itself 1t envclops the offending object in
a coat OF nacre of varying thickness.
The manufacture Of pearl buttons in
this country Is OF recent origin. The first
factory was started In Muscatine. la. In
1SN. This industry has since grown until
at present factories are established in all
States where the shells are found. Musca-
tine is still the center OF the industry.
with forty factories.