Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1905-07-23

In these boats the sea gypsies," as they
are known, have their wives and children
and sail about, living entirely upon the
products of the sea. The Sulus, owing to
practice from childhood and having a fine
physique, are the best divers in the world
They go in head first and without artificial
assistance whatever, and they can remain
in the water from sixty to eighty seconds.
they can descend twenty fathoms Q2O feeD,
and some of the more expert even more,
but this is regarded as the extreme limit
in naked, unhelmeted diving. The divers,
naked and unarmed, must possess I'M
daunted courage and excellent health. They
have to attend as carefully to their modes
Of living and diet as do professional ath-
letes. Their powers of staying in water
must also be remarkably great. They have
to brave dangers from the shark, sword
fish and octopus. or devil fish, which in
fest those waters. With the combative-
ness and resolution of the Moro, under
proper direction, they become the most
daring and enduring divers in the world
and there exists among them a keen de-
sire to excel one another in the length
of time they can remain under water.
Divers Compared.
The Malay divers are quick to learn
| from white men, and easier to teach, but
| their powers of endurance are inferior to
! those of the Sulus. The Polynesian divers
are very superior, and the women are bet
ter than the men. These people anoint
their bodies with cocoanut oil before going
! into the water. In western Australia the
native divers, after proper training, go in
| feet first and turn In the water, this form
| being considered less eXhausting than
head first But the Sulu divers disdain to
| initiate the Australian methods and plunge
in head first. In training for diving, at
! tempts are first made in about three
fathoms eighteen feet and even this depth
| generally causes bleeding at the nose. 1t
/ usually requires nearly six months prac-
| tice to reach ten and half fathoms (sixty-
three feeD. A man who has been accus-
| toned to the water and ceases to dive for
a few months, experiences great suffer-
ling in the ears when again he takes to
the water. There is a record of one diver
| remaining below $50 beats of the pulse, or
| two and a half minutes, while the great
| est depth attained by divers noted by wit
nesses is seventeen and half fathoms,
| or 1O5 feet. This same man made fifteen
/ and half faith ms in the presence of an
officer of the English ship Champion. The
I temperature VI Nll6 dAA uluoN idhbC dbOub
70 degree, Fahrenheit, and the water about
10 degrees for successful pearl diving.
The Commerce IN Shells and Pearls.
Until about 1886 Manila was the great
center of the pearl and shell trade in the
orient, and the products of these seas be-
| came known the Manila shells. and
reached the highest point of excellence
| and price. The position of Singapore, how
| ever, and the enterprise Of the Chinese
! steamship owners completely transferred
! the whole traffic from the port Of Manila
to the port of Singapore. The United
| States purchases a large portion of the
mother of pearls that are produced in the
Sulu grounds, but they pass through for
eign hands, through Singapore, and then
direct to London, Vienna and other Euro
pean ports before being entered for con
| sumption in the United States. The value
Of pearls for the hscal year 1899, 1900 and
the nine months Of 1901 ended March 81,
are given as follows Pearls entered al
New York. not split, ana paying 10 pei
cent duty, $1,A2952 for 1893, a,16S,S S2 for
1900, and $685. SS for 1901 Pearls split, etc,
not especially provided for, paying 20 per
cent duty, $3.50, 500 for 1893, S4s2.52S for 1900
and S7O3,l for 1901. Shells not sawed OF
cut, polished or otherwise, entering free
s., O69, $40 for 1893 and $lOl6,72S for 1890. Re
cent statistics Of foreign shell exports show
that the value Of mother-Of- pearl shell from
the leading pearl grounds shipped in 1891
from the Bahrei9 islands in the Persian
gulf, was $2.211. lis, while from Ceylon there
has been none since 1891. From the Torres
Strait district, S66s SCI, and from western
Australia, s44O,51A Statistics are also pro
duced showing what a great loss of trad'
Tiers has been to Manila because OF tn
sulu pearls and shells going to Singapore
But these are largely of an estimated
character.
Complications Likely to Ensue.
The United States government is likely L
find considerable dificulty in securing con
troll Of the pearl fishing grounds in tn
suIu group. as, apart from the fact tina
the sultan of Sulu claims absolute SOW
ereignty over all the Islands and the sea II
that particular section OF the Philippines
and that the natives give him the pearl
that are obtained with the shells, he ha
} made various agreements with companie
J who are now operating and Intend 4
operate on the pearl grounds. English an
Chinese companies paying him for IN
privilege There are also contracts know
? to have been made by ths sultan with Ger
tain Germans for the privilege OF pear
J fishing. An article OF the protocol signe'
at Madrid By representatives Of GTea