Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-08-22

After perlOQ III Wnlcn the tTeHu
OF the clammer has been from these
stretches Of the Mississippi to the
southern waters, the upper river along
the Minnesota and Wisconsin shores
is said again to be furnishing some
very attractive picking for the clam
dredger.
That pearl fishing is no inconsider-
able industry may be seen from the
fact that the value of all the fresh
water pearls produced in the United
States during 1905 amounted to fully
SIS, 600, 900. OF this amount, rather
more than half represents the value
of the pearls that We're gathered from
the streams and lakes in the middle
west-the Mississippi Valley as 1t
were, IN the strictest sense of the
name.
Think of a pearl as large is an or
binary marble, with rarity OIL col
oring that makes it impossible to be
matched Such a pearl this was
taken out of the Mississippi within a
month, and has since been sold FOR
about 100000 veritable fortune for
William Bates, of Red Wing, the
lucky finder of the stone.
Without doubt there is not another
nearl in existence that will compare
with the one that Bates took out of
Mississippi river clam few weeks
ago. That there are larger pearls In
the world goes without saying, and
that there are pearls on whiah nigh
er market value is set is likewise a
truism Nevertheless, for delicacy OF
coloring and oddity of the shading,
the Bates pearl, as it is called, is
without peer.
Pearls found in foreign countries
are valued for the evenness OF their
coloring and the ease with which
they can be matched. Thus 1t is not
am unusual phenomenon to find that
all the pearls taken from a certain
locality are marked exactly alike, and
in buying pearls to be worn IN i'eeh-
laces and other ornaments, the prln-.
cipal desideratum Is to get slohes
that match one another closely.
American fresh water pearls, now
ever, are valued for just the opposite
qualities. The coloring, far from pc
ing even, is most irregular. and IN the
general run of domestic pearls the rar-
ity of color is the salient CHARACTER
istic. AS for matching American pearls
it is almost impossible to get anything
like resemblance even IN TWO
stones. not to speak of the dozens and
even more scores that enter into the
makeup of the most famous neck
laces and tiaras.
The Bates pearl, as typical Amerl-
can stone, is remarkable not alone Tor
it's size but also for its wonderful
marking. With net diamond weight
of IS grains. the jewel is perfectly
round and absolutely without flaw.
The 1lesh-colored tinting gives beau
tiful luster to the pearl, which appears
OPAQUE in the light, and almost trans
parent and translucent when shaded
slightly
The old theory anent the formation
of pearls was that they were developed
inside the oyster as a protection
against grains of sand and other for.
eign substances that had worked in
between the mollusk's body and his
shell. Like many another pristine the
ory in the world of science, this ex-
ploration of the raison d'etre of the
pearl has gone by the board.
The latest view on the subject is
right In llIG WlUll LaC luCoIy VI tSAAO
ubiquitous germ.
In effect, it is that the oyster con-
tracts a disease, due to the presence
of microscopic insect known as the
diatoma This f1ukelike creature in
tests oyster beds and causes a dis
ease mong the mollusk Inhabitants
that undoubtedly yields more valuable
results than any other in the whole
realm of therapeutics.
The substance of which pearls are
formed is a sort of secretion that is
exuded from the disease affected part
of the oysters body. Pearls have ex-
actly the same chemical composition
whether they are called freshwatar
or salt water or whether they are tax
en- off the coast of Australia or out Of
the Mississippi river at Muscatina.
In all cases they are made up of call
cium carbonate, water and certain
quantity, varying in different pearls
of animal matter
Pearl fishing as an industry dates
back but a few years. AS a matter of
fact it is not too much to say that
the industry is really a development of
the past decade.
Ten years ago isolated fishermen
eked out a hard existence along the
lower Mississippi river, especially in
Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas and Iowa.
With only the crudest appliances for
the work, the lone pearl hunter toiled
at the hardest kind of manual labor
dragging a clumsy rake at the stern of
small boat.
Today. according to a recent esti-
mate, there are 10000 men and wo-
men engaged in an industry whose
product last year was valued at up
wards of $4,000 600. Furthermore,
the industry has reached the stage
where companies, backed with plenty
of capital, are in the field, and at
least one of these companies is equip