The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-07-14
WITHPEARLHUNTERS
Interesting Letter From an
Australian Skipper.
MANY DANGERS TO THE DIVERS
How the Shells Are Procured by ssse
Fishing Fleet - The Cost of a
PenrIing Boat Each Season, which
Lasts from april Until Christmas.
Wages Earned by the Fishers.

Pearl-gathering of the coast Of West
ern Australia Is the subject of an inter
esting letter just received IN this city from
e. n. Harrison, an experienced pearl feet
skipper, says the New York Evening
Post. The captain had been asked TO de-
scribe his work, and the letter was his
response to the request At the end was
a postscript which was even more pic
turesque than the main document, contain
ing he information that the letter went
TO u bottom OF the sea in the wrecked
schooner Guilty Lark, aud stayed there
two days before It was mailed to New
York.
Since writing" the postscript said. fur
Their, we've had a terrific cyclone. It
wrecked and sank seventeen luggers and
lschooners. our own included. The Eclipse
was dismasted and driven ashore, al
| though We anchored in a bay with three
anchors on ninety fathoms Of chain. and
forty fathoms OF 5-inch coIr hawser."
Such. then, IS the danger Of pearl-hunt-
ing enterprises in that part Of the world
The captains description Of the business
follows:
This firm owns three luggers and a
schooner. The luggers are small craft Of
from ten to fifteen tons. two-masted, and
rugged as fore and aft schooners. Each
lugger is fitted with a complete diving ap-I
paratus. consisting Of air pump. two div
Ing dresses, two hundred feet Of air pipe
and, OF course, lifeline Of about the
H.
longer. Then, Of course, there are the
divers helmet and corslet. and lead
weights, and his huge boots, weigh
ing sometimes tWenty-eight pounds
each, although generally IN shallow wa
ter they range between fourteen and
twenty pounds apiece. Each lugger has
a crew Of six men, diver, tender, and four
pump hands. These men are generally al
mixed crowd. Japanese and Malays form
ing the majority, while Manila men are
getting fairly numerous now, and you get
a smattering of South Sea Islanders. Hin
dus. Chinese. and, in fact, every kind OF
Eastern native.
Men from Singapore.
THE men are all imported from Singa-
pore, where there are two large firms
making quite a good thing out Of shipping
crews to the pearling boats. Surprising
We want, say. four men. We cable or
write 10 either OF these firms. specifying
whether we want japanese or Malays. /
and also by which steamship TO send
them. Previous 10 this. though, we must
have got a permit from the Australian
COZ 70 ar
also have signed a bond for el0O per man
20 guarantee that they win be deported
on the expiration OF their agreements
"On their arrival here they are signed
under the merchant shipping act articles
for three years, in which time they are
paid at the rate Of thirty shillings a /
month. and Of course, fed. When this /
has been done. they are either put or |
board the schooner or drafted into the /
different Iuggers.
I must now describe the schooner and !
her particular use She IS a fore-and- |
after Of twenty-five tons net register. The 1
crew consists Of the manager, the skipper 1
myself, clerk, and. perhaps. four TO six 1
cOlOred men, consisting Of a cook, carpen- /
ter, sarang, and seamer. We carry ra-
tons and spare gear for the luggers also |
a considerable amount OF 'slop chest'-an 1
kinds of clothes, tobacco, and pipes and i
matches, cigarette papers. timed fruit /
cakes and biscuits; in fact. almost every
thing YOU could suggest that would ap- 4
peal 10 the minds Of the men. These /
goods are Tetailed to the crews az a pretty
fair profit, and the cost is taken from
their pay.
Each man has a small account-book in /
which everything is entered when he re-
ceives il and his wages credited to him 4
every mOnth-end. There is no possibility 4
OF his denying having received certain .
goods, as the book never passes. from his |
keeping, and there would be no chance 4
TO make false entries; for, although they
can't read English. they have a pretty
fair idea Of what you should write If they
bought say. tin Of tobacco.
The Actual Work.
Now for the actual work Of pearling:
We will say that the boats have all been
overhauled and are just commencing the
season proper, which begins in the first
week Of April, They have each a months
rations. wood, and water on board.
lead off in the schooner to what is consid-
cred to be likely place, perhaps twenty
miles and perhaps a hundred and twenty
from our headquarters. On arrival there.
down goes cur anchor and the boats all
crowd round. II it be early enough. the
divers are all into their dresses and down
to the bottom before the schooner's sails
are slowed Then the work begins Each
lugger has a drift anchor, (. e., one that
won't hold in the bottom. These are let
go 10 regulate the rate that the boat
drifts.
The diver having put on his dress.
hangs over the side on a short ladder.
which only reaches TO about four feet or
so under the surface of the water; his
helmet is then screwed on, after the ten
der has washed the face and side glasses
well. The pumps are started and the
diver takes hold of the plumper line
which is a piece of stout rope heavily
reaching TO the bottom. Then
he jumps backward from the ladder and
sinks gently to the bottom. regulating
his speed by the plumper.
'As soon as he touches bottom, he signals
the tender. and one of the crew haus in
the plumper line: then of he goes back
ward and forward across the tide. while
the boat drifts along, regulated by the
heaving In OF stacking out chain on the
drift anchor. When he has enough shell,
or is wanting a rest. he signals the ten
der. shuts his valve, and is promptly
hauled to the surface After a few min
utes, down he goes again.
The she'll is generally found in patches.
extending two or three miles
and sometimes only 4 quarter or half a
mile. OF course, after he reaches the
end OF the good ground, he heaves up and
sails back 10 the schooner and starts
again. Sixty shells a day is considered
a good catch. and often they don't get
twenty, At about 4 o'clock the whale
boat Is lowered from the schooner, and
go around and collect the shell from
he luggers. keeping each ones she'll SEN