Hattiesburg daily news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1907-1908, 1908-05-05
Land SHELLS
ARE VALUABLE
They Are Used in the Philippines
As Substitute For Window
Glass By Natives.
Special Correspondence.

Manila, p. I. May 4.-The Philip
pines are famous for the abundance
and variety Of land shells which are,
with few exceptions, formed by
snails. They are most varied in FORM,
size and color, and many of them are
extremely beautiful. There are a
number of species of edible oysters
and CLAIMS, which are eaten by the
natives, and sometimes by the Euro
peans who come here, but none of
them compare with the oysters and
CLANS OF America. The shells Of one
are used In place of glass for win
dows. They are translucent, and are
set in sliding wooden frames, pro-
ducing much the same effect as
ground glass.
Shells of the enormous giant clam
sometimes attain the length of from
five to six feet, and weigh hundreds
of pounds. The valves are frequent
ly used for baptismal fonts. and the
natives use them for utensils of many
kinds in addition to burning then for
Mme. Divers are much afraid of them
and with reason, for they shut with
. wise Ike grip, and when one gets
his hand inside one of these shells in
deep water he is held until he is
drowned numerous accidents of
places along this coast.
True pearl oysters are found in
many places along the southern coast
OF Mindanao, and in the Sulu archi-
pelago. They are especially fine and
abundant in the latter region and
many valuable pearls are found there.
There are no more expert divers in
the world than the Moros, who train
themselves to reamiI under water
two minutes and somtimes longer.
The wonderful pearly nautilus, or as
1t more generally known, the cham
bered nautilus, is so common that
its shell is used by natives as drink
ing cups.
Shrimps, Crabs and Holsters abound
in the waters of the archipelago, and
form an important part of the food
supply of the natives who live along
the coast. One of the strange crabs
found here is the giant or spider crab,
the spread of the claws sometimes
reach fifteen feet. The tree crab,
which is a land crab, living on the
cocoanut, is found on some of the
Islands. This is large hairy crab
which climbs the cocoanut trees and
detaches the nut. The crab then
breaks the shells by dashing them on
rocks, and feed on the meat
1t is strange that with all this won
derful form of maine life that the
fish market of Manila is not near so
Interesting as In Honolulu This Is
accounted for in part from the fact
that the fish do not keep in this eli
mate and they have to be eaten short
ay after being taken from the water
or they spoil. In Honolulu the eli
mate does not deteriorate the fish SO
quickly, and the market is constant
source of pleasure. Here the fish are
carried about by the natives and
Cinnamon in baskets and disposed of
from house to house.
Owners of fish corrals make a
steady income, and in return for the
privilege they have to pay tax to
the village nearest to the fishing
ground which they occupy. With
fbe great plenty of fish for propoga-
ton have been taken, but some of the
natives have hit upon the plan of
catching small fish of species which
grow rapidly. placing them in closed
ponds and feeding them until they
become of marketable size. These
fish are sold alive and AFFORD frssn
fish at any time.
The tree oyster is found in many
places In lagoons. These oysters at
tach themselves to the limbs of over
hanging trees which droop into the
water at high tide, and when the tide
falls the oysters are carried into the
air. They appear like immense
strings of beads of attached to the
slender limbs of the trees, and are
gathered by natives in boats who find
this the easiest way of getting some
thing to eat, These oysters have a
peculiar flavor and are not palatable
ito an American, and are eaten only
by the natives. Some Of the oysters
here grow to an immense size, but it
ds claimed they are poisonous. have
known of three cases Of severe illness
following the eating Of oysters fire h
from the water.
CLARENCE Il. EDWARDS