The Washington herald., 1908-08-09
SHELL NECKLACES IN VOGUE
How Industry Is Carried on in
Tasmania.
Children and Women Collect tn,
shells and sell Them for
for Charity.

There seems % De growing demand for
shell necklaces in the United states. and
more than S2.0o) worth Of them were inn
ported last year from Australia. Coasu!
Henry D. Baker writes from Hob ut. Tas-
mania, about the traffic in seasheIls used
for the purpose as follows:
The invoice Of shell necklaces exported
from Hobart 70 the United States for the
year 1877 amounted 10 sos The shells
which are used for the s;ringias OF neck
laces for this export trade are known To-
cally as the mariners she'll OF which
there IS a green and blue variety OF
many sizes. varying from about one
fourth inch 20 oue-haIf inch long. The
width being about half the length and
The shape that OF q c0rulcopia- They are
found among the seaweed az low tide.
around the south and east coasts OF Tas-
mania. and among the Furneaux group
Of islands in Bass Strait 10 the northeast
Of Tasmania.
The shells, 20 have any value. must not
be taken dead. but while the FISH within
them is alive. otherwise they have no lus-
ter After being taken from the seawood
they are exposed 20 the sunlight and at
uosphare for several months. and the
1sh eaten out Of them By files and ants
after which they are Immersed for fur
the- cleansing IN Ey5r0Clloric acid after
which treatment their appearance is quite
lustrOus. and shows many Of the p-.s-
matte colors- Some Of them are strung in
this natural state. while others are dved
pink light or dark blue. green. and vel
low After stringing. they sell at retail
in Hobart for about 81 cents a necklace.
or about 81 80 "a dozen necklaces. and IN
stil larger quantities at about Si5l a
dozen The sale 20 tourists from the
mainland Of Australia during the summer
season = very large
The best shells are found i- the vicinity
OF D'EutrecasreauU Channel Those found
on The east coast 0f Tasmania are about
the same IN appearance. but are usually
more easily broken than the shells of the
south coast Cf Tasmania Those Of -ra
FurneauN group are apparently 7f good
quality. and when properly cleansed make
very attractive necklaces In these IS
lands the work of gathering and strInginE
the shells Is performed mostly by half
caste women and children. On a recent
visit % this group I found a number OF
attractive varieties Of shell necklaces
which are very little known 70 the Hc-
bart trade They were made I'd from
shells known locally rs ''penguins."
tcOthies. cats teeth rice. shells
feather shells. and painted ladies'
The half-caste children al Cape Barren
Island were contributing quite a number
OF these interesting varieties while was
there. 10 be sold for the benefit Of the
clildTens hospital at Launceston. Tas-
mania
Hobart firms which export shell neck
laces 10 the United States are also i'm
por-ers 20 a smaller extent Of shell and
pebble ornaments from the same A-neri-
can firms which buy the necklaces. pearI
shells being the most common article Of
import The cities Of san Francisco and
Vancouver, British Columbia. furnish for
the local tourist trade many bracelets
made Up from polished japanese and Chi
0ese pebbles. 20 which Is usually attached
a spangle-the heart shape Of the island
Of Tasmania Il IS said that these brace
lets are the work Of japanese in these two
cities