The Washington herald., 1908-07-19
WHAT UNCLE SAM IS
DOING FOR HIS OWN

Button men employed moIlusk fishermen
70 get shells tor them, and in i've years
scores Of factories were at work, thou
sands OF cutters and polishers were en-
pioyed. and hundreds OF women were sew
ing the buttons on cardboard The busi-
ness was carried on as are nearly all new
enterprises IN this land Of the Original
Profiigate and Sure-nuf Spendthrift. The
buttOn-mskers acted as have the coal
miners and the timber cutters. They
thought the supply was inexhausti0le-
They rubbed tomorrow Of the caleu-
dsr and dug the very bottoms out OF the
streams 10 get shells. They were more
wasteful than the man. who. loving OK
tail soup, slaughtered a William Taft OK,
used the tail for soup and threw away
the balance In one season 97.Oo0 tons OF
waste shell was crushed by the factories
OF our pearl button-cutting association
and sold for chicken feed
When the supply CT shells began 10 fan
the mollusk butchers sent dredges into
the streams and sooped up everything
that looked ike a unidae. They took
females in the spawning season, and
young specimens 50 that but one button
could be cut from a shell. When disaster
stared them in the face. they didn't band
together and seek TO save their business.
Not theyI They shrieked for help and
called upon Uncle sam 10 save them
''You can't afford 10 let a business that
gives employment 10 1900 men and worn-
en- be driven out Of existence" they
mOaned. unmindfuI Of the fact that their
own greed and their own profigate waste
had brought them 10 the frontiers Of com
mercial dissolution Nearly every man
IN the business is q good Republican. a
firm believer IN Your Policies. and. beIiev-
ing as we do in Protection. we cry aloud
for protection against our own wastefuI
methods We want more mollusk shells
Give them 10 Us or we perish And II
we do. the curses Of the undressed be on
your head To you, Uncle sam. viii the
shirt-waIst maid make her complaint"
There wasn't anything 10 do but heed.
and to the task OF putting back into the
streams enough mollusks to supply the
[ huge demand the government placed its
energies and its knowledge The burden
was on the shoulders OF Commissioner
| George NJ Bowers, Of the United States
I Fish Commission who ordered that 4
study be made Of the Western streams
I and then OF the Unidae personally. Il was
soon demonstrated that the unidae. not
I being Of a particularly shy or retiring na-
ture. could be propagated N captivity.
I That was satisfactorily demonstrated at
| the national laboratory OF the fish COM
mission here and at stations on the banks
/ Of both the Wabash and the Illinois rivers
/ BY millions and then by billions the tiny
mollusk was brought 10 life and their
I habits and characteristics were given
study That OF Itself was something OF
| a task. as viii be appreciated when L IS
/ known that al birth they are 50 small
I that a thousand could cling 70 the seed
, OF fig- Only By the aid OF a microscope
I can they be even seen. Il was under
glass they were observed, and then the
/ ichthyol0gists learned that the tiny uni
/ dae possesses a trusting, cl:nEins nature
( When that fact was settled they had
I fallen onto a solution Of the vast problem
{ that confronted them knowing as they
I did that they could successfully pr0pa-
gate the sheIlhsh they were fairly dazed
I By the vastly greater problem Of dis
JribU1ing him II was something new n
FISH culture Fish when spawned and
ready for Planting are simply tossed over-
I board They can be depended upon 70 90
I whittier they list, Holsters likewise Buc
here vas a cold. hard proposition Of L
far different nature II meant the careful
distribution OF thousands Of billions q
mollusks through the lengths OF 2000els
miles OF waterways draining q territory
Of 10000 square miles II the microscopes
had not made apparent the clinging na-
lures Of the adolesceut bivalves the fsh
commission would still have been strus-
Cling with the problem. and buttons
would have been more and more in d.
mand and harder and harder 10 ind
Wen put fish in with EN-" was The
decision Of one Of the scientists They
cling 10 everything they touch II they
viii attach themselves 10 the giIls, fms.
and tai OF the fish. one small fish VII
be able 10 carry thousands. Wen load
Up thousands OF fish with them. take
those fish 10 the headwaters OF al the
streams and release them As they slowly
make their way TO the bigger streams the
mollusks viii grow. and finally they VIII
get so big thai from their own weight
they VIII fall 20 the beds OF the streams
We can replant every stream in TIE MD
die West by that method"
And. gentle shirt-waist maid. he knew
exactly what he was talking about, for
he understood the nature Of the unidas.
Therefore 6sh we're brought and placed
in troughs in which millions Of the infini-
tesiual bivalves, that some day VIII bs
pearl buttons, were floating idly about
looking for some true friend 70 stick 70.
To the fish they stuck closer than cred
itor- Those fish became transfer agents
for a great but a stricken industry To-
day. while. with bsted breath and Quiv-
ering nerves. you read this tale, hundreds
OF thousands Of fish. carrying hundreds
Of billions Of tiny mollusks. are swimming
through thousands OF miles Of streams
doing a benefiCeut work The set OF
pearl buttons for that real lace shirt
waist you are going 10 wear at Newport
on August s 1872. is even now grasping
the tail OF a white perch which IS swim
ming down the historic Wabash, but
worry not, for he'll make the balance Of
the going alone, the mOIIusl VIII grOw
and become large. the fisherman VIII
scoop him up, the cutter VIII puncture
him. the polishers polish the disks, and
all in good season he'll come 10 you as
buttons.
CCoTyrght. ps. by CAPITAL P-sss Associz.so--}