The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1909-07-09
MISSOURI INDUSTRY
FRESH WATER MUssEL A SOURCE
OF REVENUE IN "sHoW
ME-" STATE.
In the Year 1908 the Production Of
Pearls and sluns Was s264,5oo--
Nearly Three-Fourths Of Out
put of United States.

JeueTSOu UNA uuluuo luuuolTy
of the northeast Missouri is the man
ufacturing of pearl buttons and orna-
ments out of the rough fresh water
mussel shells found in the Mississippi
river above the mouth of the Missouri.
Round, uniform and regular as the
buttons are: ranging in size f'om
those a quarter of an inch in diam
eter, so necessary for dainty lingeree;
to those an inch or over, which bring
so much delight to the average female
heart, when conspicuously displayed
in straight rows on outside wearing
appeal; no one. who does not know
the full history. would ever dream
that they were cut from the rough,
ugly, dirty shells affording a cover
for a specie of fresh water form of
life. And yet such is the case, skilled
male and female hands with the aid
of modern. swift running machinery,
monthly, in the six button and blank
factories of Lewis and Pike counties,
transform hundreds of tons Of the I'M
slightly raw material into things of
value and beauty.
The growing scarcity of mussel
shells in the Mississippi river caused
the pearl industry to show a slight
falling off for the year 1908, accord
ing to advance figures from Labor
Commissioner ]. c. A. Killers annual
industrial report which his corps Of
statisticians are compiling for Mis-
souri's 1909 Red Book" The pearl
button and blank factories of this
state are located in the cities of Loui-
siana, LAGRANGE and Canton and have
invested in them. according 10 the
primary figures of the bureau of labor
statistics S65,699, for six establish
ments. But these figures do not tell
much about the industries they repre-
sent only the amount of money in
vested in machinery, a few rough
buildings and some ground, leaving
the value of the pearl button and orna-
ments, and the hundreds OF men md
cores of ONE and girls who earn a
good living by their skill and in
dustry, to be accounted for other
wise.
Fresh Water Pearls.
And last, but not least-a large item
in itself--is the occasional large,
lusterous pearl found in the shell by
the fisherman, valuable enough some
times to fully recompense him for
many years Of hard toll. On this score,
together with the mussell shell in
dustry itself, the 1908 Red Book says
in brief:
There vas a considerable produc-
ton Of pearls and pearl button shells
in the Mississippi valley region in the
year in question. Estimated, the
production Of pearls and slugs was
worth 1854, 500, as against $3S1,OO0
for the previous year. The value given
represents the first value at the point
of finding the pearls before they have
passed through the hands of dealers,
jobbers and retailers. The quality
and price of the pearls was about the
same as during the other year, when
white, cream, pink, purple, blue and
rarely, black pearls Of irregular, but
ton, round, oval, pear and drop
shapes, were found. The individual
worth Of pearls ranged from $1.0O to
$4,000 each, and from $3.50 to $4,000
an ounce for slugs.
ut is estimated that $4,000 short
tons Of button shells were found and
sold in the Mississippi region. The
average price for these at the point
of production was $11.OO per ton,
which would make the worth 1885,, 900.
"At the National Association Of
Pearl Button manufacturers placed
the production of pearl shells for the
country at $4,000 tons, with a value
Of $737,280, 1t can at once be seen
that nearly three-fourths Of the mus
sci shell production came from the
Mississippi river in front of and
around Missouri"
A FIourishino Industry.
All Of the mussel shells taken from
the Mississippi river in and around
Missouri did not all come into this
state, the majority being shipped by
boat or rail into Iowa, New York, New
Jersey and elsewhere. For Missouri,
the shells which stayed here were
turned into 1,514,090 gross Of buttons
and blanks with a first wholesale
value of $113,469. The following table
gives the extent of this unique in
dustry for Missouri being the COM
bined figures Of the six button fac
tories in the state in 1908.
For Missouri Solely.
Value Of all buttons and blanks,
1908 .s113, 4ss
Value Of shells and all other sup
Total capital invested in ma
chinery, etc. ................... s5.sss
Paid in 1908, rent, taxes and In
surance 2.2S7
Paid out In wages ............... 53,729
Additional Statistics.
In addition the following table
throws light on the enormity of the