The San Francisco call., 1910-05-22
KAp piVERS n z71E 0UIF' or oALFORTtA

ices OF his invention to operators In the
neighborhood OF Colon. where 1t Is To-
Gated.
The richest pearl fisheries in the
Americas at the present time are those
Of the gulf Of California. centering
around La Paz and along the outer
coast of Lower California. Cortez first
despoiled the Indians OF this section of
the pearls it produced and startled the
court of Spain with their richness.
Later another Spaniard for a lifetime
secured 500 to 500 pounds OF pearls
here every year. packed them over the
mountains on mules and sold them by
the bushel.
According to DIR. George F. Kunz. one
of the worlds greatest authorities on
pearls, the pearl of the finest water
should possess a perfect skin. fine orient
and delicate texture. 1t should be free
from specks and flaws and of a trans
lucent white color with a subdued, ir-
descent sheen 1t should be perfectly
spherical or symmetrically pear shaped
White or pink pearls are the finest ow-
ing to their delicate sheen. Sometimes
the outer layer can be removed, the
next layer being OF finer texture and
the pearl in this way improved.
The Lower California pearls are of
great variety Of shapes and colors.
They are round. pear shaped, fiat on one
side, baroque or irregular in shape. In
color they may be white, pink, blue,
green, brown and black. Some of the
most famous pearls in history were
taken from these waters. One of the
most beautiful gems in the Spanish
crown is an enormous Mexican pearl
weighing 400 grains. With hardly an
exception there are American pearls
among the crown jewels Of every ruler
in Europe. AT the worlds fair In Paris
there was exhibited a set OF seven
black pearls from these Mexican fish
cries which are today worth $4,000.
The emperor Of Austria paid S20 900 for
a black pearl from Mexico, and Napo-
leon III was presented with one valued
at $4,000. Pearls worth $1,000 each are
constantly being found. One OF a pc
culiar brown has been found and sold
for $4,000. Sonora Diaz. wife of the
president OF Mexico, has a collection OF
native pearls that might well be the
envy OF many of the crown heads OF
Europe. Among the poorest natives it
Is no uncommon thing to find the rar-
est gems being worn IN some crude
mounting. There are many tales float
ing about Of such stones that have been
purchased for small sums and sold for
amounts that multiplied these sums by
the thousand.
The gulf Of California fisheries are
operated by an American firm with
headquarters in San Francisco. They
are doing something in farming the
mollusks to keep the beds replenished.
but, as far as is known. make no at
tempt to induce greater fertility.
The work of the divers in all pearl
gathering is of great interest. In Mex
lean waters. for instance there are two
use no paraphernaha whatever. and the
diving machine men, The former Is
able to stay under water but one or
two minutes, cutting loose such mus
sells as he can lay hands on and coming
to the surface. The latter may stay
under for two or three hours a day
and gather vastly more material Re-
Gently submarine boats have been de-
signed as an aid in pearl fishing and
promise to be useful
The fear Of the shark is ever in the
breast of the diver. Yet there is a
superstition to the effect that the
shark knows where the valuable pearls
lie and that when a shark is seen lott
ering about a certain spot there is a
pearl on the bottom beneath. A splash
ing OF the waters may drive the dan
gerous fish away and the native will
begin his search for the supposed gem.
He does this despite the fact that he
knows the shark will soon return
Often a battle is thus precipitated
when the diver wields knife he car
ries for the purpose in a fight to the
death.
But when the farming becomes scien-
tifc all these things cease. The farmer
knows the beds in which the pearls
are coming to maturity. They have
been planted four years earlier and a
mollusk IS a most sedentary creature
It fixes itself TO a stone and hangs
there year after year unless broken
loose by strong tides. The planters
naturally choose protected bays and
are sure Of finding their paintings in
place Then at harvest time the mol
lusks may be brought up and If the
process Is as successful as that In
Japan. 20 per cent OF them will
contain pearls This Is the pearl farm
ing OF the future. Will the Ameri-
cans allow the other nations to reap
the big profits Of pioneers in the bust
ness7 II not they must bestir them
selves Immediately.