The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1910-02-24
FRESH WATER PEARL
FISHING BIG INDUSTRY
Iowa I. One of the Lead.
ing Button Producing
States.
From the Chicago Record-Herald

Illinois has stepped int the ronti row
Of pcarl-producing states OF the UNION.
The ice-locked rivers have o1lclally
closed the season for hunting the gems
this year and Until milder temperature
next spring removes the barriers the
mussel hunters must lie idle or oeNote
their energies tn other fields.
Seeking mussels for pearls is a com
paratively new industry in Illinois. me
business has grown from almost noun
tons. conservative estimates on the
output for 1909 place the hgures at
nearly if not quite $4.O 00, 900. Not all OF
this immense sun came from the SAFE
of pearls. a very large proportion was
realized from the shells. which are SOLO
by the ton to manufacturers OIL OUT
tons.
No longer does the mussel hunter ae-
pend upon a rake and a mud scoW TOT
his equipment. The modern
dons a deep sea diving outfit and walks
over the bed of the Illinois nj other
rivers where the mussels abound reach,
ing the deepest portions OF the chaiiiel
and sending to the surface the piVaiNes
which We're thought to be beyond reacn
when the industry was first lnausu-
rated.
John Lannart. of Bloomington, WIS
the first nan to adopt the deep sea de.
vice, and he achieved such success tnat
quickly initiated his method.
With the diving outfit. two men can
raise an immense number OF rlussels
each day. The IN in the boat pumps
air to the diver below and also hauls
to the surface the mussels as rapidly
a. collected.
Illinois is now the mecca of pearl
buyers from European countries as We'll
as those from outside states OF the
union During the year now closing
na,tC fvsoV1 tho Paris
France, jewelry dealers have visited the
mussel districts waiting to make pur-
chases. Some of them spent the entire
here. and their purchases aggre-
gated immense sums. The pearls bought
here are sent abroad, where they are
assorted. polished n matched, and
after being made up into necklaces are
shipped back to the United States and
sold to wealthy patrons at extravasant
prices. the buyers little dreaming that
the Jewels came from il sandy beds
of the Illinois rivers.
The market for shells does not vary
much. The men who seek the mussels
rely upon. the sale of the shells for
enough to pay them for their abor.
The pearls are the great attraction.
The hope of finding specimens worth
up in the hundreds, perhaps thousands.
is the rea spur to the industry. The
lure of the pearl has drawn not less
tnan J.OOu men INTO TIE NIuSSci hutltlll6
industry in Illinois.
With the musscl hunting industry
first began to assume proportions sufi-
Gent to warrant the establishment of
button manufactures only 81 to IS per
ton was paid for the shells. This price
has advanced until now the best grades
realize from $40 to So per ton. An
industrious hunter car realize from SIS
to $40 per week, even If he never strikes
a pearl.
The common method of musscl hunt
ing consists in floating down the river
in a fiat bottom mud scow. trailing a
gas pipe ~ feet in length, to which are
attached hools of common wire. When
the hooks drag along the bottom of the
stream they penetrate the open shells
of the mussels. The contact of the wire
is instantly followed by the closing OF
the shells over the obstruction. When
the hunter thinks hat the bar is heavy
enough he hauls it into the beat and
drops another.
On the shore the mussels go through
process. Boiling water is used
to loosen the meat from the shells after
q search has been made for pearls. The
meat is usually thrown away. although
arnler sometimes secure it for fertil-
izing purposes. The shells are always
retained. and after Being thoroughly
cleaned and dried are sold to the but
ton makers.
There are several plants in central
Illinois which cut the shells into slabs
before they are shipped to the button
factories. Illinois has Il few factories,
but the largest in the west are located
in Muscatine. Ia. Not all of the shells
choice grades being sorted out and
shipped to the factories of Europe,
where the highest grade buttons are
produced.
Iowa is one of the leading button
producing states. no less than 90 fac
tories being located in the
wealth. Muscatinc turns out about 900
tons of buttons annually. The shells
which are too brittle for button ur-
poses, and the trimmings left after the
''blanks" are cut. are ground into grit
for poultry. forming quite an industry
In itself.
The distribution of pearls among
fresh water musscls has always been
q puzzling problem to scientists. In
some rivers the mussels are literally
supplied, while those from other streams
are barren. One theory maintains that
the pearls are orne from parasites
living in the substance of the mussel.
They are classed in the species of fiat
worms known as d%istoneids, producing
cysts, around which the mussel pro-
duces the lime which eventually be-
comes a pearl. The i%rregularly formed
pearls arc known as %"baroques" and
are credited to arv which penetrates
the back Of the mussels. The adult OF
this larva lives in the muskrat and the
adult worms dropping from these ami
mails reach the water and enter the
mussel. The irritation they produce
which. being deposited in concentric
layers, in the course Of time results
in the pearl. This secretion is purely
mechanical and forms upon any for
eign substance which enters the shell
and lodges in such a IA as to pro-
duce irritation.
After the discovery OF the pearl,
comes the commercial sequel. 1t is re-
garded as q fine art to accurately place
a value upon a pearl. There is a vas
difference between the fresh water
pearl and those found in salt water.
and the latter are more valuable. The
common variety OF h fresh water
pearl is termed a slug" a formation
which adheres to h meat. Next in
value are the points" which a:e long.
thin, tapering pieces OF pearl which are
common m not valuable. Next come
.'buttons," a fiat formation. and also