The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1911-07-28


tree limb recently in a west
Kentucky county. They had
been robbed by the riffraff that
follows in the trail of the pearl fisher
who strikes into a new country of
rich finds. Pearls have recently been
found in large numbers in the rivers
that wander through the fiat lands of
the west Kentucky counties. The
pearl fleets are moving into the river
bottoms in both Kentucky and Ten
nessee.
The Mississippi valley is now sup
plying the bulk Of these pale gems
that encircle the white threats Of the
worlds famous beauties. American
heiresses, princesses of the old reign
Ing houses of Europe, Indian rajahs
and the jewel fanciers Of all the world
buy and wear the mussel-born pearls
that are scooped from the boiled flesh
OF the fresh-water bivalve.
Thousands Of men and women are
engaged in the work of pearl fishing
among the rivers of the great central
valley. 1t has become one of the ac-
cepted ways Of making an easy living,
aud in some cases the fortunate fish
erman becomes wealthy through a
few lucky finds. Many fishermen have
thrown away their nets and tackle
and rugged their flat-bottomed boats
for the work of gathering up the deni-
zens Of the mussel beds.
hat ~
lazily up and down the streams that
are tributary to the Mississippi. They
lift tons of shells from the mussel
beds in the oozy bottoms OF muddy
rivers. The working up of the shells
into pearl buttons has become an in.
dustry of great Importance to many
of the valley communities. Millions
of these grimy shells are taken from
the rivers each month. Great heaps
of them lie along the rivers, memo
rails of the first years Of the pearling
craze in the west.
There are big fleets o. the pearl
f1shermen's boats on the Illinois. Hun
dreds of them patrol the waters of
the Wabash and the Little Wabash.
The Arkansas, the Red, the Des
Moines, the Rock and scores of other
streams have numerous camps of
pearl fishermen. Many of the rivers
have been practically scraped clean
of the mussels and the fishermen
have moved on to other and less
worked areas. Beardstown, ILL.,; Mus
catine, Iowa; Vincennes, Ind, and
numerous villages in Arkansas have
long been the haunt of the foreign
and the American pearl buyer.
Worlds Finest Pearls.
The big finds of late in Kentucky
and Tennessee have stirred the inter-
est of the professional and amateur
hunter. For years many of the worlds
finest pearls have been coming out
Of the lower valley. Buy a pearl in
the United States and there are nine
chances in ten that the lustrous gem
came originally from the grimy hano
of some pearl hunter along the Wa
bash or the Illinois.
Visit the jewel shops of Paris, Wen
ma or London, select a pearl of the
first quality, and five times out of
ten it is jewel that was picked out
of a mussel shell somewhere in the
new world.
Half the pearls sold in the markets
of the old world as sea pearls are
known by experts to be the products
of the big and little streams that are
the haunt of the American pearl fish.
erman. II Is now the source of SUD-
ply from which the markets of the
world draw their pale and Iustrous
gems.
For some mysterious reason the
pearl fisheries Of the far east are de-
clining in Importance The sun.
Drowned expert divers Of the Per.
sian gulf are still dipping into the
hot seas and CULTS of Asia, but their
finds become less valuable every
year. The pearl buyers of Europe
long since turned to America for the
gems that are loved Of women.
Pearl fishing ia enough of a gamble
to appeal to the reckless tastes of the
man who likes to make it all on a
single throw Of the dice. A pearl
fisherman may find prize in the first
shell that he opens, or he may spend
year opening shells without any
particular results. 1t can be made
hard work. this business of dragging
the river bottoms with myriad hooks
that grapple with the Shiny shells of
the pearl-bearing mussel. Up and
down the streams the little flat-bot-
toned craft drift and pull, and If the
owner 10 lucky and careful there may