Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-10-20
Mistellaneon5 Grading.
WHERE PEARLS GROW.
Mississippi Valley Furnishes Over Half
of Worlds Supply.

of Worlds Supply.
Pearls have recently been found in
large numbers in the rivers that wan
der through the fiat lands of the west
Kentucky counties. The pearl fleets
are moving into the river bottoms In
both Kentucky and Tennessee.
The Mississippi valley is now sup
plying the bulk of these pale gems
that encircle the white throats 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,
and in some cases the fortunate fish
erman becomes wealthy through a
few lucky finds. Many fishermen have
thrown away their fishing nets and
tackle and rugged their fiat bcttomed
boats for the work Of gathering uE the
denizens OF the mussel beds.
Their fleets of dingy boats move
lazily up and down the streams that
are tributary to the Mississippi. They
lift tons of the shells from the mussel
beds in the cozy 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
ries Of the first years of the pearl fish
ms craze in the west.
There are big fleets Of the pearl
fishermen'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 fisher
men. Many of the rivers have been
practically scraped clean Of the mus
sells and the fishermen have moved
on to other and less worked areas.
Beardstown, ILL.,, Muscatine, Ia, Vim
cennes, Ind, and numerous villages In
Arkansas have long been the haunt OF
the foreign and American pear buyer.
The big finds of late in Kentucky
and Tennessee have stirred the inter-
est OF the professional and amateur
hunter.
Buy pearl in the United States and
there are nine chances in ten that the
lustrous gem came originally from
the grimy hand Of some pearl hunter
along the Wabash 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 1t is
jewel that was picked out of a mus
sci 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. 1t Is now the source OF supply
from which the markets Of the world
draw their pale .and lustrous gems.
For some mysterious reason the
pearl fisheries of the far East are de-
clininG in Importance. The sun
Drowned expert divers Of the Persian
gulf are still dipping into the hot
waves of the seas and CULTS Of Asia,
but their finds become less valuable
every year. The pearl buyers of Eu-
rope long since turned to America for
the gems that are loved Of women.
Pearl fishing is enough Of gamble
to appeal to the reckless tastes Of the
man who likes to make 1t all on Sill
gle throw Of the dice. A pearl fisher
man may find a 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 bot
toms with myriad hooks that grapple
with the Shiny shells Of the pearl bear
ing mussel. UP and down the streams
the little fiat bottomed craft drift and
pull, and II the owner is lucky and
careful there may be a pearl worth
anywhere from SIS to $1,000 some
where in the days catch. 1t Is all
chance, but the harder you work the
more chance you have.
With a barge load of shells the
hunter comes ashore and boils the
mussels in deep vats that he half
buries in the ground. This is usually
done at a half permanent camp. The
women and the children Of the pearl
ing camps aid in this part Of the work.
as every separate shell must be looked
over carefully that no lustrous pearl
may be thrown away as useless.
Buyers from the great jewelry firms
of London, Vienna, st. Petersburg and