The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1911-08-31

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to appeal to the reckless tastes of the .
man who likes to make 1t all on q
single throw of the dice. A pear |
fisherman may find prize in the first !
shell that he opens, or he may spend /
year opening shells without any
particular results. IL 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 II the
owner is lucky and careful there may
be a pearl worth anywhere from So
to $500 somewhere in the days
catch. 1t is all chance, but the hard
er you work the more chance you
have.
Every Shell Examined.
With a large 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
|
work, as every separate shell must
be looked over carefully, that no lus.
trous pearl may be thrown away as
useless.
Buyers from the great jewelry firms
of London, Vienna, st. Petersburg
/ and Paris spend the year in the mid.
die of the pearling districts of the
valley. Frenchmen, Belgians, Rus
slams. representatives Of the jewel.
loving races Of the earth, keep an eye
on all the big finds that are made
in various parts of the valley. They
must compete with the special buyers
sent out by New York and other East
ern cities.
Many experts profess to believe that
the pearl supply of the central states
is rapidly becoming exhausted.
There are others who claim thai
the supply is practically inexhaustible
as long as the number of fishermen
and boats in the business is not great
ly increased. They believe that ther'
are many streams that would repay
working that have thus far nevel
been dredged or dragged by the pear
fleets. II is these rivers that theI
look TO for the supply of the future
when the present beds are more near
ly exhausted. Miles and miles OF tn,
! Illinois river have been scraped cleal
of the mussels. The Des Moines riv
!, er. home Of the pearl-button indus
: try In America, is giving up less o
pearls and shells than II did in tn
earlier days, when pearling was ney
in the middle west
Near Mt Carmel. H., littl
more than a year ago, a lucky fisher
man picked up a pearl that was after
ward sold for $500. Farmers son
. and town lads out for a days fishin
= on the river have stumbled upon find
= worth anywhere from 800 to $500
: AS soon as news OF this sort become
y known In the neighborhood there
= usually a rush of the amateur an
the professional pearler to that SCI
tion OF the stream. It is somethin
like a stampede TO a new gold dil
. gings, but on a miniature scale.
II Found a $1,000 Pearl.
e One summer afternoon a party {
fishermen on the Wabash river wei
Is fishing In an unfrequented part (
e the river. Their luck was anythiu
is but good. and one or two Of the part
re began to playfully open few mu
h. sells that the low stage Of the rive
D. had barred. One Of the party wi
le tearing open the shells in listlei
Is sort of way. He felt something rour
and hard in the tissues OF the hal
ie dead mussel. He squeezed II throui
e. the clammy flesh and beautif
n. pear-shaped pearl dropped throul
,r- his fingers. Two more peaFls-sma
ne er, but still valuable enough to bril-
,ir $l00 each-were found In the san
ry stranded group OF mussels. The pea
pc shaped pearl sold for $1,000 by d
he time half a dozen frenzied buye
were through bidding upon r.