Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1911-07-26

to $1,000 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 watts that he half
buries in the ground. This is usually
done at 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 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 that
! 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 there
are many streams that would repay
working that have thus far never
been dredged or dragged by the pearl
fleets. 1t is these rivers that they
look to for the supply Of the future
when the present beds are more near
ly exhausted. Miles and miles Of the
Illinois river have been scraped clean
of the mussels. The Des Moines riv.
er, home of the pearl-button indus.
try in America, is giving up less of
pearls and shells than it did in the
earlier days, when pearling was new
in the middle west.
Steps are being taken by a number
OF investigators, both governmental
and private, to rear pearls by artif-
cial means. But little success has fol-
| lowed those efforts so far. The ex-
perts working on the sea-water pearl
along the same lines have been no
more successful. The inland streams
of the central United States are the
hope of the pearl dealers, so far as
steady future supply Is concerned.
Striking tales are told Of the sue
cess that has attended the search Of
many pearl fishermen in the waters
of the Wabash and the Illinois. Shift
less fisherman, with no capital save
an old, leaky skiff and few lines,
] have found pearls that were worth
upward of thousand dollars within
few days after taking up pearl fish,
ing as a means Of livelihood. A few
of the more lucky ones have retired
after few finds worth more than
all the fish they would have been
able to catch in a dozen seasons.
A great many Of the pearl fishers
, combine the two businesses, catching
fish part Of the year and going into
the mussel beds for the remainder of
their time.
Near Mt. Carmel, ILL.,, a little
more than year ago, lucky fisher
man picked up pearl that was after
! ward sold for S1,S0O. Farmers sons
and town lads out for a days fishing
on the river have stumbled upon finds
worth anywhere from S100 to $500.
AS soon as news Of this sort becomes
known in the neighborhood there is
usually a rush Of the amateur and
the professional pearler to that Sec
ton of the stream. 1t Is something
like stampede to new gold dig
gfngs, but on miniature scale.
Found a $1,000 Pearl.
One summer afternoon a party of
fishermen on the Wabash river were
fishing in an unfrequented part of
the river. Their luck was anything
but good. and one or two of the party
began to playfully open a few mus
sells that the low stage of the river
had barred. One Of the party was
tearing open the shells in a listless
sort Of way. He felt something round
and hard in the tissues of the half
dead mussel. He squeezed it through
the clammy flesh and a beautiful
pear-shaped pearl dropped throug
his fingers. Two more pearls-small.
er, but still valuable enough to bring
S100 each--were found in the same
stranded group of mussels. The pear
shaped pearl sold for $1,000 by thf
time half a dozen frenzied buyer
were through bidding upon it.