The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1911-07-12
Weighs Nearly a. Grains and Bemid-
j Expert Says There is No
Limit to Value.
REFUSES A $1,000 CASH BONUS
Finders Father Let Thousands slim
Away and Son Proposes to
Play Safe.

"A Dldch pearl, second IN value on
~ to the diamond, was found in the
Mississippi river near here yesterday
by William Bates, professional
clam hunter and when brought to
this city it was found to weigh with
in fraction Of A grains and that
its value could not be less than S.
600.
The pearl, almost perfect in shape,
is about the size of a small hazel nut.
Its color is deep, velvety black.
Has Found Many Smaller Ones.
Mr.. Bates, whose father makes a
business of hunting for pearls in the
vicinity Of Red Wing, has been at
work on the river here since the
! first of April and he has found many
small pearls and few worth from $40
to 500, all of which he has sold to
the George T. Baker & Co., jewelry
store here
When he found the big, black
beauty. Mr.. Bates at once took it to
Mr.. Baker for an estimate as to it's
value. Mr.. Baker was astonished at
! the gem and frankly admitted that
| it's price was what a person might
wish to pay for it, as there probably
is not another gem like it in the
world.
Refuses $1,000 Cash.
Il have been offered $1,000 cash
and half of what the second pur-
chaser pays for it, said Bates today
of the pearl which is on display at
| the Baker show window. But 1
will not take that I am going to
take the pearl east. I don't know
just how much I will get, but I fig
! ure that it has paid me to stick
| around Bemidji and it was a good
days work when I pulled this prize
| out of the water
The pearl was taken from a clam
of not unusual size found down the
river about one-half mile below the
power dam. The pearl was COM
pletely covered by meat, near where
the clam joint is found
Fortune Buried in Clam Meat.
AT frst,' said Mr. Bates, "I could
not tell whether it was a pink pearl
or what it was, but when I got it out
! of the meat l saw that I had a black
one, and I knocked off work for the
day."
Mr.. Bates was out on his last trip
of the season when the treasure
bearing clam was found. He has
been wading about in the river since
early this spring and as result is
in bad physical condition, and sew
eral days ago he decided to leave the
river and join his relatives in the
southern part of the state.
Now Sees Visions of Wealth.
Mr.. Bates is an unassuming young
man, whose appearance would indi-
cate that never before did he realize
I'LL az Ill oil Cuc WI III ID Iuclt DIS HULL
as $4,000.
Now he is beginning to think that
after all $4,000 is not so much. He
remembers that his father sold
pearl not so long ago, just an ordi-
nary, prettily tinted white pearl for
few hundred dollars and that it
found it's way into the hands of Tiff
fany of New York who sold it to a
wealthy customer for $4,000.
Only One in the World.
AS the pearl in Bates possession
is the only one of it's kind in the
world it's real value can not be ac-
curately estimated, but Mr.. Baker
places it's minimum value at $4,000
The pearl probably will be taken
from Bemidji east either tonight or
tomorrow night. Mr.. Bates is await
ing Geographic instructions from
jewelers. in the east. In the mean
:. time, as custodian of his sudden for
tune, he is interested in the price of
| reyO1yers