Evening star., 1912-11-03
Copyright, 1912, by Henry L. Sweinhart.)

Copyright, 1912, by Henry L. Sweinhart.)
~OCOANUTS, oysters the X-ray!
This is not the first line of a
new college yell. much as it may
~ sound like that. 1t means that
man has found brand-new use
for the X-ray He has just started to
apply 1t to pearl oyster fishing.
Go back and raise a pearl is the
commnnd which he has started to give
to those oysters that come from the bed
OF the ocean with shiny pearl revealed
within by the X-ray. AS for the cocoa
nuts, 1t is probable that they, too. later
on will be x-rayed for pearls before they
are shipped to market for so ordinary a
use as food. Only eleven cocoanut pearls
are known to exist. They look like other
pearls.
Secretary of State Knox has just be-
come the proud possessor of one of the
eleven 1t came to him through the
erosity Of Mr.. James 7. Du Bois, Jnit
States minister to Colombia, South Ameri-
ca, close personal friend of Mr.. Knox
On account of their scarcity, the few
cocoanut pearls in the world have not
been given a commercial value. None
has been bought or sold. In a way,
therefore, they are priceless.
So far only one of the worlds far-scat-
tered pearl fisheries is employing the
X-ray to examine it's oysters. Those that
contain no pearls are thrown back into
their watery beds in the hope that when
the divers bring them up year hence
harvest of precious stones may come
forth 1t is off the west coast og Ceylon
where are the Oldest and richest pearl
fisheries In the world, that the English
corporation which operates the fisheries
under government supervision is using
the X-ray process.
The same wonderful invention which
enables the surgeon to discover diseased
growth within human body also enables
man to detect the beautiful diseased
growth known a pearl. for, while
scientists have not discovered the exact
cause which produces this gem, they
know that 1t is the result either of a
parasite or of some foreign substance
which has found it's way into the oyster
Thousands of oysters are often opened
without disclosing a pearl of any con-
siderable value. The N-ray application
will prevent this waste. Pearls never
will become SO plentiful that the world
will cease to admire them and desire
them for their chaste. lustrous beauty.
Secretary knox's cocoanut pearl Is of a
beautiful milky white appearance. Mr..
Knox wears it as a stickpin in his neck
e,
peninsula where the parasitic growth
similar to that producing the pearl of
ordinary commerce grew inside a cocoa
nut shell into gem Of rare beauty. Mr..
Du Bois, before being minister to Co.
lomb.a was American consul general at
Singapore. on the Malay peninsula. He
also owns one of the cocoanut pearls,
and one Is In the possession of his son.
Five are in the kensinston Museum,
England The. others are owned by east
ern potentates
Some scepticism was displayed when
Mr.. Du Bois arrived in this country with
his "cocoanut pearls"
Who ever heard of a cocoanut pearl?
There is no such. thin. said the scoffers
Mr.. Du, Bois took his precious gems to
the greatest expert on pearls in the
United. States If not in the world.
+ WHY. yes they are genuine pearls,
said that authority; and nothing more
was needed to convince the doubters.
Il Mr., Dn Bots said that one planter in
Malay who owned a large cocoanut
grove expressed his disgust at the
fact that such a thing as cocoanut pearls
had been discovered For" said the