The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1914-11-24
FORTUNES IN PEARL
BUTTON INDUSTRY
HUNDREDS OF MEN ENGAGED IN
GATHERING MUSSELS ON THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
GERMAN FARMERS DISCOVERY

In Idle Moment John f. BOepple Dis
covered That Fresh Voter Mussei
Might Be Utilized in Manufacture
of Buttons. Science Interested.
MUSCATINE, Iowa.-The recent
dedication of the United States bio
logical station at Fairport, eight
miles above here on the Mississippi
river, marks the expenditure of
$15O,000 by the government in de-
veloping the pearl button industry.
1t was in 1890 that John F. Boep-
pie, in whose memory tablet was
erected at Fairport, discovered that
the fresh water mUssel might be util-
lied in the manufacture of pearl but
tons. His discovery was followed by
the invention of button cutting ma
chinery and a development of this
new industry which invested it with
a romance found in but few lines Of
business activity.
The scores of factories which
sprang up in Muscatine and later
were started in other cities brought
about depletion of the shell beds of
the Mississippi and tributary
streams, and with the extinction of
the whole industry threatened the
attention of science was drawn to the
problem.
A Biological Fact.
At the University Of Missouri Geo.
Lefevre and w. c. Curtis, professors
of biology, discovered that the mus
sci was of parasitic growth, and fur
Their that it was necessary for the
embryo clam to attach itself to the
gills or fins of fish for a period of
ten days before it could resume its
normal development They found
also that the embryo mussels, or glo-
chidia, as they are known in the sci
entific world, had preferences as to
the variety of fish to which they
would attach themselves.
An industry in which hundreds of
thousands of dollars were invested
and upon which thousands of people
were dependent for livelihood was
threatened, and Uncle Sam was APP
pealed to- To the bureau of fisheries
was assigned the problem of conserv-
ing the mussel shell and the button
industry.
Experiment Station.
The Fairport station was establish
ed, and in June, 1910, experimental
work was begun. In 1912 the prac-
teal work of mussel propagation was
being carried on extensively. The
station is under the direction of DR..
r. E. Cocker, who has supervision
over the resident staff of a dozen or
more scientists and a number of
field workers who assist in propaga-
ton work along many inland
streams. The propagation work is
not confined to the Fairport region,
for parties operate on all of the riv-
ers which in the past have been the
scene of Smelling operations. These
parties seine the rivers and sloughs
for fish, infect them with the baby
CLANS by the thousand turn them
loose again. One fish can carry from
10000 to $4,000 glochidia.
John BOeppIe's Discovery.
John Boepp1e, a German turner
who had migrated to America, while
idly walking along the banks of the
Mississippi picked up shell. In the
old country he made buttons from
horn. He was employed as a farm
hand, and upon returning to the
place rugged up a foot lathe and tried
it on the clam shell. The button
blanks turned out were excellent and
the product found a ready market.
Muscatine in those days was lively
| lumber town and the old German
! ELECTED little attention when he told
of his discovery. Eventually, how
ever. he interested a few who were
willing to take a chance. The foot
lathe was found to be too slow and
| Boepple set about seeking to invent
a modern machine. Others Joined in
and soon improved cutting machines
were perfected.
About this time Muscatine went
button-crazy. Button machines
which were Of simple construction
and low in cost were located in scores
of barns and other small structures.
From the most unexpected places
came the pop of the gasoline engine
which drove the cutting machines
which gave employment to thirty
men in a ramshackle barn. The de-
mand for shells resulted in an army
Of men engag ing in shell fishing. The
Mississippi river for miles north and
south of Muscatine was dotted with
shelters craft.
The shelters not only got good
prices for the shells, but many Of
them found pearls, some valued as