The Detroit times., 1914-10-02
nee SAVES
[SEL SHELL
|DfTON TRADE
M River Habitats Of This
h- Water Biyalve We're
Being Depleted
IS SAM THEN TOOK
AND IN SAVING THEM
|kIlnhed station at Fairport,
~, For Breeding More
CLAIMS

10CATlNE, la, Oct, 1.-THE re
( deoication o. the United States
orlcal station at Fairport, eight
above here on the Mississippi
y marks the expenditure OF sl6O.
~ the government In developing
|roxrl button industry.
rns In 1880 that John r. Boepple,
nose memory a tablet was erect
n Fairport, discovered that the
water mussel might be utilized
- manufacture OF pearl buttons.
discovery was followed by the
1fIon OF button-cItting machinery
development OF this new indus
Ihich Invested Ii with a romance
q but few lines OF business &C
score Of factories which sprans
= Mliscatine and later were start,
o<her cities, brought about de
= or the shell beds OF the Missis-
and tributary streams, and with
<k1nction OF the whole industry
oned the attention OF science
lawn to the problem.
|& the University OF Missouri
Ii Defevre and w. C. Curtis. pro-
- Of biology, discovered that the
was Of parisitis growth, and,
u. that 1t was necessary for the
No clam to attach itself to the
q g nns Of fish for a period OF
" before II could resume its
development. They found.
r hat the embryo mussels, or glo-
IS they are known in the sci
y world. had preferences as to
Tlety of fish to which they would
n fhemselyes.
Industry In which hundreds OF
nds Of dollars were invested
NON which thousands OF people
/ dependent for a livelihood was
Eoned, and Uncle Sam was APP
~ 10. To the bureau OF fisheries
oD6J&ned the problem of consery-
We mussel shell and the button
= Fairport station was establish
md in June, 1910, experimental
rWas begun In 1912 the practf-
<ork Of mussel propagation was
Carried on extensively. The
- n under the direction Of DR..
*Coker. who has supervision over
|csident stan Of q dozen or more
Hats and q number Of field work
rho assist In PROPAGATION work
+ many inland streams. The pro-
Nm work 10 not confined to the
orf region, for parties operate
~ the rivers which In the past
BEEN the scene OF Smelling oper-
These parties seine the riy-
" DIoushs for fish, infect them
ne baby CLAIMS by the thousand,
.|rn them loose again. One fish
1rTy from 10000 to $4,000 glo-
r. Boepple. q German turner
nd migrated to America, while
oIking along TIE banks OF the
r1ppi. picked up a shell In the
ounfry he made buttons from
He was employed az a farm
md upon -.sarning TO the place
Nd = foot lathe and tried II on
Inn shell. The button blanks
u ont were excellent and the
" found q ready market. Mus
y a. those days was lively lum-
oVn and the old German elected
Intention when he told of his
Usually, however. he interested
y who were willing TO take q
- The foot lathe was found to
~ low and Boepple set about
no TO invent a modern machine.
~ Joined In and soon improved
- machines were perfected.
ut this time Muscatine went
craxy, Button machines. which
& ~ simple construction and low
~ were located in scores of
and other small structures.
The most unexpected places
ne pop Of the gasoline engine
drove the cutting machines
rive employment to 30 men in
nhackle barn. The demand for
tesulted in an army OF men en-