The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-03-13
8 HE Il Ask Il II q 81 TIE Is. B.
PEARL FARMING
81 Frederis !, > H ]!

r. Akl 1
By FEEDER.
. So great is the ingenuity of man IN
the face Of need or the possibility OF
large profits that he has even played
upon the susceptible les Of the silent
"a and Id irresponsible oyster, and. has set
pearls at his bidding. It. has been
demonstrated that 1T is possible to In
sduce an oyster to produce pearl
when It would not otherwise have
done SO. This possib ility open up a
new industry, and there are In ex-
istence today number Of farms that
are given over entirely to the cult
walton of pearls.
For thousands Of years the indus
Try of pearl hunting has been extern
siyely carried on In many parts Of
the world. In the Gulf OF Persia,
about the island OF 'GeyIon, on the Pa
scific side Of Japan, in the waters of
Australia, Off Thursday Island, in
Lower Burma, IN the Panama. In the.
Gulf OF California. pearls have
tempted the native divers since his
tory began Those men of many
races have gone beneath the surf and
have brought forth the giant pearl
oyster OF clam and examined it for.
the occasional precious stone. Jewels
came into demand when the world
was young and the desire for them
has persisted. Tt was early found;
that an occasional clam yelled q
stone Of such value as to enrich it's
finder. Many had within them jew
els that represented the price of a
fI1Sr
sisted was pretty sure of#an adequate
return. So many men worked in
many seas.
When modern civilization carried
the simmer OF the pearl to millions
of people who dwelt far from the re-l
gions in which it was produced. the
demand for it was increased many
fold. The profits offered sent many
people TO the seas that produced
these jewels. While the demand was
being multiplied few new sources or.
supply were being found. Soon It:
was evident that the clam beds were
being exhausted and t1Eat the decrease
In the yield of the precious sScnes
was growing constantly more
marked.
This tendency was delayed when
apparatus was developed that enabled
the diver to go beneath the water and
remain there for greater lengths OF
time. So was it possible to comb the
pearl oyster banks much more
thoroughly than this could be accom-
plished by the naked diver who mere
gly went below while he held his
breath In this way the slump IN
pearl production was stopped for a.
while but in this way also was the
depletion OF the supply Of clans that
~ n a
pearl famine has been createl. The
demand was strong. but the SUPPLY
was small The experts came to say
that there would be no more great
pearls found, and that the only
chance for securing them was
through their purchase from such
men as the potentates OF the far East
who boarded them.
+ But all the time men of science
knew Just how it came about that,
the humble clam yielded up this rareI
gem They knew that a grain OF.
sand might get between the soft body
of the clam and the shell ands 1irl,i.
tate the creature as would tack IN
your shoe. They knew that In such
cases the clam secreted a substances
about this grain of sand that,
smoothel off Its Irritating edges and.
relieved the pain just as a ca1ous on.
the hand appears where 1t is needed
If the irritation was fiat upon. the
side Of the shell, the pearl formed
would be but half spherical and
therefore not particularly valuable.
Buff the substance causing the II
ritation stuck into the bivalve, q
growth more and more nearly round.
would take place. It even l] happen
ed that the irritation was some
I'm hn|
that then the perfect sphere was de-
yeloped. This latter condition was
found to be. In the mai ority of cases.
due to the presence Of q parasite
within the bivalve. a little. boring
creature OF the deep found its way
into the body Of the oyster and.
dying there. left its shell ii kes horn
IN the flesh Of It's former host. That
host then set about relievingsthe pain
and In the process created the most
perfect pearl OF them all
It was not until the twentieth CEN
fury dawned that any man conceived
the posi- bility OF artif ally inducing
the oyster to produce a pearl. The
Ingenuity Of the Yankee never saw
the vision. But there came to an.
American school, Johns Hopkins
University, a son of the Orient,
Japanese student. His home was on
the Bay of Ago. on the Pacific side Of
Japan. but a little below the famous
temple OF Ise The Bay Of Ago was
the center Of the pearl Industry OF
Japan This young stud lent had sat
upon the cliffs through many a day
and watched the famous divers OF
the region as they went below and
Remained down for prodigious
lengths OF time in search Of clam
Eshells He knew the detail OF the
pearl ind ustry
From what he learned H at ohns
Hopkins this Japanese student con
lceiyed the idea that oysters thaS
you'd al f1erwiseS have remained bar