The Daytona daily news. [volume] (Daytona, Fla.) 1903-1926, 1917-03-19

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Sydney, Australia.-WoCa eo1noD -
Sydney from the Fiji Islands IT, -
japanese have not oily mooooo0qo0
the trochas shell supply e TIT tsouA
but are encouraging tie ssldnnmG =
the reefs, and are thu 1n0lqee1y
threatening the destruction e IT,
shell output of Fiji. Not only - ~
advices lately received iron Bridbono-
are to the effect that tie JaDans6e aro
seeking to exploit the GheN SURELY g
Thursday island and 61DswAere -
the northern side Of tie AngR6llan
continent.
In cursess pseitssa. 2
The shell industry b ii O. eQFlo1D
position" writes the Suva (f1N CO.
respondent Of the Sydney Daily Heoe-
graph. Buttons are made ct e
trochas shell. er. - it II termed - H.
Fiji islands. sici (pr0nOuncod ~
thee). The industry was started In =
novel manner. Over Is years 40 .
Frenchman named Gaspard sent eoOo
of the shells home as curios. and they
came under the notice Of . man In To
line who opened negotiations with
Gaspard, and regular supplies were
from then on sent to France to b
turned into buttons. He paid the I'M
tutored Fijians 81 or SIPS per ton In
those days, but the present price In
Suva is for No. l shell. 500 per ton:
No. 2, $147.5O; No. g. $3.50. The
graduation is according to size.
France and Austria practically mo-
nopolized this industry, but the war
caused a change, and it is doubtful II
| any buttons are made nowadays In
France or Austria. The trade is now
a japanese monopoly. All the local
shell finds its way to Japan. whence
it is exported as q manufactured pro-
duet The price varies considerably
for reasons not known here. The
shells are found in plentiful numbers
on the coral reefs surrounding the
(Fiji) islands. and merely have to be
picked up. Enormous quantities are
shipped to Japan by every steamer.
1.-The high prices obtained for the
product have caused the natives 70
bring in large quantities of chicken
shell, which is of no commercial value.
and if this conduct is permitted to con-
tinue the reefs will soon be stripped
of the valuable shell.
u. NJ. HedstrOm, an elected MEM
Der of the Fiji Legislative council, who
interested himself in the matter,
brought ii up at the last meeting OF
the council, and received the promise
that if the Suva and Levuka chambers
NJ In
ion. action would be taken by the gov
/ ernment.
Samples Of the Shell.
THAT gentleman showed your cor
respondent some samples Of the she'll
The first package contained shell from
inch to 1A inches in diameter,
weighing about 40 to the pound, which
is of no commercial value. No. shell,
from inches to 31a IL ches In diam
cter. weighs about to the pound, and
fetches $500 per ton. If the valuelesa
chicken shell he said, were allowed
to remain on the reefs, for two years.
it would grow to No. l shell, one ton
or it would weigh nine tons. and Il
would be worth probably $1,75O in.
stead of nothing.
"'Chicken' shell from one and one
half to two inches in diameter II
worth about $50 or $40 per ton locally
One firm shipped last November ter
tons of this shell to Japan. and 1t wal
valued at about $3.50. free on board. Il
the shell had been allowed to remalI
on the reefs for about two years h
would have weighed about so tons and
been worth over $4,000.
I The Suva chamber of commerc<
has indorsed Mr. Hedstrom's plan"
4 market having been found In ia
pan for Thursday island trochss shell
, the scarcity of labor for the industr!
{ viii be met by engaging Australian
natives for the work.