The St. Joseph observer. [volume] (St. Joseph, Mo.) 1906-1932, 1921-01-08

Which L. in ItseIf Not n BAD show
ing For An Unusual Occupation.
/ JEFFERSON CITY. Jam G.
| Especial Correspondencc.) Tho ac-
quirod art of converting apparently
useless natural material into "a neccs-
sity Of value ana beauty reached
high state Of development aud per-
lection in Missouri during 1919 when
light novelty manufacturers trans
formed worthless rough, ugly cum
bersome mussel shells into lustrous
attractive buttons and mothcr-of-
pearl ornaments with a first whole
sale value of $i13,353. commodities
which, finally. in the retail trade
sold for a million dollars, announces
a Bureau of Labor Statistics bulletin
constituting advance Information
from the 1920 Missouri Industrial
Red Book, promulgated Monday by
Commissioner William II. Lewis
The pearl button factories which
last year added this additional dis
tinction to the ever-growing reputa-
ton OF Missouri as a manufacturing
state are located in Hannibal Louisi-
ana, Palmyra, La Grange, Canton and
Memphis, all flourishing manufactur-
ing communities of Northeast Mis-
souri,, either on or not far inland from
the Mississippi river, and in Windsor.
Henry county. and Warsaw. Benton
county These eight manufacturing
establishments which that year gave
employment to 42S moro or less high
ly skilled workers, represented an ag-
gregated Investment of s2s5.6O4. The
masculine portion of this small army
of toilers, numbering 800. excluding
those who performed heavy manual
tasks chiefly supervised and controll-
cd the operations of the heavy shin
ing machines OF steel which. gradual
ly. punched. cut and ground the
clumsy unsightly mussel shells and
stage by stage. turned them into
white, clean, mother-of-pearl discs of
varying Dimensions. ready for the
finishing touches. More delieute and
intricate machines, directed by more
dexterous and careful men or wom-
en-, bored the thread holes into the
discs which are known TO the industry
as button blanks and" supplied the
final polish which develops the glis-
tening rainbow lustre 80 familiar to
commodities of pearl.
Feminine Toilcrs Well Paid
The feminine portion of the Mis-
souri, pearl button factory toilers of
1919 consisted of l19 women and
girls who earned from Sc to SIS
weekly. when the establishment op-
Grated. The majority. young and
agile lasses. sorted the buttons, dis
carding the imperfect ones and sew
ing those which reached the required
high standard Of completion and
/. splendor. by dozens onto cards, and
packing the cards into paste-board
boxes ready for the final retail mar
!: Net.
: The constantly increasing shortage
of mu5sel-shells in the clear water of
the Mississippi river. north of its con-
: fluence with the Missouri. once the
chief source of supply. has caused
; mussel diggers to turn their attention
to the scant supplies which exist here
and there, in the streams OF the
Ozarks This fact led to the estab-
lishment OF the button blank factories
which now flourish in tho two enter
prsing Missouri communities, Wind
sor and Warsaw. These manufactur-
ers only produce pearl button blanks
which are shipped and sold to the
factories at Hannibal, Louisiana, La
Grange. and Canton, in northeast
Missouri, where the thread holes are
bored. the final polish applied and
other finishing touches added.
MusseI ScarcSty Increased Button
, Worth
For the pearl button industry of
Missouri and elsewhere it can truth
fully be stated, without fear OF con-
, tradlction that the higher cost Of liv-
? ing did far less. the last five years
toward increasing the worth OF these