Pueblo chieftain., 1921-02-12
BY Frederic J. Haskln.


Washington. d. G.. Feb. o.-Ouc more
American natural resource IS seriously
depleted as tho result OF careless cS-
ploitation. One more American wild
animal is threatened with cNtcrmlna-
ton. Both tho resource and the wild
animal arc the humble tnusScl, or
fresh water clam. which leads a peace
ful life in the mud at the bottom OF
nearly every stream in the country. -
You probably never thought OF this
obscure creature as a figure in Amcri-
can industry, but II YOU have heard
your wife complain lately OF the high
cost of pearl buttons. you have fclt
the mussol shortage. About five or six
million dollars worth OF buttons arc
made from mussel shell in this coun-
try every year. Nearly all OF our beau
tiful pearl buttons originate in tho mud
at tho bottom of number OF streams
In the Mississippi Basin. Now tho mus
sells Of tho best shcll-bearinE varieties
are becoming scarccr every year. The
price OF buttons Is rising, with tho re-
suit that the remaining musscls arc
hunted with more diligence than over.
The Bureau Of Fisheries wishes em-
phatically to call the attention of the
country to this situation. The muEscl
fisheries arc the basis OF a valuable
Industry in seven or eight states And
". by proper regulation, tho musscl
beds wcrc restored to their primitive
richness. they might constitute tho
basis OF much larger Industry. Sew
cral states have awakened to the sit
uation and passed comprehensive mus
sci laws. \ bill has been introduced in
Congress providing for the establish
inent OF u government experiment sta
lion where the propagation Of tho most
desirable mussels may be studied.
Many Varieties
For not every mussel is potential
button. There are musscls In tho bot
tom OF almost every fresh watcr
stream in the country, except those at
high attitudes. In tho Atlantic coast
streams, however. the rnuascI is a lit
tic thing with thin and pnpcry shell.
IL serves no purpose except as food FOR
wild animals and bait for fishing In
the Mississippi Basin, on the other
hand. the fresh water muslscls grow
large and have thick, pcarly shells.
Furthermore there are frequently real
pearls OF considerable value in these
shells. In fact, the pearls recovered
are worth In all nearly half as much as
the shell.
This musscl-tishinG industry * an in
tcresting ono for several reasons For
one thing, II seems to ho one of tho
few American Industries OF which large
capital has been unable 10 get control
Most OF the streams in which the mus
scls arc found are navigable. aud arc
therefore public waters whcrc any one
may fish. Any one who can get a
motorboat, or even a rowboat. and an
apparatus costing four or five dollars
can go into the musscl- fishing business.
From the Pearl river and the Red riv-
or in th~ south, near tho Gulf. to the
troiN and the Black in the north
near tho Great Lakes. and from the
headwaters of the Missouri IN the
west TO tho headwaters of the Ohio in
the cast, tho mussel fishermen ply their
trade. Most of them are nomads, own
ing motorboats and roaming about tho
great Mississippi drainage in search
of good musscl beds. They are FREQ
movers and independent operators.
They are survivals of the old individ-
ualistic America i'm which even a poor
man could he his own boss aud take
his living from "a bountiful nature
which nobody owned.
Tho industry is "a peculiarly Amer
lcan ono in almost every way. These
fresh water mussol shells suitable for
button making arc iAt found any
where clso in the world. The methods
OF getting them off the bottom are of
American invention and so are all of
the machines used in making tho but
tons
The Pioneer
Nevertheless, America is indebted
TO German for the origin of the in
dustry. Americans themselves paid lit
tie attention TO the mussel beds. no
doubt partly because they had so many
more valuable resources to exploit. 1t
seems that Il hundred years ago var
ious fancy articles. such as cuff but
tons and paper knives. were carved
from musscl shells in Ohio. and even
earlier the mussels were taken in ord
er 10 search them for pearls, but with
no thought OF using the shells. In