Evening star., 1935-05-30
WAKE SOUVENIRS
LOSING PRESTIGE
Two Incidents OF Spurious
Relics Causes All to
Be Wary.
BY JUNNIs 3. WOOD.


WAKE ISLAND, May % IN. A.
N. A. by Wireless) Since his fellow
members of a dock unloading gang
palmed Off dried pearl, this islands
souvenir collecting industry has lost
considerable prestige.
The same day q well-digging gang
Of The Pan-American Airways exps-
dition discovered in the sand 20 feet
down and under feet Of water
eood-sized Joint Of a whales back
hone.
As the well is a quarter OF q mile
inland this tlnd was at first hailed as
another of the archaeological freaks
abounding in these islands, where the
airways expedition is building a base
for the clipper planes that will link
the United States and Asia. But
closer inspection of the whale bone
disclosed penciled dedication by the
chief well-digger, so it was obviously
merely r. cheap imitation Of the sailed
cold mine trick and the episode has
caused all souvenirs TO be regarded
with fishy eye.
Only Tourists iackiug.
Despite the trade tricks the onlv
thing lacking for a fourishing souye-
mir business Is the tourists to buy
them. The lagoon between wilkes and
Peale Islands, snd, in fact, the entire
l2-mile circumference of the atoll is
literally treasure bed for those pei
sons who delight in collecting strangely
shaped stones, curious bones and mul-
ticolored shells to take home end put
on the parlor mantel for somebody
else TO dust in future years.
Kansas Sam proudly extracts his
treasure from GRANNY Of his blue
denim shorts and exhibits the pearl"
10 all comers. As everybody else
Knows It's real origin, though no more
familiar with precious stones than
harvest hand from g. Kansas wheat
held, all freaks of nature are now re-
ceived with leery looks. When held
hetWeen the eye and the sun the syn
fhetlc pearl shows all the delicate
tlnts snd changing coIors of an opal.
Aside from q faint dried fish aroma it
isn't bad imitation.
Somebody seriously appraised a pearl
OF that size as being worth 5000 to snv
gem dealer in Manila However, it was
wisely added that Manila jewellers are
rough crowd and might manhsndIe
the owner Tor offering them such q
Jewel.
Sam is ready TO sccept somewhat
less than 5000, the pearl being cracked
and not without flaws. This Is due to
hitting 1t with 75-pound crowbar
which is rough handling for the
StoutesL stone.
Fish Rye Put INTO Shell.
IL seems the finesse of the ooeration
was that while one man with A. crow
bar Whanged one OF numerous clam
shells. as large ss mans head, an
other extracted the dried eye OF a
oefunct fish lying on the beach and
deftly slipped 1t in the cracked shell
Tne shell was handed to strong armed
sam to pull apart end his sharp eyes
discovered the pearl, greatly to the
envy OF his more careless playmates.
While gold and diamonds, and even
pearls or oil, which lure fortune I)unt-
ers TO the most desolate corners of the
earth, nave not been discovered on the
wake Atoll. there is sufficient mate
rial here worth picking up ss a re-
membrance Of the visit. Coral can be
gathered by wading knee-deep in the
water anywhere. Clusters grow in the
lasoon-roSettes of all sizes. shapes
and colors: little knobs no larger than
fhe fist, and immense bushes that Two
men could not encircIe with out
stretched arms.
The stoll ring itself, built by hose
fIreless little creatures on the edges
OF a volcano cone extinct since the
prehistoric era when the ocean sub
merged the land, is q solid, bleak rock
OF coral. On the ocean side of the
stoll it falls off lodges and clitfs.
Coral Species Varied.
On this solid coral, both in the ocean
End In the crater bed that is now the
lagoon, grow other species OF coral. Is
varied as the flowers in a well-kept
garden. Some clusters have long
spikes spreading into hundreds of
branches, each tapering to q point.
Other patterns are shaped like marine
caulinoWers. Still others sre egg
shaped. Their variations ara aS