one
or the other until a few moments before they were shown to the
merchant. Pearls worth hundreds of dollars have sometimes shown breaks,
and in one instance a pearl valued at $7000 showed these cracks even a
very short time after the sale.
In
many of the pearling regions of the Mississippi Valley, inquiry of
almost any fisherman will result in his bringing forth from an inside
pocket a small box padded with raw cotton and containing an assortment
of pearls and slugs. Most of the slugs he will sell at prices ranging
from fifty cents to $5 per ounce, for several of the small pearls he
will likely ask from $2 to $20 each, and one or two of the largest he
may value at $50 or more. At very rare intervals, a choice pearl will
be found, for which he may expect anywhere from $200 to $5000.
While
the highest prices are not received by the fishermen, there are many
who have been so fortunate as to obtain $1000 or more for a single
pearl, and several have received double that amount. Probably the
highest figure obtained by the original finder was $3800,
notwithstanding exaggerated stories of enormous five-figure prices.
Recently the press credited a lad sixteen years of age with securing
$20,000 for a pearl he had found.
A
particularly striking yarn relative to a so-called "Queen Mary" pearl
went the rounds of the press some time ago. According to the newspaper
report, this pearl was found by the wife of a fisherman who was a
cripple or something equally pathetic, and, fortunately, when the
family resources were at the lowest. With tears of joy, the fisherman
embraced his wife and told her it was her very own and she should wear
it. However, by means of a check for $17,500, he was induced to part
with it, but only on condition that it be named Queen Mary in honor of
the hard-working wife. The report continues that the original buyer
sold it for $25,000, and at last accounts it was held by a Chicago
dealer who had "refused $40,000 and probably would not accept $50,000
for it." The facts seem to be that this pearl, which was found near
Prairie du Chien in 1901 and weighed 103 grains, was originally sold
for $250, and the local buyer sold it in Chicago for $550, where for
many months it was offered at $1000.
All
sorts of stories of valuable finds are told in the pearling regions :
stories of mortgages that have been released, of homes bought, of
college educations secured from the proceeds of a single gem; but
these tales are offset by the untold stories of the undermining of
fine, strong character in awaiting the turn of fortune which never
comes. The public is quickly apprised of the valuable finds, but it
does not hear of the time and labor lost by the hundreds who are
unsuccessful. Pearling excitement has many of the features of a mining
craze. While a few are benefited, hundreds are made poorer, and in many
instances
