PEARL INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES.
Each
year there is an unrecorded production of pearls from freshwater
mussels of many of the rivers of the United States. The principal
yield comes from the Mississippi Valley region, where beds of
pearl-bearing mussels are found in many of the tributary rivers. Along
the Atlantic Coast States pearls have been found from Maine to Florida,
and in the Gulf States from Florida to Texas.
The
season for gathering pearls and mussels is from May to November, when
buyers and dealers travel from one locality to another where there are
pearl fisheries. Often the mussels are gathered in large quantities and
opened simply in search of pearls, and then thrown away with no thought
of their value for manufacturing pearl buttons. In other cases the
shells are saved for this purpose, but much useful material is wasted
at the button factories. With the reckless destruction of millions of
mussel shells for pearls and button manufacturing, the beds of these
shells are being rapidly depleted, and unless some steps are taken for
their preservation it will not be long before the deposits will be
exhausted. Laws passed to prohibit the gathering of shells and pearls
on certain portions of the rivers for a period of years, after once
being fished over, would give the mussel beds a chance to restock
themselves, and thus a permanent industry would be established instead
of one rapidly working out its own destruction. It is said the Fish
Commission will undertake the investigation of the life and history of
the pearl mussel shells of the Mississippi Valley in connection with
the zoological department of the University of Missouri. This work is
to be carried on for the ultimate purpose of devising a method to stop
the extermination of the pearl mussels.
Many pearls are desirable for their even qualities and the ease with which they can be matched, while American pearls0
exhibit the greatest number of variations in color and tint, and it is
difficult to match exactly a number of them for necklaces and other
jewelry. On the other hand, the exquisite coloring and the fine luster
of our pearls more than offset the disadvantages due to such
irregularities, and make them much desired in the gem market. A list of
publications on American pearls and pearl shells is given in the
bibliography at the end of this chapter for the convenience of persons
who desire further information on the subject.
Very
curious-shaped pearls and baroques are often found. Among those found
in 1906 in the Mississippi region are three, which have been described
and illustrated in the Jeweler's Circular Weekly. One of these was in
the shape of a crowned head which much resembled that of Queen
Victoria.* Another was rounded, and also looked like a human head/'
Still another, a baroque, resembled the head of an old man with flowing
beard and hair.'' The color of this pearl was an exquisite pink,
shading in places from dark to light tints, which appear to give light
and shadow to the face.
The
pearl industry is carried on in such a way that it is not possible to
collect statistics showing the production. Buyers and dealers, not only
from New York and other eastern cities, but even from Paris, visit the
Mississippi region in the pearl-gathering season, travel from point
