OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



From the Detroit Free Press (Sept. 6th, 1890), I have 

 culled a more detailed and reliable account, which I have 

 much pleasure in quoting : 



" The Wisconsin pearl craze is not of recent date," said 

 Charles T. Cook, the head of the pearl department for 

 Tiffany & Co. " For several years we have been receiving 

 pearls found in the rivers and brooks of that state. The 

 pearl fisheries in Wisconsin are very prolific just now, and 

 a day seldom passes without our receiving specimens or 

 being advised regarding them. 



" The fact is, American pearls are not a new thing 

 among jewellers. I have no doubt they were found in the 

 days of Washington, and there are records of such disco- 

 veries sixty years ago. The first real excitement over 

 American pearls occurred some thirty odd years ago, when 

 a man found a magnificent one in Bound Brook, N. J. 

 Mr. Tiffany obtained that pearl for $1000 in gold and a 

 watch and chain. The pearl was subsequently sent to 

 Paris and sold to a jeweller, who in time disposed of it to 

 the Empress Eugenie. This accidental discovery caused 

 great excitement, and Bound Brook was despoiled of every 

 full-grown fresh-water mussel during that year. A great 

 many pearls were found, but none equalled the first except 

 one that was not discovered until it had been boiled. In 

 its cooked state it was not worth five cents, and experts 

 greatly differed in their estimates regarding its probable 

 value when raw. Judging from its size and formation, it 

 would no doubt have brought nearly $2000. 



"American pearls have a wide range. Tney are found 

 in the creeks of Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, 

 Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, Ohio, Tennessee, Wis- 

 consin, Virginia, and in Canada. Other states contribute 

 pearls, but not in such quantities as these I have named. 



