were astonished to learn from a friend who 

 had made inquiry that they had all become 

 Orientals. It is a safe assumption that 

 half of the pearls sold in this country as 

 Orientals come from the rivers of the middle 

 west. The French are ready enough to pur- 

 chase our pearls, while wealthy Americans 

 who would scorn to buy a fresh water pearl in 

 Boston knowing it came from the Iowa 

 River, for instance, will pay double the price 

 for the same gem in Paris if told it came 

 from Ceylon. Many of the most magnifi- 

 cent pearls which were ever found have come 

 from the rivers of Arkansas, Kentucky, 

 Tennessee and Wisconsin, and we should 

 appreciate and take pride in the matchless 

 gems found in our own country. At the 

 World's Fair in Chicago, one collection of 

 Wisconsin pearls, outrivaled the dis- 

 play of Oriental pearls assembled by the 

 gem merchants from all the great cities of 

 the earth. One superb necklace of pearls 

 taken from the White River, Arkansas, was 

 sold in Paris for two hundred thousand 

 dollars, and single American pearls have 

 brought from five thousand to twenty-five 

 thousand dollars each. The truth is, we 

 have right here in our own country, along 

 our great inland rivers, extensive beds of 

 pearl bearing shells which produce gems of 

 unsurpassed beauty. 



