138 PEARLS AND PEARLING 



water is shallow and the mussels are most abundant, and 

 anchors the boat. Next he places the tongs in the 

 water and with one handle in each hand he works the 

 tongs around the mussels until he has gathered some into 

 the implement, and then raises them into the boat. There 

 is nothing certain about the catch being all mussels. Some- 

 times the tongs contain rocks, or mussels mixed with 

 rocks. The tongs are profitable tools when used in suit- 

 able places. Some pearl hunters have made as much as 

 $15.00 in one day working in some of the northern rivers. 



Thev have also been in very popular use in the south. 

 In some parts of the White River, in Arkansas, large 

 numbers of boats have been collected together in a very 

 small space, where the pearl hunters used the tongs to 

 collect the shells. 



Another good use for tongs is in fishing for mussels 

 through holes cut in the ice. A great many fine pearls 

 have been secured by using this method. A pair of tongs 

 usually costs about $3.50, and many of them have been 

 made by the blacksmiths of Muscatine, Iowa. The use- 

 fulness of the tongs in shallow water has been so thor- 

 oughly demonstrated in so many localities it will continue 

 to be a very popular implement among the pearl hunters. 



The fork is used more than any other implement. The 

 one shown in Fig. 35 has a remarkable history and has 

 probably handled more shells than any other fork in ex- 

 istence. 



Mr. George Platt, of Camanche, Iowa, bought this fork 

 in 1898 in Linxville, Wisconsin, where he lived at that 

 time. About three years ago Mr. Charles Newton, of 



