PEARL FISHERIES OF TENNESSEE* 

 By W. E. Myer, Carthage, Tenn. 



THAT you may more fully appreciate Tennessee pearls and 

 the fascination of the pearl fishery in this State allow me to 

 call your attention to the fact that fine, perfect, Tennessee pearls 

 are worth more than the highest grade diamonds of same size. 

 The chance of finding a pearl worth anywhere from one hundred 

 dollars to two thousand dollars in the very next mussel opened 

 draws men to the river and holds them there, even after weeks 

 of poor success, or even absolute failure. I knew one farmer 

 who went to the river to water his horse at noon, and, while the 

 horse was drinking, idly picked up a mussel lying in easy reach. 

 He opened the mussel and found a pearl for which I paid him 

 $190.00. This started him to putting in all his spare time. For a 

 year he worked at pearling whenever his farm work would permit 

 and never found another pearl of any value. This, of course, is 

 an exceptional case and is given only to show how the eternal 

 hope of good luck abides in man's breast. 



In these later days the pearlers find it is safer and more 

 businesslike to work in partnership with four or five others. This 

 body of, say, five men put all their findings together and divide the 

 proceeds equally. By saving and selling both the shells and pearls 

 they are reasonably sure of making some two dollars each per 

 day, if they work not less tTian two weeks at it. 



Cumberland and Clinch Pearls. 



While all the rivers in the State produce more or less pearls, 

 the Cumberland and Clinch are amongst the great pearl-producing 

 waters of the world. I say "are," but, unless some sane restraint 

 be speedily thrown around the heedless total working out and total 

 destruction of every mussel in each mussel bed and leaving no 

 living mussels to reproduce the race, we are going soon to have to 

 say "were." Already the production has fallen off to nothing in 

 many formerly rich pearling grounds, because no mussels were 

 left to reproduce. 



The reason so few Tennessee people know much about these 

 beautiful gems from their own rivers is because the great majorit}^ 

 of the pearls are sent direct to New York for sale, as New York 

 is the great pearl market of the United States. 



The Beauty oe Pearls erom Our Clear Streams. 



The beauty, and therefore value, of a pearl is greatly in- 

 creased by being produced by mussels in clear water. For this 

 reason the pearls from the clear streams of our Tennessee High- 

 lands are famous for their beauty and value. 



* By the kind permission of the Tennessee Academy of Sciences, these 

 extracts are reprinted from Volume Two of its Transactions, January 1, 

 1914 to May 5, 1917. 



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