4B4 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[June 4, 1898. 
shells after being examined for pearls and the animals 
destroyed, they give a painful record of the utter waste 
of an enormous amount of material useful and beautiful 
for many purposes in the arts. The question is an- 
swered in 74 papers with a melancholy uniEormity. In 
only 12 of them is there any suggestion of utilization of 
the shells, and in only x of the use of the animals other 
than as fish bait, manure, or food for hogs; 26 of the 
answers say simplv that there is no use made of them, 
or that they arc "wasted" or "thrown away;" 9 say that 
they are thrown into the water, and 6 add that the fish 
eat them, and also the muskrats and tortoises; 7 speak 
of their being used for fish bait; 6 for feeding hogs; and 
2 for manure; several merely say that they are left on 
the banks or shoals for rats, minks and crows to dis- 
pose of. . r 
An Iowa pearler states that the shells are utilized tor 
button making, and that some people use the animal 
for making soup. The actual use of the shells for but- 
tons is also referred to by 2 pearlers, and their possible 
value for that purpose is noted in four other papers, 
though they are not so used as yet. One says that few 
are polished for ornamental purposes, and another makes 
a similar statement, adding that they are also used for 
paving garden walks, and burned for lime. This latter 
use, for lime, is referred to also by 3 Tennessee papers as 
actual or possible; and i says that they might - be 
"ground to cement;" and i Wisconsin wTiter notes that 
some are ground up for the poultry. 
As a Product fof Food. 
There would seem to be a strong presumption that 
the ancient people, and of the United States, must have 
used the Unios quite largely for food, as we know that 
the later Indian tribes did, as will be referred to later on. 
They naturally were thus led to the finding of pearls, 
and accumulated large stores of them in the course of 
time. The ancient tribes of Brazil have left shell heaps 
along rivers tributary to the Amazon, composed of 
fresh-water shells of that region (Hyria and Castilia) ; 
and though no such stores of pearls have been found, 
yet the shells themselves have been much employed as 
ornaments among these people. 
When it is remembered that the tribes of both North 
and South America made large use of the river mussels 
as an article of food, it seems extraordinary that only one 
instance of any attempt so to utilize them should ap- 
pear in these accounts, although Canadian lumbermen 
catch them by allowing bushes to drag after their rafts 
in shallow streams, using the mollusk for food. They 
could perhaps often save life, if explorers or hunters 
knew of their existence: while the shells so capable of 
being wrought and polished into an immense variety of 
beautiful oljjects of ornamental art should command a re- 
munerative price, instead of being thrown away and 
wasted. ^ 
Utilization of Unio Shells for Buttons. 
Several references, from time to time, have been made 
to the valuable possibilities of the abundant shells of the 
Unios for various purposes of jnanufacture, and some 
few instances noted of their being polished as orna- 
ments or cut into buttons. It is highly interesting to 
learn that this latter use has at last attracted attention, 
and is developing into an important industry. A corre- 
spondent of the St. Paul (Minn.) Dispatch, under date 
of Nov. 13, 1897, gives an extended account of the shell 
button manufacture at Muscatine, la., where already a 
number of factories are in operation. No dates are 
specified; but the statement is made that it was begun 
within a fcM"- years past by Mr. Bepples, a German, who 
recognized the possibilities of such an industry, and 
established a factory at Muscatine, soon employing 200 
operatives, besides a number of outside people, gather- 
ing shells from the Mississippi River at that point. The 
enterprise proved profitable, even under an unfavorable 
tariff, and several other factories were established; but 
since the recent protective legislation has gone into ef- 
fect the business is increasing largely. Eleven or twelve 
factories are now in operation, running 300 saws and 
employing 1,500 people. One of these was working on 
double time to fill orders for 20,000 gross of buttons for 
the "holiday trade" of 1897. The business is already an 
important element in the prosperity of the town; and as 
the supply of shells is enormous, it is expected to in- 
crease in extent. Other works exist also in Iowa, at 
Davenport and Saluba, and at Cedar Rapids on the Cedar 
River. There are also Eastern factories referred to that 
cut the shells into "blanks," i, e., unfinished discs, and 
send them to Muscatine to be polished and perforated. 
The shells have been gathered by men and boj'^s wad- 
ing in the shallow water, and working from boats in the 
deeper parts, with rakes provided with a wire net or bas- 
ket. Now, however, steam dredging is to be employed. 
One such boat has been built, and another is under con- 
struction. The dredge will take up a ton of shells in 
an hour, and the steam will be used to cook the animals 
and clean the shells — a process now slowly conducted in 
small furnaces. As the gathering cannot be carried on 
in winter when the river is frozen, prices rise in autumn. 
Several species are capable of being used, of which two 
are particularly mentioned; these are "nigger-head" 
shells, which have risen with the approach of winter 
from 35 cents a hundred to 70 cents, and "sand" shells 
have advanced correspondingly from $1 to $2 per hun- 
dred. 
Present Abundance of the Fresh- Water Mussels. 
Out of 83 papers which respond to this inquiry, 7 de- 
scribe the shells at at present very abundant; 36 as 
plentiful; 25 as scarce; and 3 as absolutely exterminated; 
while 28 papers refer to the fact of diminished and dimin- 
ishing numbers within a few years past, some of them 
with great emphasis. The papers Tennessee Nos. 7, 32, 
33 estimate the present numbers as reduced to one-tenth 
of what they were ten 3'ears ago, and in all the 
same general fact is stated of former abundance and 
present rarity, and attributed to the pearl hunting de- 
struction of a few years past. Several papers say that 
the shells are 'now scarce in small streams and shallower 
parts of large ones, while still abundant in deeper water 
and where the currents are strong. 
Natural Enemies. 
The responses to Question 7, in 84 papers, are varied 
and interesting, and in some respects quite contradic- 
tory. The chief natural enemy of the Unios appears to 
be the muskrat; 65 papers refer to it, 26 reporting large 
destruction from this cause, 38 in some degree, and t de- 
nying it. 
Hogs come next, and are referred to in 47 papers. • Of 
these, 7 hold them responsible for large destruction, 35 
for some or a little, and 5 asserting that there is none. 
Of other animals, raccoons are stated in 13 papers to 
destroy some shells, mink in 5, mud turtles in 3. craj''- 
fish in 2, aquatic birds in 2, and cattle, by trampling, in 3. 
All the animal depredators deal only, or chiefly, with the 
Unios that are either young, small-sized or soft shelled, 
and hence not largely pearl bearing. The only exception 
to this general rule is the statement in i paper that many 
pearls have been found where shells had been taken 
ashore by muskrats and left to open in the sun. 
Injuries due to Physical . Causes. 
With regard to physical causes of injury, the most 
.serious, no doubt, is found in freshets. Of 31 papers that 
refer to these, 17 report great destruction thereby; 13 
say "some" or "a little." and i denies that there is any. 
Some papers say that their injury is small, and that 
they only shift the beds and redistribute them; but a 
number describe the burying of beds by the washing 
down and caving in of the beds in flood time, or the 
stranding of great quantities of young shells to perish 
when the water subsides. Two papers that do not men- 
tion freshets should doubtless be included here, how- 
ever, as they speak of destruction caused to the shells 
by "covering with mud" and by "change of bars." On 
the other hand, low water and droughts are reported 
as seriously harmful in 5 papers, and drift ice in 3; 2 
papers allude to disease as a cause of injury, and 3 to 
boring parasites. 
Extermination of the Mollusfcs. 
Question 28, as to exhaustion of the mussel beds, its 
causes and its rapidity, has called forth a very suggestive 
body of replies in 57 papers. The remaining third makes 
no response, or none that is at all definite. Nine papers 
report extermination of the shells, either actual or im- 
minent, within a verj^ few years past; 20 speak of rapid 
diminution in their numbers; 16 of decrease as noticed, 
and progress; 8 are uncertain, or report little or no 
change; 6 describe them as abundant, or "inexhausti- 
ble;" and 4 refer to partial recovery, or replenishment 
after reduction. In 45 out of 59 papers, therefore, or ap- 
proximately three-fourths, the process of exhaustion is 
recorded at times already complete. Of these, 26 state 
the cause as pearl hunting, mainly or wholly, and 10 refer 
to other agencies — i or 2 each to low or high water, de- 
posits of sand, or mud, ice, boats, hogs and rats. Of 7 
answers from Wisconsin, where so many pearls of re- 
markable beauty were found in the early 90s, 5 report 
the shells as nearly or entirely exhausted, and 2 refer to 
rapid reduction due to careless and ignorant persons 
taking the small and young shells as well as those more 
likely to contain pearls, A Tennessee paper alludes to 
the same reckless habit, and estimates the shells remain- 
ing as about 5 per cent, only of the number in former 
years. The destruction of young shells is also mentioned 
in Indiana. In New York it is stated that a good pearl 
fisher can "clean out" a bed of 500 shells in a day. The 
Ohio paper speaks of hundreds being opened daily. In 
Iowa I states that the river will be exhausted in two 
years. Of those that speak of little change, several re- 
mark that much is not known or done in regard to pearls 
in their localities. Of the 4 that allude to recovery, Ten- 
nessee says that the beds are cleared out about every 
two years and renewed in four; i says that they exhaust 
yearly and re-bed in one or two years; another states 
that the shells return every year, but in less numbers; 
and Texas reports that many beds that have been worked 
out are recovering, through the growth of the young 
shells that were left unmolested. 
[to be continued.] 
lu MenneL 
Fixtwes* 
Sept. 8.— Manitoba Field Trials Club trials. William C. Lee, 
Sec'y, Winnipeg, Man. 
Dick. 
He was a dog, black as Erebus, a Great Dane I think 
he was, though of that I am not sure. My first impression 
of him was not favorable; tugging violently at the end 
of a chain he was standing almost erect, his forepaws 
frantically fighting the air, and with a most unpleasant 
expression of yearning ferocity aboulj his widely dis- 
tended jaws. 
My friend Tom, however, who was in quest of a 
water dog, did not share my apprehension. He spoke 
to him soothingly, and boldly walking up to the terrible 
animal, was presenth^ to my amazement, quietly patting 
him on the head, while he arranged with his owner the 
terms of purchase. 
Thanks to my intimacy with his new master. I soon 
came to know Dick better, and the better I knew him 
the more admirable traits did I discover in his charac- 
ter; for dogs have characters oftentimes nobler and 
stronger than such as belong to some men. 
The only really ugly thing about him was his face, and 
that was terrible, while his enormous size and powerful 
build served to make his ugliness very impressive, though 
strange to say, on closer acquaintance, I was convinced 
that his countenance, homely as it was, was good. 
Like most men possessed of great strength, his 
disposition was contrary to appearances, temperate and 
mild. Tom's little boy could pull his tail, slap him with 
all the might of his baby hands, make faces at him, and 
even apply to him all the strange and abusive epithets 
of his infantile vocabulary without moving him to the 
least display of irritation or displeasure; but if any one 
threatened harm to the child, his fierce indignation would 
have become a parent. Sometimes his solicitude for the 
welfare of his protege — ^for such the baby soon became — 
was carried to extremes. 
To children, in their ignorance, wanton destruction 
is sometimes very pleasing. One spring day the garden- 
er had set out a beautiful bed of hyacinths; scarcely had 
he finished when the enterprising youngster, clad in 
nice, white_ clothes, toddled into the midst of the flowers, 
and plumping himself down in the nice soft loam, began 
to work havoc. This proceeding the gardener would 
fain have stopped summarily; but Dick with an ominous 
growl sprang between the irate horticulturist and the 
gleeful infant and would permit of no interference with 
the joys of, his charge, until an authority that he recog- 
nized as supreme, to wit, his mistress, intervened. 
It was amazing how rapidly he acquired a knowledge 
of who belonged upon the premises and who did not; 
and also the exact extent of the territory over which it 
was his proud duty to stand guard. 
The boys from the butcher's or the baker's, or the boy 
with the milk pail, he would suffer to come in about 
their respective errands; but only wlien they carried a 
basket or a pail, or some other ostensible token of their 
mission. At other times he was prone to active sus- 
picion, and once when the butcher boy came without 
his basket, but with a bill — receipted at that— the boy's 
prudence incited by the dog sent him hastily up a con- 
venient tree, where he remained for nearly half an hour 
before his predicamnt was discovered and his release 
effected. By judicious treatment, nevertheless, the boys 
after a while persuaded him into a kindlier recognition 
of them. 
There was one class of individuals for whom he had 
no toleration whatever. Whether they offended his sense 
of sight or of scent, or his predilections for gentility, he 
could not endure tramps. 
One of those pleasant Sundays that it was my frequent 
privilege to spend with my friends, on our return from 
church, we found the dog cavorting about the place most 
joyously. There was something that he would toss high 
in the air, then with a leap he would catch it in his jaws 
and away he would go circling about at full speed, wav- 
ing it about exultantly as he ran. Our curiosity was im- 
mediately aroused to find out what this new toy was 
with which he played with such gusto. After some ef- 
fort and much strategy he was at last induced to surren- 
der his trophy to his master. It proved to be a circular 
bit of cloth of ripe age and exhausted color. From the 
freshly indentured aspect of its jagged edges and its gen- 
eral contour, it was evident that it had recently been 
detached with some violence from that part of a mascu- 
line garb in which fullness is most usually found. Ex- 
actly how or whence it came into Dick's possession we 
never knew. Its owner never oame back after his prop- 
erty—possibly because he had so abruptly preceded it. 
On a place in the outskirts of a suburban community 
the presence of such a guardian was a great protection 
to his mistress and a great comfort to his master. The 
confidence reposed in him was well deserved. It hap- 
pened one day when there was no man about the place 
who belonged there, Tom, of course, being in the city 
and the hired man off on some errant, that Mrs. B. was 
in the kitchen. Ladies sometimes like to visit their 
kitchens for purposes of investigation, instruction or 
experiment. The only lady I ever knew who never did 
Avas one whose hu.sband had married his cook. At any 
rate Mrs. B. was in the kitchen, while Dick was lazily 
napping before the range. Answering herself a per- 
emptory knock on the door, she opened it, to be con- 
fronted by a tramp of evil aspect, who demanded some- 
thing to eat, at the same time trying to force his way 
into the house, and adding: "I don't want none of your 
slops nor stale bread neither; but the best you've got, 
see!" An indignant and peremptory growl was the un- 
expected answer, and one glimpse of Dick's face loorn- 
ing over the lady's shoulder as he reared up in a frantic 
endeavor to pass her in the narrow passage instantly 
appeased the hobo's appetite. "I don't want nuthin'— 
only for God's sake don't let him at me," he yelled, as 
he fled in terror — never to return. 
Many characteristics had he that were very human- 
like. Once we were out walking with him when he 
espied upon the other side of a low picket fence, which 
fronted the street, a fine Newfoundland dog, of a size 
about equal to his OAvn, What incivilities occasioned it 
I do not know; but presently they were rushing up and 
down the length of the fence— one on one side and the 
other on the other — most vociferously abusing each 
other, and hurHng all manner of defiances back and 
forth through the pickets. Of course it is not given to 
me to accurately translate their conversation; but in sub- 
stance Dick was saying, "You big, black lump, if you 
were only out here in the street I would not leave one 
bone of your miserable frame attached to another. You 
braggart, you coward, you— you paltroon, if it were not 
for this fence behind which you sneak, how I would do 
you up." The other dog, as he dashed back and forth, 
kept responding in the same strain, and _ with equal 
emphasis. My translation gives but a weak idea of their 
horrible language toward each other. Nevertheless it 
did seem to me that if they were in earnest it was a very 
easy thing for either of them to have leaped over the 
little fence that separated them, or there was a hole m the 
barrier between them big enough for both to have passed 
through at once had they seen fit to do so. I really 
feared that one or the other would take the opportunity, 
and said so to Tom. He smiled at my fears, seized Dick 
by the collar and brought him to the hole in the fence. 
The Newfoundland came up voluntarily on the other 
side—their fierce animosity seemed to have vanished; 
and as they wagged their tails, and licked each other s 
noses, they seemed to me to be saying, each to the other : 
"Why. you are a very nice gentlemanly dog after all. 
I am "glad to see you, sir." How often since have 
political orators reminded me of these dogs. 
One flaw in our hero's character was his weakness 
for an unworthy friend, a dog that by reason of his 
mendacious depravity we called Jacob. Had our dog s 
name been Othello, Jacob would have been dubbed 
lago. . . 
He was about half Dick's size, a mongrel with a 
depraved cast of countenance that did not belie his char- 
acter. He seemed to delight in leading his noble asso- 
ciate aside from the paths of virtue, and then from a safe 
distance he would contemplate with ill-concealed glee 
