Page 1 Advertisements Column 4

Grey River Argus, 17 March 1910, Page 1

LIFE ON A PEARLING ...' LUGGES. ■ :- — ' ' ».. ... ■' - ■' .' Broome is the centre of the pearling industry in West Australia, and ! between 200 aJid 300 boats are licensed ' &)imally. These boats are on an av-' [ erage about 10 tons, and have a smsdl • cabin aft,-- quarters, for the crew for-! ward, and in the centre the pump byniea 11s of which air is supplied to the diver when at work below. On 'each lugger there are six men — coloured, with very f ew . exceptions— consisting ol diver, tender, and four crew. The I diver' is the important man/ He—gets "tiie . shell from which you are hoping to obtain a pearl. He does no other work beyond diving, except sometimes to sail the boat. The tender is his special body servant, holding the lifeline when he is at work, and seeing his clothes" are ready for him, etc. The crew turn the pump, two at a- time, turn and turu about, hoist and lower Vs'ails, etc., cook the -nieals week and week about. • ; •. Shell is found almost anywhere along the coast from Onslow. gituatec] in the 1101 th-west corner. :of the continent, 1 northwards. The boats "work" different parts of the^ coast according to the season of the year. The season last from February! to .^December. Early- in the season all" "the -bo^ts go north from Broome, and gradually work scut'?.,.. until about the middle of April they are off the Ninety Mile Beach. Here they can .stay during the southeast season, but when that finishes off north again is the order. ' If a man owns only one or two boats he manages them himself'} living on cine anc] going on board the other each day to open the shell. In the cases of l?»rge fleets belonging \o one man or a company — : {\nd. there are ca-,98 ot twelve or twgnty b.oats wprMng iivtl?§ sfime. iiitprest — fhe.y are managef} from Schooner, whioh sends round an oil l&"aaoh or whaleboat each day to colileaj> all the shell from each lugger,, and brin^- it on to the schooner, where it is O23ened. cleaned, weighed and packed. We will suppose we are on board a lugger, as owner, or. his representative, commonly "called she.U' opener, &nd leaving Br.ppme for fishing, grounds. Backgct away in ajl sorts of marvelr lous holes, and (tupboarcis you have two months' supply of "tucker," the hulk, of which is rice and flour. You- sail for the spot your diver intends to try and having arrived by the evening, you anchor for the night, all ready for a start at daylight. The crew areall up before daylight, and with the first peap of dawn morning coifee is being" consumed. The c^iver is meanW.hile being assisted into his dress by the tentjer.j and the anchor' is hau!§d up, and a tlrift anchor p,iit dow ; n\. This .'. is necessary, owing to the strong tides ■which prevail aloi.ig the coast. The diver always .goe? along with the title, aiiJi consccjiiently the boat must go as well. When all his dress is fasteneci-^---riot hooks and eyes, gentle reader, but 'screws and nuts — the boots are I'pjuti. :on. These boots are a fearful weight, to assist the tliver to sink, : aud on dry land it is a difficult mariter to move about in them, except to the expert. At ( the Itnnaal sports ! meeting in Broome. tliey have a clivers' bbdt-r&c^, aticV only those wlip "have tried to hurry over 35 ya^s. hay.p any (dea what a t-ask.i^ is. The pump is turned to see tluj-j; it is in prpp;ev- wt>rk ing order-, and the cliyer 'then walks to the side of the boat and on to a sho^r ladder leading into the water. He goes clown two or three steps, and resting on the foot rail of the lugger has the weights placed on his back. The helmet is then-fastonetj c>;i, pumji, -ing starred, briskly,' t^ie'"face glass; screwed m frimt of thp helpxttt, a string bag ha.n^ert to the diver, and then grasping a leatl line to guide him down he ..sinks- until. ,]i © reaches the' bottom. The life line which the tender holds, is fastened round the divers' waist, and it is by means of this line the direr can signal to those 011 board. .On reaching 'the bottom he .' sl(a;ke.B tHo rope for a f.^ seepiids, the' tender thus knowing thai- he is safely down.-. The pumping is then slackened off to a steadier turn, tha lead line Ijaul^l yip out of the^ W*% au A ym wait and wonder AvJia.t he will .bring up. If the diver comes along V patch' of slu^ha c&n so ord^r the h.qat to be steered from the bottom of the sea that hfi will work in a gjg-zag fashion right over the patch. Having filled his bag or satisfied himself that hs is not in a good place, the diver gives one pull at the line, which means "Come \m.){ V Tfee_^tender announces {he fact' to thosci Qi>4«ga^, '4ncl starts to puij iii Uie life line.>4^ of the ecew hauls in and cioils up "the*TSiu^j>ipe, and the; other assists the tender. jtOn reaching' the.'y|rface the diver cdjnes str.-iight out of the water as if he*yvas sending on dry land/ and "then tails on his side. He will be P.f*J'hwis\3]J> of 40 ynrclg fronj tjie Doat c^nc] I .is>&va.gged ' i^ffllg tije top ot the wafgr he roaehep the aide pf the b»"at. \s he passes rhe ladder he places one\ioot against tJ-e side of it, and obtaVung a good purchase there, is hauled"-up-vight. relieved of Jus' bag, anr] $he face glass is remove^ vry gently^lf JlO is fcatisfjecl with the place he Ani vest on the ladder for a ie^v minutfe, and go down again ; but it not he wN come on' 'deck,. and hoist ■ anchor, ail will sdl away for a fresh place. ; So he goes on hour after hour, witl intervals for meals and an occasiona cigarette. If h.e is a good du<u, and ii on good shell, you may fim] that you have got to open between 011 a ■ and two hundredweight of shell. If lucky, tlu^o may only be half a dozen pair. Still, all must be opened. It is impossible to say which contain anything by looking at the outride. 1 have seen nearly a ton or shell opened at one sitting, nul "twenty shillings would-buy all the "pearls" found. And as a contrast, a man whose diver was ill,- and only went down once, bringing up two pair of shell, found a stone in one of "them which sold for over £1000. ' You are s. I ways hoping you will find Midi a stone, and if you turn in some '1'"?° ? fc "'Sht a bit disgusted with your l UrJfcg|jii!C'n"ir> on rlpck" nexf. 1110 m ing f ujbi>JJXp^tißg-»to*^s^L^i . .. 1 clay. The shell itself is very vaju'alrle",* and "6]Js in London for about £130 a ton at the present time. It w-ies in price, like most things, but that is about the average. ' Qn Saturday, about midday," work stops for the week. Generally bingic boats sail away to where the big fleet