When the Arkansas fishery was at its height, it was reported that ten thousand persons were employed therein. The fishermen were from nearly every class and condition in the State. Women were not absent; even children participated in the industry, and some proved more fortunate than the older hunters. It was not uncommon to see several hundred persons congregated at one bar or in one stretch of the river, all intent on making a fortune, and all occupied in fishing or in opening the shells. So complete was the absorption of the people in this pursuit, and so many of the farm-hands were occupied in the eager search for anticipated fortunes, that the local papers reported much apprehension and difficulty in harvesting the cotton and other crops. Within the main channel of the Mississippi, the relative scarcity of pearls in the Unios, and the greater preparation required for collecting the mollusks in the deep waters, retarded the fishery until the establishment of button manufacture afforded a market for the shells, this originating in 1891. The industry developed rapidly, and for several years has consumed about 35,000 tons of shells annually, obtained principally in the Mississippi between Quincy and La Crosse, and to a much less extent in other streams in this valley. This is more than twice the total product of mother-of-pearl shell in all parts of the world. However, the value per ton is very much less than that of the best grade of mother-of-pearl; that from Australia, for instance, commonly selling for $1200 per ton, whereas the Mississippi shell usually sells for less than $20, although the very choicest may bring upward of $50 per ton. The gathering of shells for manufacture has extended to many of the large tributaries of the Mississippi, especially the Arkansas, the White, the St. Francis, the Ohio and the Illinois rivers, and this industry has added largely to the pearl yield in these waters.