| Show WE ARE RICH IN GEMS The United States Can Supply Every Kind But One The Inlted Stales havo necr taken their proper place among Ito gem producing countries principally I I I It would apperr because of the superior gains ofYVrod In I tho metal mines I nn lieni und skillful orklng of the gem mines however would appear to promise as well as ninny of the metal industries I There are In I M on In mi sapphires of beauty md value True they are light in color but the have more brilliancy than Ihc Asian rap phlron anl l often exhibit dlchroism or double color under different lights The supposition that a sapphire should be dark blue Is possibly responsible for the slowness of their acceptance In Ihc market but us a matter of fact sapphires I are not of necessity blue they me grien yellow purp1 while and when they are red we call them rubles for The ruby and sapphire are identIcally iite same save for a fraction frac-tion of i per eent of lorlns matter 10very gem known to I the lapidary has been lound within our borders cx cepi thai forum of chrysoberyl known as alexandrite 1 a stone most commonly found In the Unils and showing green by day nail red by l artificial light We have also found hut few of the varicolored vari-colored garnets of whleh Russia fur nlshrs such remarkable and beautiful examples and none ihal have their billllaney ihough the red garnets of Arizona and contiguous territory are unsurpassed In richness We have several gems moreover that are almost al-most peculiar to this I country and that should be used more extensively because be-cause of their Intrinsic beauty Such arc the golden beryls of Connecticut lint arc of a brilliant yellow full of light and sparkle and Ito curious cit lorttsrci I tes and thomsonlics I of lake Superior thai are useful as green or nuiltlcd grounds In the making of designs I Among the lesser known but Interesting Inter-esting and often beautiful minerals that are found In I Ibis country und that lend themselves to purposes of ornament orna-ment are the gunssgreeui hilddcnite the superior of emerald In vivacity time duller green dlopsdvlc the ulnhlle which is a rival of turquoise If It can be made lo keep Us I eolor and tex U iC lie zircon of red and brown and especially espe-cially the tourmaline which presents a wide lunge of color from Jet black to almost water white and including pink brown blue and almost eery shade of green These lourmalines are more appreciated abroad tItan they are at home and whereas we buy sapphires sap-phires and rubles from Burmah and diamonds from A mica und topazes from Japan and Brazil and turquoises from Persia we remain seemingly Indifferent In-different to the gems thai come from Maine and Connecticut Collectors have known them for years however and have prized them at their value any of the crystals show two and even three colors being red al one end and green at Ihe other or green without and deep pink within Of these tourmalines tour-malines 2000 worth were mined last year at Mount Mica Me Turquoise has been known to I the Indians In-dians of the southwest for centuries and there is good reason lo believe that 11 was mined by the Aztecs Brooklyn capital has been Invested In one of the New Mexico mines and It Is said thai a superior quality hart been produced There Is probably no ornamental stone that Is so extensively Imitated Hundreds of people arc wearing what they suppose to be turquoise tur-quoise but Is In reality glass or enamel or a composition thai closely copies its color and apparent texture and does not fade as the stone Itself Is apt to do There has been an addlllon lo time seinlprcclous stones or a new variety of garnet known as rhodolite of a pale rose red but not many specimens speci-mens have been brought lo the cities and II has not appeared to any extent In Jewelry Jn would seem lo bo worth our while lo work our gem dejwslts more thoroughly for according to the report for 1S9S by Mr George F Kunz the expert there continues to be a profitable activity In the making of jewelry This country has imported as much as 11600000 worth of gems and gem material In a single year while the home production has alwajs been relatively slight albeit there Is again a-gain In 1SOS for Instance the production produc-tion of precious stones In the United Slates represented about SlfilOOO as against 120000 In the year before and SOS 000 In the year before that The Indications arc that we have mineral veins and deposits that will when adequately worked offer rewards far In excess of these figures Brooklyn Eagle |
