| Show The Tourmaline A National Gem The tourmalln tho 1I0wer 01 tho mlnual klllgdom hn become tho tad II I 1 dstlncUe Amerlcnn gen an cone lIenllY aslle 110m It valu and eauty arouses the patriotic spirit and appeal to the love of country aentl lent And fashion has declared In In ator Of all tho precloua stones it opsesseB the one mjsterlous quality of hn11I1 two or more colorn In the atno crsllli and tor thl one renon It wen eserves Its growing popularity It has he peculiar property of polaiizlnj IIgft Despite tho recent discoveries of fitth eposlts at Mount Mien Me which yield large numbers the greatest ttorei yet known of exqulslto specimens It a still I comparatively rare und that r blt trill enhance Its value both commercial Iy nd 118 a oclal and tllhlonablo la orlte This Mount Mica Is I near the town of arls In the rock ribbed slate of sheep lumbcr and fish There on tho brow ota ot-a little hill one of the spurs of the streaked mountain In ono of tho matt remnrhnhl mineraI deolt on tho globe Irolll an ara 0 tt Iqua thro hn been obtalne1 nnrly 40 e rl < tl ot minerlll om ot thom ot ex reme beauty and rarity This spot wai discovered as long ago aB 1820 by Uo tudcnts Elijah L Hamlln and Kzeklcl rcncs while hunting for geological peclmens Subsequent mining by blast llscovercd many cavities which wrro Iteral treasure boxes being lined with lenutlful rrjstuls of rainbow hues Incidentally It may be stated that here la I a strong Inference that th nngnincent ruby In the Itusslan croon Is In nil probabllllY a tourmnllne aM to likewise may be the monster red gem which liang as a pendant to the jatt lecklnce formerly belonging to lho Chine elllpror which I now th Property of the Trench government mvlng been captured at the toklne o eking In 1860 A magnificent group of > lnk tourmalines was given by the klnll if Ilurma to Colonel Hjken while tb < laUer was commlloner ut hi courl Tourmalln are 010 tound In SI lerla In the Ural mountains In Ct Ion nllo1 In IImzll but non to comp with the American crystals which tim becn mined In Canada Maachuell Connecticut New IIarnp hlre ant illghtly In some of the northeast four lea of New York and In California block crystals 0 to 8 Inches In dlametir ocur In tldpnr velna In Ibe moun loins between San Diego and the Colorado Colo-rado desert Some of the crystals are red at one end ind green at the op polt whllo othera hae a green ez terlor and a red ore Blue and purple rletles are occasionally found Mia eraloglt are unable to account tor this eccentricity of hues and phjslcliti oro e unlly puzzled bj the trance elee trlcal properties of the tourmaline It I Is a natural magnet with a potltlvi and negative pole of attraction and repulsion re-pulsion The United States aside < from dla mond eems to b prominent III gem production The bulk nf the world l jupply of flno turquoises Is I now obtained obtain-ed from New Mexico whero great numbers num-bers of large stones equal In quallt to the best of Persian origin are mined annually an-nually They even hold their color bet ter The IInst garnet In tho world a lisa found here In the vicinity of Moi cow Ida the volcanic rocks are found honeycombeli with cavities which in mnny Instances contain procloui opali Th gem material Is I supposed to havt been deposited by water when the rock were hot In Oregon some very beautiful beau-tiful ones are found In a bed of volcanic IIshe s Large masses of cinders belnl brokn open reveal them and one in 20 I a nre or a noble opal The garnets of New Mexico occur In loose gravel which Is I disintegrate rock brought from a distance by tl now ot tram On the NIao rer all on the Indians collect them from int hills and scorpion holes the Insecti md arachnids having brought them to the surface In digging The only possible rival of the tear mullne for the distinction of being called call-ed the national gm ot Amrlca I tha precious mono hlddenlte This beautiful beauti-ful species of crystal which sells for from 40 to 1100 a carat Is I obtained In Alexandria county N C the only place In the world where It Is I found Its Ola overy was accldntal aom pcclmena being dlocloed when mining tor emer 01018 II color I a lutrou trnpar nl creen and according to mteralo clal II Is a variety spodument |
