Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1883-10-26
DIAMOND FIELDS.
curious Domestic Minerals-A Diamond
Embedded i'm Emerald, and n Flexible
stone.

A curious mineral recently fount
In North Carolina has been described
III the newspapers as a diamond
embedded in emerald. 1t is now il
possession of MIR. j. D. Yerrington oI
New York, who said with regard tc
it: 1T is crystal of emerald. an inch
by an inch and a half face. What
has been called diamond is merely
IA piece of quartz crystal, which is
embedded firmly in the emerald
The crystal is about two thirds the
size of the emerald, and appears to
have been driven into it. Neither
stone is very pure, and they are only
valuable as neurological specimens.
This sort of crystal Is commonly
called diamond in North Carolina,
but as yet no real diamonds have
been found there, although various
kinds of precious stones have from
time to time been discovered. Many
of these, chiefly emeralds OF rare
color called Hiddenite, in honor Of
MIR. Hidden, the discoverer, are found
IN small mine at stony Point, which
was opened about two years ago, and
has been worked, more or less, since
that time. The emeralds are found
IN pencils Of various Sizes Some are
of a dark green color, but most of
them are pale green. Some of the
pencils are very large, the largest
being eight and three quarter inches
long.
'.ln the saline vicinity have been
found garnets, rutiles, aqua marine,
topaz, and other precious stones.
There Is some reason to suppose
that the Dewey diamond, the largest
diamond eve found in the United
States, which was cut by the Morse
Diamond Cutting Company in 1882,
came from North Carolina, although
it was found by an Irish laborer in
Manchester, Va. WheE found it was
embedded in a curious stone known
as ita columite, large quantities of
which, in lodges, are found in North
Carolina. 1t appears that load Of
this stone had been taken to Man
chester for assaying, and it is con-
jectured that this piece in which the
diamond was embedded had dropped
from the cart on the way 1t weighed
twenty-three and three quarters
carats, and when cut IL 11-16 carats.
The cutting cost $1,000, and the
stone itself may be roughly estimated
as worth $4,000
"A curious peculiarly of this ita
columite is that it is flexible stone.
l have chunk of it that will bend
both ways. The stone is a coarse
sandstone, and may be used for
building purposes.
MIR. Derby, native of New York,
and graduate of Cornell University,
who is employed by Dom Pedro as
geologist of Brazil, visited the mineral
district of North Carolina. and said
that if he had been taken to the place
blindfolded, and then, on the bandage
being removed, had been asked where
he was, he should have said unhesitat-
ingly that be was in the diamond
district of Brazil. He did not, how
ever, find any. diamonds in North
Carolina.
The following lines on Hiddenite.
which is sometimes called the Amer.
lean emerald, were written by the
Rev. W. H. Rogers, rector of Heaton
Chapel, Manchester, England:
I" Hidden for years from all human sight.
At last by hidden means conveyed to light,
Thou now the pride of kings to shine art
bidden:
'li' the discoverer himself that s Hidden"