Arkansas weekly mansion., 1884-01-19

lars. as the case may be. nN,as man,
coiors. Green is most valued. THOUGH
others prefer black. that matches we'll
with colored meerschaum. The real
amber yellow, however, brings the best
price; the cloudy is pretty, but not so
valuable.
IMITATION AMBER.
"Curiously enough" continued the
speaker, there is more money in the
Imitation of amber than there is in the
Real article. Various compounds are
used. glass paste being the princ.pal
Another mixture is OF turpentinc and
caoutchoue. while linseed oil. cum
mast,c and lithargc is also used. To
the latter powdered copal is added,
which gives the aprea~a ~ance of veins.
III you aid to this preci us compound
ants OF dccalcomanIa You will have the
material out OF which about all the cheap
am1er goods are made. The same thing
was on exhibition at the Centennial and
many We're deceived bv the excellence
OF the work. However. there is a very
simple method of determining the rood
from the bad. which is to burn Il picce
ii 1t burns with some noise and does not
drop or run, ii is all right; but if Il
lneIs away and drops, YOU may be sure
1t Is some of the concOct :ons mcnt oned.
'ciluiold also makes Il good imitation
OF til" real thing SieakinH of frauds
reminds me of a curious one that seems
| to be a regular business. | happened
| to he up TO it, however. and was not
caught. stopped at 4 railroad station
some time ago. when a Young English
man of a pronounced type stepped up
and tod me a long and affecting warn
about having oh offered him in Bait
! I,-.
! loan cf Sl.Jn, Offering as security. a
! handsomely colorcd mcerschaum p'pe.
/ with tinn amber mouthp:ccc. He said
| cou,d see it was worth Thirty dollars.
/ but | saw the amber was bogus at q
glance. However. taking the pipe.
said: ..llI RIGHT; I'll try IL He RI >cd
all sorts of objections, but waike:! into
| ;hr bar. filled mp the pipe and when
i turned about he WAS gone. The tir>1
! application of heat turned il aS white a.
/ paper, and the culOring was some kind
| aS Il Keepsake. Probably some one
! buys such = one every day in the year.
Yes. real amber ranges from black
to white. In ton>tantinop!c a pipe
stem of real milk-whitc is valued ut fifty
dIlarS or more. An equally valued REQ
hue iS prolriccd by treating the yellow
Kind to the Il ton If suiphuric acid.
Green amber comes principally from
| america. but the black variety i a kind
of Il puzzle and. chem. ally. entirely
| different from the others; in fact. il l.
| not true amber i'll the strict sense of tho
word ut a variety of jet or hi-hly o<y
/ died litumcn. and. chemically. it lies
| Ictwccn canncI coal and to:banite.
| Amber is worked i'll this country and tn
certain temperatures is flexible. Work
men now hold it over lamI and actu-
ally draw it out by hand into required
len. tbs and shapes. aad in this way Il
.iIc-stcni nearly two feet in length has
been drawn from piece of amber tiXI
inches in 81 e. In working ii for Jew
clry it IS first cut into tn" general sha {
required with knives and i then turned
with lathe and polished by various
methods Amber dust is used as y
| warn >h. and vast quantities are sent tc
! hina. where II burn i is considered
| the high"t mark OF respect that can b.
paid :, distinguished guest - Ih|irteL
y,I;n IJ.yyT>