The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-01-19

- $780,
lars, as the case may be. 1t has many
colors. GREEN'S most valued, though
others prefer black, that matches well
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 principal.
Another mixture is OF turpentine and
eaoutchoue, while linseed oil, gum
mastic and litharge is also used. To
the latter powdered copal is added,
which gives the appearance of veins.
Ii you add TO this precious compound
ants of decalcomanIa you viii have the
material out of which about all the cheap
amber goods are made. The same thing
was on exhibition at the Centennial and
many were deceived by the excellence
of the work. However, there is a very
simple method of determining the good
from the bad. which is to burn a piece
If it burns with some noise and does not
drop or run, it is all right; but if it
melts away and drops, you may DO sure
1t is some OF the concoct Ons ment oned
Celluloid also makes II good imitation
OF the real thing. Speaking of frauds
reminds me of curious one that seems
to be regular business, ] happened
to be up 10 it, however, and was not
caught stopped at railroad station
some time ago, when a Young English
man OF pronounced type stepped up
and told me a long and affecting yarn
about having a job offered him in Balti-
more, ending up by asking me for the
loan of Sl.50, offering as security a
handsomely colored meerschaum pipe.
with fine amber mouthplece. He said
could see it was worth thirty dollars,
but saw the amber was bogus at a
glance. However, taking the pipe. l
said: All right; I'll try it, He raised
all sorts of objections, but walked into
I the bar, filed up the pipe and when l
turned about he was gone The first
application Of heat turned it as W lite as
paper, and the coloring was some kind
Of oil. | gave the pipe to the bar-keeper
as keepsake. Probably some one
buys such q one every day in the year
Yes, real amber ranges from black
to white. In Constantinople a pipe
stem of real milk-white is valued at fifty
dollars or more. An equally valued red
hue is produced by treating the yellow
kind to the action of sulphuric acid.
Green amber comes principally from
America, but the black variety is kind
OF puzzle and, cnemic ally, entirely
different from the others; in fact, it is
| not true amber in the strict sense OF the
word, but variety of jet or highly oxy-
died bitumen, and, chemically, it lies
between camel coal and torbanite.
Amber is worked in this country and in
certain temperatures is flexible Work
men now hold it over lamps and actu-
ally draw it out by hand into required
lengths and shapes, and in this way q
pipe-stem nearl y two feet in length has
been drawn from Il piece of amber 6x4
inches in size. In working it for Jew
elry it is first cut into the general shape
required with knives and IS then turned
with a lathe and polished by various
| methods. Amber dust is used as Il
varnish, and vast quantities are sent to
China, where to burn it is considered
the highest mark of respect that can be
paid distinguished guest. - Philadei-
phta Times