Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-09-30

wouldn't be English, ron know. n thc
olooded Americans didn't have a lnt "a
opals, too, and although President Cleve.
land didn't have any town ieweler y m
set the opal arollina, there were lots ~
Jewellers who did. There wasn't yerv
Dig stock Of opals "a these parts 81
orders were sent 10 Hungary, The great
opal market, TO rush on here the hestthev
mad. Then opals went up, To-day thev
are 100 per cent higher than they were !
year ago. Good ones sell for s55 a carat,
ana Increase Ia price Ia almost tho same
ratio as diamonds. OF course, small and
Inferior stones can DO bought as low as
10 carat, but they are not bit pretty.
Inc Dig Jewelry houst are wor king them
into all sorts OF iewelry, and are very sad
because they cannot gel as many as they
want.
The jewelers. and precious stone dealers
OF the eighteenth century, who had In.
vested largely in opals, were nearly
thrown into bankruptcy by Sir Walter
Scott, who, In one OF his Waverly novels,
pretty nearly ruined the opal's reputation
forever, and II Is said that many Jewellers
OF the present day cherish resentment
against that CREST novelist on account OF
the Injury that he did 70 their foreiathers,
and VIII not allow any OF his works on
their library shelves. The ancients had
called the opal the "love stone,r and no
FLOODED Young Roman or Greek would
have even family considered engaging
himself In marriage Il he hadn't an opal
ring for the girl. And any ancient who
nAd very choice opal Mt once became
proad, and looked down on the other
ancients who weren't so fortunate.
Indeed there are strange stories told OF
these men of old and their opals, IL IL
! chronicled In the encyclopaedia, which
took the facts straight fron the old rec
ords, that q Roman senator named
Nonius had an opal that made all the
other opals in those parts pale. one day
Marc Anthony happened to see It and he
wanted It for himself. He intlmated TO
the senator that II would not be tad
scheme 10 make him q present OF H. But
the senator didn't see II in that light.
Then Anthony said he would have TO give
him that opal or be banished. Nonius re-
Piled that he would be banished then, and
left the country with his opal, all his
other goods having been connscated. The
ancient Pliny, who saw this opal, says
that 1t was worth Roman money equlyal-
ent to 100000
| When Sir Walter Scott wrote that
hovel--it was "Anne of Geierstein''--
and told about the Baron Won Arnheln,
who had an opal that occasionally got
angry and flashed red fire, the opal mar
ket dropped at once. That opal worked
too much mischief not 10 ruin the repu-
tation Of Its family. Its frst little &C.
centricities were not so much, but Its
wind-up was very bad. The baron had
welded beautiful Persian maiden, and
for year or two, while that opal was
behaving itself, affairs went smoothly
enough.
Then the baron and his wife, along with
their relatives and friends, went to church
TO have their baby chrlstened. It was ali
right until drop OF holy water fell or
that opal. There was sizzle, and a LOT
of red Are darted out OF the opal, which al
once became as dull and lusterless as .
piece Of dinner plate, and 1t wasn't long
after this that the baron and the baroness
died.
After reading that story nobody cared
much for opals, and 1t would have beer
hard TO find girl who would have con
sented 10 have one In her engagement
ring. Apparently Queen Victoria doesn'
believe the story, OF superstition Isn't az
stronK as ~ was. Az any rate the latehl
engagement rings will contain opals,
|, One thing has leaked out since opal
! have egain become fashionable, and tina
Is, the dealers In Hungary have been play
ing IL low on the other dealers The Des
opals were said to come from Hungary
and everybody sent there for them. Nov
the truth Is that the best opal mines ar
, IN South America-just where, nobody i
| Willing IN te1l--anh tho HunUarfan mar
chants have been having them shipped Il
Hungary, where they are sold as a hom
product. One bright ieweler OF this cit
down to South America, who bought u
$500 very fine opals, and bargained 10
} several Thousand more. The other Jew
r elers have tried hard to get him TO tel