Signal-Copiahan. (Hazlehurst, Copiah County, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1886-06-10
another. Of abou. the Same

Pouhust ouotnor, Oh ABOUT tHc buuo
size. shape and cut. was valued at only
eighty pounds. Turquoiscs of the sizo
OF pea arc sometimes sold for eight
pounds. The color most priced Is the
deep blue Of the sky. A small spcck OF
n lighter color. which only connoisseurs
can distinguish, or an almost unappre.
ciablc tinge Of green. decreases the
value considerably. Then there Is that
undcfinable property Of a good tor.
quoisc. tho cat. something like the
water OF a diamond or tho lustcr O,
a pearl; iino colorcd Turquoise with
out the Eat Is not worth much" He
subsequently adds: "Thc abovc-mcn-
toned three hundred pounds Mcshed
Turquoise was bought from the finder by
one Of the Rish-i-Saiids (cldcrs of the
village) for three pounds; the latter
sold 1t still uncut at Mcshcd for thirty.
eight pounds. As soon rs il was cut, its
true value became apparent, and 1t was
sent to Paris, where it was valued ut six
hundred pounds The second pur.
chaser, however. received only three
hundred and forty pounds for it; the
difference was gained by tho agents. "
Among the fine torquoscsin the posses
sion of tho Shah, there is one valued at
two thousand pounds.
The best stones of the second class
arc worth about ninety pounds per
pound; whilst the most inferior will
scarcely bring n twentieth part of this
price. The latter are chiefly used in
Persia for the decoration of swords,
horsc-trappings, pipc-heads and the
common kinds of jewclry. Small cut
turquoiscs of u slightly better quality
than these sell at the rate of from two
to three shillings per thousand. In the
third class are included stones unsalc-
able in Persia. as well rs large Hat
stones, some of which are esteemed for
amulcts. brooches. buckles and tho
like. The prices given there will be
more than doubled when the turquoises
are sold in Europe.
The turquoise being an opaque stone,
il would be useless TO cut facets upon it,
rs these would not reflect light in the
same way as when fashioned upon a
transparent gem like - diamond or a
sapphire. There are three ways OF
cutting the turquoise, all much in the
same stylc-thc Hat or slightly convex
form. the truncatcd cone, and the tall
low drop or en- cdJOchOn. The higher
the conical and convex surfaces in the
two latter, the more the turquoiscs are
priced. None but fine decp-colorcd
stone can be advantagcously cut into u
conical shape. since one of pale color
would appear almost white at the apex.
Turquoiscs are cut by the hand on
wheels made of composition of emery
and gum. They are afterwards pol.
ishcd by being rubbed on n iinc-graincd
sandstone. and then on n piece OF soft
leather with turquoise dust.
OF the few mines which yield good
turquoiscs, one or two are dangerous,
on account of the loose rubbish they
contain. The one from which the best
of all are obtained Yields very few.
Some mines contain stones which look
well ut first but soon change thcir
color and fade. Mr.. SCHNEIDER gives
an instance of q recently found tur.
quosc. rs large rs u walnut and of fine
color, being presented to his Majesty
the Shah. which he had for only two
days. when it became green and
whtish, and therefore of no value
Throughout Europe there has been Il
great fall in the price of this gem with
in the last few years, and itwould seem
that this is owing to the fact that large
quantities OF stones which appeared to be
of fine quality, but were really offugi,ivt
color, had been disposed Of not long
ago at good prices. Up to the time
that they were sold, their color had
been preserved by keeping them damp;
but when taken out of their moist pack
ing, they slowly became white. 1t need
hardly be said that the color of most
precious stones Is very permanent.
There is, however, II variety of opal
occurring in Mexico W hich is very beau.
tiful when first found, but after brief
time it entirely loses Us bright play OF
colors. Both the turquoise and the
opal are peculiar In conIaininga consid-
cradle amount of water in their com.
position.
The color of fine turquoise has not
escaped the notice of cnamcllcrs and
pottcrs. For centuries, IN imitation OF
its characteristic and loScly blue has
been applied among Other colors to the
exquiSitcly decorated pottery of Persia.
On the most expensive md perhaps
also the most beautiful cf all porce.
lain. the Sevrcs ware of SOFT body made
in the latter half Of last century, the
turquoise blue is often conspicuous
color. Towards the end Of The century,
when the directors Of the far-famed
fabrique changed the character of the
china to that of hard paste or body,
its decoration with turquoise color
was no longer possible. But modern
English porcelain, like the oil Scvrcs,
is of soft paste; and one of the feats on
which our great Staffordshire potters
pride themselves is the successful pro-
duction upon it, in recent years, of a
soft and clear turquoise blue. Clam
ber's Journal
A new origin for the term "paint-