St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1889-03-09
r. FACTS ..AeouTs AMBER.


90 FACTS .A6OOTs AMBER.
aas~ tA., e.sssasee 4 ossa.esa ~ the
,. Fishersaea Of tn Baltic.
In the window Of one Of the largest
tobacco stores in Brooklyn there ID
displayed a resnarlsably-finc collection
Of amber. Some of it. - translucent
as honey. fairly glows with color. ~
though it had caught the sunshine OF
thousand summers. This has been
polished. and differs ~ greatly from
the rough. dirty-loOking Jumps beside
it as does cut from an uncut diamond.
and yet the latter is just as full Of
color. only it is imprisoned.
Where is amber obtainedf" asked
q reporter. who had been attracted by
the display. Of the proprietor Of the
store. "a
1.-The bulk Of the amber supply of
the world" was the reply. ''comes now
from the region known IS. 6amland.
on the east Prussian coast of the Baltic.
/ happen to know something about it,
because I came from that part of the
world myself. although not from that
precise vicinity. From the sBrusterot
lighthouse on the Baltic coast one can
see with the naked eye the entire
stretch of shore on which this precious
petrifactiOn is and has been found for
the past three thousand years. The
stratum Of blue earth ON which the de.
tached fragments of amber are found
lies from twenty to thirty feet below
the surface Of the beach. To some
extent the amber may be and il OBJ
tained by mining. but frcqu(ptly the
vein is exposed by the action Of the
water. 90 that fishing for amber is
much easier than digging. and most Of
It Is obtained In that way.
amber fishermen are a vigorous
and hardy people. and they need 70 be
70 eafry on their businesss. They
work in stormy weather. when. the
huge waves have detached masses OF
amber from the ocean bed and are roll
ing 1t. mixed up with bunches Of sea-
weed. in the surf. The fishermen. half
naked, wade into the sea. shoulder deep.
armed with long hook forks and hand
nets. The women stand along the
shore as near as- they can to the
waves. The men poke up the masses
Of seaweed with their forks and
drag them in toward the shore
as far as possible. With their
nets they endeav0r to secure the
pieces of amber that may be floating
in the water. As fast as the sea-
weed is got TO the shore the women
take it and pick out the bits OF amber
that may be clinging to it and place
them in bags ready for the dealer.
Some dealers stay on the beach while
the fishing is going on. thus hoping to
secure particularly fine specimens.
ut must be pretty interesting
sight"
Not only interesting but exciting.
The whole scene is Wild in the ex-
IRENE. The numbering roar of the
SURF. the shouts Of the men and the
'hrill screams Of the women mingle
weirdly with the soughing of the wind.
The m0st profitable part OF tho harvest.
however. is gathered /. Aftsrs the
storm is over. The amber which
,an be gathered while It is in
Drorgess 10 mostly in smalls pieces,
,ut large masses Of it to heavy 70 b.
moved within reach Of, the. dshermen
by the waves. have been uncovered.
Nheithe sea II smooth enough for the
bottom to be seen through from Ave TO
fifteen feet Of water the fishermen row
tut and look for these blocks. recover
ng them with their hooks and nets.
more systematic way of obtaining
he amber u to get it from the reefs
which lie some three-quarters of . mile |
III shore. Here. when the different
have met, it is heaped up with
quantities OF seaweed and
For fully ten months In the |
ear = little feet of black boats is
'nchOred oyer these reefs. the largest |
md most valuable Of which IL
90 feet long and 400 feet wide
Zach boat has q diver who IL sent down
o poke over the seawecd. discover tho |
'lOcks of amber and raise it to the sur
ace. Each diver remains under water |
or five hours at q stretch and the la
'or il said to be very trying. Some
lines such large blocks are found that
takes the united strength Of two, or
ven three men to bring them to the
urface. Masses Of such size bring |
rom SIS to $50 apiece. the price for
amber being but about tA5O
pound. During the fishing season
he water is fey cold and the work is
'rosccuted under great hardships." l
''Whxt is amber used for noetly
ow?" .t-
For mouth-pieces for pipes. Some
ears ago. you know. jewelry was
ute extensively made Of It. but, With
he exception Of childrsn's. beads, il
> not used for that purpose 70 any
xtent now. The greatest rival amber
as nowadays Is cellulOid, out OF which
n excellent imitation can be made."-
'rsoklyn Eao1e., $50 as, .t-s@ /
Not Necessary tor . Boom.
II observe" remarked prospective
nvestor IN New Jersey real estate.
that your town has 10 aiAewalks, mo-
aved roads. no gas. no watsr. no
no fire department and
70 system OF drainage.
No." replied the real-estate' agent.
Enthusiastically; I've amt got 70 time
or no money for them things. This