Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-09-26
RUBIES AND THEIR VALUE.
Magnificent Precious Stones Whose
Worth Is Much More Than
That of Diamonds.
One of These, Which Is Owned In
Russia, Is as Large as Pigeons
Egg.

To the question, (Which is the most
valuable precious stone?" probably nine
people out of every ten. at least. would.
without the slightest hesitation, reply.
The diamond. But the value of a good
sized diamond can not approach that of a
ruby OF the correct color and similar di-
mansions. The worth of small rubies-
stones that Is, of less than a carat-is, If
anything, rather less than that of dia-
monds OF like description but the rare
occurrence of large specimens of that dark
carmine tint which is looked upon as the
sine qua non of a good ruby, causes the
value OF these gems to increase In a far
greater proportion than In the case of dia-
monds. Rubies weighing more than four
carats are so exceptional that when a per-
feet one of five carats is brought to the
market it will command ten times as high
a sum as diamond of the same weight
while a ruby of six carats, without crack
or flaw and Of the proper color, would, in
all probability, bring as high a price as
FL 900 per carat, or fifteen times as much
as a diamond of like size and faultlessness.
All over the East rubies are regarded with
the greatest possible favor, and so it has
been from the earliest times of which we
have any record.
The finest rubies are found In Burmah.
and from time immemOrial it has been a
law of that country that all rubies of above
certain size are the property of the king,
whoever may have been fortunate enough
to lind them. 1t is thought that to this
day there are concealed In Burmah among
the treasures which the British invasion
caused to be hidden away rubies of far
greater size and value than any which
have up to now been seen in this country
The law which gave fine rubies to tae ruler
of the land undoubtedly caused The dis
tuction of many magnicifcent specimens
of this gem, for finders of larger stones
than usual, if the opportunity was favor
able, break them into fragments, each
weighing less than carat, and thus in
sure themselves the possession of several
rubies incomparably less valuable, it is
true, than the original In which they were
once united, but still their own instead of
he kings.
True rubies are met with in comparative
ly few parts of the world besides Burmah.
Some are found In the Salem district of
Madras, In Mysore and In CeylOn though
those from the latter place are usually of
bad color. Goundamak, in Afghanistan,
produces rubies to certain extent, mostly,
however, of the almost worthless kind
called ''spinels. Some parts of the United
States have been found to yield small
supplies of first-class rubies, and a few
good ones come from Australia, but as
rule, the Australian stones are small and
indifferent In the important respect of
color.
Rubies which for centuries have been
counted as the most valuable Jewels in
royal crowns have proved to be nothing
but spinels of scarcely any worth at all.
Thus the great ruby set in the Maltese
cross in front of the imperial crown of
Great Britain is no doubt a spinel
Historical associations crowd around it,
and alone suffice to give a special value to
the gem which was presented to the black
prince at the victory of Naiera, in 1867.
by Pedro the Cruel king of CASTLE. and
afterward worn ut Agincourt by Henry ".
where it had a narrow escape of being lost
From the very earliest days in which
Europeans began to have contract with
the lands of the far east marvellous tales
have been floating about regarding rubies
of fabulous size and value.
Marco Polo, at whose hands the accounts
of stones of immense size are noG at all
likely to have lost in the telling, relates
that the king of Ceylon was the possessOr
of ruby span long, as thick as man
hand, and absolutely hawless Stories of
this miraculous gem hoated about for cen
turtles. Kubla Kahn is said to have offer
ed a province in exchange for it, and each
chronicler who had anything to say about
it tried to outdo those who had gone before
him in his accounts of its splendOr.
The largest ruby known was brought
from China and forms part of the imperial
crown jewels of Russia. 1t is the size of
a pigeon egg, and was presented by Gus
tayus Ill. of Sweden to the empress of Rus
STA on his visit to st. Petersburg.
The finest ruby that has ever been brought
to this country was one which reached our
shores In 1875. 1t was a blunt stone. drop
shape, and weighed slightly more than
forty-seven carats, No one In England
could be induced to give the price the own
er placed upon it, and it was, we believe.
finally disposed of on the continent for a
sum between e20 10000 and $50 900 The
ruby Is the hardest of all minerals except
the diamond, and by its hardness a ruby
may be told from spinel, which is consid-
erably softer If, as Is often the case. it is
not advisable to scratch or otherwise abrade
the surface of stone which it is wished to
test the greater specific gravity of the ruby
will show whether it is entitled to rank as
one of these gems or not. Curiously enough
the ruby and the sapphire are absolutely
identical in every respect except that of
color. They are varieties of crystallized
alumina which is usually known under the
name of corundum. As a general rule tire
crystals of this substance are dull in hue
and lack transparency. but when they
chance to be clear and bright colored they
give some of our most valuable gems.