Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-11-01


from % Worth of sparks-How to De-
tect Frauds-Interesting Facts About
Valuable Stones.
THAT is very beautiful stone,r said a re-
porter to a Washington jeweler, calling the
latter's attention to a dark purple gem OF
considerable size, with a vivid red fire, which
lay in a satin lined box within the glass show
case. ut seems very cheap. too, for its aP-
parent value"
at is cheap for the reason that IL is not a
real stone replied the dealer.
IAN imitationP
"No, IL Is not an imitation. On the con-
trary il does not at all resemble, TO the eye
Of an expert, any gem that is known in nat
ure 1t is simply chemical product, that is
all You see, the chemists, having abandoned
the manufacture Of gold as hopeless. are
trying now TO make precious Stones artificial
ly, and with some success | dare say YOU
are not aware that actual, bona aie dia-
monds have been produced in this way. And
yet diamonds have been artiticially manu-
featured for years. An English experimenter
first accomplished the feat, and 1t has been
successfully repeated many times since. The
only trouble Is that the diamonds turned out
by chemical artiiice are almost microscopic
and therefore practically worthless At the
exposition in London some dozens of them
were exhibited, gummed on paper, under a
magnifying glass. Every effort has been
made 10 increase their size, though in vain.
Apparently the production of diamonds big
enough TO be worth anything could only be
accomplished by forces and elements working
on the mighty scale of natures laboratory
when the world was being rendered out of
chaos into habitable shape
ARTIFICIAL RUBIES
But other stones eau be made artificially
Of profitable sizef'
"A few. No real gem, however, except the
diamond, has been fairly reproduced exactly
as II is found in nature, though limitations
are plentiful enough. The precious stones
made by the chemists, il such they may be
called, are new inventions to the lapidary
Many OF them are very beautiful This pur-
pie one you have asked about, for instance,
is lovely. IL has been named the 'violane du
cap and is as attractive Jewel as many nat
ural ones four times its price. French chem
lists are the great experts in this branch Of
manufacture, and their inventions are usually
kept secret. Some of the artificial gems they
make are doubtless pretty costly to produce,
as for that matter are the microscopic dia-
monds, which are as expensive to turn out as
good big ones in the market
Are ruhies made artifciallyF
"N s.; but not with entire success Two
or three years ago certain French chemists
claimed that they had discovered a process
for absolutely manufacturing big rubies in
the laboratory by fusing together small ruby
sparks, such as can be bought for almost
nothing. II you will remember that the
value Of the ruby is nearly double that Of the
diamond, the color and quality otherwise
being first rate you can imagine what an
agitation such an announcement occasioned
among the dealers. Nor was the announce
ment altogether without truth, as appeared
from the report made on the subject by the
celebrated Professor Friedel, Of the French
institute, who said that he found the chemi-
cal composition, density crystalline form
and retroactive power Of the artificial speci-
mems to correspond in every respect with the
natural ruby. The only difference be could
find was slight variation In the shape Of
the tiny afr bubbles However the dealers
threatened 70 prosecute any one for fraud
who ventured 10 issue the artificial rubies as
real ones and, inasrnuch as their combina-
tion is very rich and powerful and the laws
against selling counterfeit jewels for actual
ones is very strict in France, the fused rubies
IL
great scheme TO make $1,000 ruby out OF
g. worth Of sparks
The sparks you speak Of are real rubies,
Of coursei"
"Oh! yes That is the trouble aboutrubies
There are plenty Of them, but very few good
sized ones. The greatest ruby fields in the
world are those Of Burmah, where the natives
have for centuries been digging for them in
the most primitive and therefore most I'M
profitable manner. They are found in guam
titles In successive strata, with LAYERS OF
earth and clay between at little depth be-
low the surface soil But nearly all are so
small as TO be scarcely valuable. Only oc-
caSionally big one. with the true pigeons
blood color, turns up.
KING THEEBAw's JEWELS
There used 10 be wonderful accounts of
the jars full Of large rubies which King Thee
baw Of Burmah had in his palace at Manda-
lay, but not many were found by the British
when they looted the city. Perhaps they
were carried of and hidden away by the na-
tives.
"Curiously enough, the anticipation Of the
finding OF Theses boards Of the king by the
English soldiers had quite a depressing effect
upon the ruby market, a lowering in the
value Of the gem being feared as a result Of a
sudden throwing Of great supplies before the
purchasing public. Rubies are also largely
obtained In CeylOn, where the natives make a
business Of hunting for them in the streams
that come down from the huge cone Of noun
tains In the GENITAL part of the island, where
1t has been supposed for centuries that great
matriX uf rubies existed above the clouds,
from whence those found in the rivers are
washed down. Nor Is such theory entirely
without reason, though nobody has been able
10 find the matriX Yet When discovered, it
will afford a profitable opportunity for the
use OF few pounds Of dynamite
Are there pearls from CeylonF-
e., the waters Whereabouts are IA great
pearl fishing ground Between the harvests
the natives wait patiently for the oysters to
grow. Pearls are largely counterfeited, as
you know, the best limitations being made Of
hollow glass beads lined with transparent wax
and scales taken from living fish. The pearl
Is chiefly composed of carbonate of lime with
films Of animal membrane between its many
layers. These membrane films becoming dry
gives the pearl its hardness The substance
Of the pearl Is a Shiny secretion Of the oyster,
which is ordinarily deposited upon the in
terror surface Of the shell, forming what Is
called mother Of pearl Grains Of sand or
other foreign bodies, lodging within the
shell, produce an irritation OF the tissues
which causes the deposit Of pearly matter
around them for the oysters protection
This matter is deposited, layer after LAYER.
until the pearl is formed BY the artificial
Introduction Of Hinty particles pearls can be
made 70 grow. The Chinese in this manner
compel a certain kind of fresh water mussel
TO produce pearls in great numbers though
OF small size. Sometimes they introduce d.
minntive images OF their gods and other
things within the shells and have them
turned into pearls by a sort of oyster plate
process Washington Star.
A firm Of Westchester nurserymen II
growing Japanese chestnuts, which are quite
large and Of sweet flavor
Poisonous Cosmetics.