Arizona weekly enterprise., 1890-07-26
PRECIOUS STONES IN ARIZONA.
Petrified Redwood Trees Coated With
 Amethysts.
New York Star


 One day last week, upon falling in with Col. Manuel Gomez, of Parita, a Mexican engineer who has lately been travelling extensively in Arizona and old Mexico, Investigating the mineral resourc- es of that part of the country in the in- terest of some eastern and European cap italists, asked him what truth there was ln the report that precious stones in pay ing quantities could be found in Arizona, He said:
 II was not looking for precious stones. but 1 picked up some information about them, for l go on the principle that no sort of general information can do man any harm. My experience ill Brazil, however. taught me that wherever there were precious stones to be found there was much larger number of fairy stor- les at1oat as to the value of the finds You know that precious stones are sim ply crystallizations, and with the exception of diamond, which Is pure carbon, they are water formations, colored with some mineral or vegetable impregnations. Those found ill Arizona are spinal rubies, sapphlres, emeralds, turquoises, and eX cellent garnet, amethysts and small pearls The ruby has been found in large sizes up to fourteen carats, but much inferior to the Burmah rubies. The sapphires, emeralds and pearls are very small, and the amythest crystals very large. They are often found in ants nests in the des- erts, as those industrious insects have a habit of carrying shining things to their nests. Larger turquoises are found there than anywhere else, but very light in col or. The majority of them are greenish
 but many are light blue. The rubies sapphires and emeralds are corundums and are generally found in granite coun- try. The pearls are found along with petrifed clans and oysters, showing that the country has been, at some remote
 period, under water. I have been told
 by geologists that Arizona was the first
 land appearing above the water in the
 prehistoric ages. The turquoise is found
 in seams of an eighth of an inch to foul
 inches in width. The Spaniards mined
 them at q depth of about 30 feet. There are turquoise mines in both New Mexico
 and Arizona which have been long aban
 doned, and in which are found Indial
 hammers, made of stone, showing tn Indians made them. The large turquois , set in the Spanish crown, and which is a 2 large as a pigeons egg, is supposed t have come from Arizona. Turquoises ar
 very popular among the Indians. and
 good sized, perfect stone can be general
 traded for pony to some of the chief! n About ten years ago some unscrupulou | eastern man, finding that corundums ar . on the desert, got up diamond excite s . ment, scattered some small rough dis T monds at certain points, and on th 7 strength of the finds organized a dii mond mining company. He is said s have made money out of 1t, but the con . pany didn't. The emeralds found in Ar . zona are of very good quality and yer . clear. but they are small.
 "ln the eastern part of the territor = near where most of the gems are foun, there is petrified forest some 1900 acrt s in extent. the major part of which seen s to have been California redwood. Thel are number of petrifed trees lyin v about that locality thatsare 100 feet Tor ' and some are feet thick at the but U Where these trees are hollow the inside ~ often coated with crystals -amythests, t paz of black and white. Some of the | | are very large. The trees take vel " high polish and have been used for tab
 tops and other ornamental purposes, bl V on account of thelr hardness and the ne # essarily great expense of transportatiC 'a and working they are not used so mu( I as their beauty would warrant"