West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1891-06-11
PRECIOUS STONES.
Fects Gathered by Special Agena
OF tho Consuo Buroau.
Locations and rinds of the Diamonds
and Other Jewels Produced In
the United states and
Their Naiuo.

for the purposes OF tho census is fur
nishcd by George r. Kuntz. tho special
agent who had charge of statistics as "a
precious stones and diam ond cutting In
the United States This Ia n neld
which never before has been covered
In the census, and Mr.. Kunz Is an exs
pert In IL, says the New York sun.
Mining for precious and ornamental
stones has bccr carried on ia this couni
try ut irregular periods only, and the
supply discovered has not been great,
though In IL arc inclu ded many varic-
ties. The number OF diam onds found
has been very limited, and thor Siiscov.
cry Is rare and purely accidental, tho
places where they are met with being
certain woll-dcnned dist riots OF Califors
MIA. North Carolina, Georgia and rea
Gently In Wisconsin. In tho statistics
OF the production OF precious stonea for
1880 presented by MIR. KunS diamonds
do not appear at all
Sapphires and rubies are fohnd near
Ilolcna In Montana, but they nre not of
the standard blue and rcd ahades so
much priced They have never been
mined systematically. though within
tho last two years companies have been
formed Co mino for them either scpar-
htcly or incidentally TO tho search for
gold. Emcralds have been mined to q
small extent In Alexander county In
North Carolina; and some bcryls have
been discovered In Colorado, at New
Milford In Connecticut, and ut Stone
ham In Maine. The turquoise Is now
systematically mined near Los Corillos
In New Mexico, but IL lacks the soft
ness OF color distinguishing the Persian
turquoise, though Il Is fully equal 20 10
In hardness. The flncst gnrnets In the
world, rivnllng those from the Cape Of
Good Hope, arc collected by the Navajo
Indians and by soldiers of the adjacent
forts from ant hills and scorpion nests
I'm New Mexico and Arizona. The In.
dians trade them for stores. and they
are sent 20 the mnrlSct In parcels weigh
ing sometimes ns much as thirty or
forty pounds.
This about completes the list OF tho
better known and moro important pro-
cious stones found In tho United States.
The small amount obtained OF each and
their respective frequency are sug-
gcstcd by Mr.. Kunz's statistics OF tho
value OF tho native gem production
! IN 1850: Snpphircs, 80, 725; emcralds,
$3.50; turquoiscs S2J.075; garnets, g., ,30s.
Accordingly, all except an insignihl
cant part of the precious stones bought
I'm this country are imported, and the
demand Is increasing. The value OF tho
imports from 1870 70 1870 was loGs than
S31 600. 900, and between 1880 and 1889
Il was more than SS7, 900, 900, or moro
than three timo9 as great The increase
has been stendy. The value OF the
gems imported In 1850 was nearly twics
that In 1880, and more than six times
the importation Of 1870. In no other
country OF the world is the use OF these
ornaments SO general as here.
Diamond ciitting is extensiveiy prac1
ticcd in tho United Statea In New
York alone are sixteen firms pursuug
the business, much OF their time being
expended in recutting stones previously
cut abroad, for our workmanship n SUI
pcrior. From the latter part of 1888 70
the end OF 1880 the pricc OF rough dia<
monds advanced from 30 TO 100 per cent
The great reduction in weight due ~
cutting Is shown 10y tho fact that dia-
mouds OF diamond material which
weighed b4,s4t carats before cutting
weighed only 25,OO5 cerats afterward.
Ninc-tcntbs Of this work IN done In New
York. which Is the great center Of tho
7 hmcrican trade in tie precious stonest
T while London Is the chief market OF tho
world for rough diamonds. Nothing.
by the way, IA bought and sold on
closer nargiu than the rough diamond
The amount of cutting done here in.
creased by % per cent. In the ten years
from 1850 20 1889.
The value Of The diamonds and otl,eF
precious stones imported into this couna
I Try la 1850 si0nc was eif, ,7O5. 900.