St. Paul daily globe., 1892-12-27
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noise before and who knew Of it by ira
fliton became greatly eXclted,and sald 10
the white meu who were then tnelr
friends that the mountain was again
preparing to produce q beautlEul stone.
When the rumblingS ceased many men,
Indians and white, searched III lle VI
cinity that they might find TINS gem,
but without success.
There came one day man OF mystic
rious manner and such strange express
sion in his eyes that the SuperStltlous
persons of that time were ready to be-
lieYe that he was in league with the EVIL
spirits. He searched at the base OF tins
mountain, and by and by he discovered
q stone so beautiful that the cowusca-
tlonS of light it emitted were as vlvld,
seemingly, as blood-red lightning. and
ne said to the people, Behold this car
buncle. By some mighty CONFUSION OF
the elements beneath this mountain,
made by fierce heat and OF which
you know by the strange lumbllngs,
this glorious gem was produced and
vomIted from the bowels Of the earth.
BY and by, twenty years, perhaps 100
years hence, the elements VIII again
conSpire and the mountain VIII be de-
livered of another gem. Some man VIII
come, as i have done, and finJ 1t, and
III these colonies OF the klnG .oC me tell
you that some day all the jewels that
men know about will be found and gold
and other precious metals" Thus say
ing, this strange man went away and
took ship to England, where he be-
slowed his carbuncle upon favorlte OF
the king and became himself powerful
thereby.
Thus runs pleasant tradition of the
Connecticut ValIeY,and there Is so much
of truth in it as this, that these rum
blingS are even to this day occasionally
heard beneath the MooduS mountain,
and in that vicinity garnets and other
precious stones have sometimes been
discovered.
In the spring of 1890 a young man
filed with enthusiasm and great knOWl-
edge OF the nature and locality OF all the
precious.stoneS that delight the eyes Of
men and women was iii the city or MOS
COW. They bad shown him what lew
persons nor connected with the court of
Russia had ever been permitted 10 take
into their hands, the Russian jewels III
the Kremlin. He held these gems with
such tenderness and skill as showed his
Familiarity and tondneSS tor them. 1t
was not the fOndness Of one who sees i'll
Jewels only market prices and dol
lars and cents, hut the delight OF an eX-
pert, and the fancy of one who admlres
the most beautiful things that the earth
gives to men. This man had also been
permitted to handle the crown Jewels III
Vienna. and men all over Europe who
possessed treasures OF this sort had
gladly shown them to him, and with de
light listened to his comments upon
them and other gems of their kind.
George Frederick .KunZ, gem expert
of Tiffany's, the man TO whom L refer,
was at the time OH his way To Persia,
that he might examine and purchase the
turquoise gems which come from that
country. The Persian mines were, it
was believed, becoming exhausted, and
it was the mission Of Mr. kunZ to secure
as fine specimens as re was abie TO get
for the American market. He did not go
TO Persia. He received dispatches while
in Moscow stating that the turquoise
nadbeen discovered in America and that
mines in the far Southwest had been
opened which possibly might make good
the threatened depletion OF the Persian
mines. Mr.. Kunz returned to America,
aud after visit to these mines III New
Mexico, he WAS satisfied that the predlc-
ton was Justified
Perhaps y Turz may be justly
esteemed as h man who has carried
out the prop. which the tradition of
the MooduS mountain suggests. He has
certainly revealed TO Americans, If he
has not actually discovered the mines,
that in the North American continent
there are indeed many kinds OF precious
stones, and some Of them have yielded
gems of great value. y few years ago
Mr.. KunZ published a book. giving in
detail some account of these American
.gems, their discovery, the possible profit
II working some Of the mines and the
nature OF the gems; but since that pub
licatiOn soeXlensive have been the dis
coyerles ana so important some Of them,
that he has Information OF extraordinary
interest which he did not possess at that
time.
Mir. Kunz is recognized as one of the
first authorities oh precious stones in
the world, and probably the first in the
United States, and therefore those
things which lie said to the writer are
not to be regarded as the mere Aladdin
like fancy OF dreamer or writer of
fairy tales. but as scientific fact.
He had lust taken from It's velvet en-
closure a stone of wondrous beauty
when the writer called upon him. 1t
was as large as an English walnut, and
so dazzling were the flashes Of light
emitted from it, SO exquisite was the
radiance of its prismatlc reflection, that
it seemed almost as though no human
skill could have fashioned it. it was a
diamond from South Africa, not white
but of canary tint, valued at 100000,
although that sum could not buy it. Its
owners prefer to keep that great snm of
money Concentrated in this exquisite
stone. AS Mr.. Kunz wrapped it up i'll
its soft enclosure, he was asked whether
it was true that diamonds had been
found in America. He said "Yes, dia-
monds have at last been discovered