The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-08-10

Gulf Of California, which have produced
some of the finest pearls known. This black
pearl comes from there. You see, it is
about the size Of pigeons egg. The price
OF it is s., 900. Valuable purple pearls are
got from ordinary CLAIMS OF the quahaug
species known scientifically as Venus mer-
cendriG. Hero is a handful Of precious
pearls from conchs and the fresh water
mussels called unios. Both kinds are pink,
but those from conchs resemble rosy porce-
lain. Pearls are also obtained from CONF
mon oysters, but they are never OF any
value, SO that the common saying used In
reference co a VIGOROUSLY lucky man, that
he cannot take an oyster in his mouth
without finding pearl in IT, lacks signih-
canoe in fact.
"Hsre is an entirely new idea IN jewels
a necklace of pearls, with diamonds cut In
the shape of beads and strung between the
pearls, two pearls for each diamond. The
price is only $22, coo. Another novelty Is
green garnets. They come from Sysserk,
in the Ural mountains, and are very bril-
liant, having play Of color like diamonds.
The finest small ones are worth more than
emeralds of the same size They are uttl-
lied chiefly just now for making Jeweled
frogs, fishes, grasshoppers, and katydlds,
which are the latest notion In brooches and
pins.
II returned only short time ago from
L1Oeb luloE 0Sbluk TeklOu al tuC OAhA1 oONOh
days journey hey ond st. Petersburg, where
1000 people make their living by seek
ing for and cutting precious and semi
precious stones. The industry was founded
by the Empress Catherine These artisans
do certain kinds Of work that are not done
anywhere else in the world. They carve all
sorts OF things out of rock-crystal, from
statuette to the exquisite and delicate she'll
of the argonaut, using for the purpose tiny
revolving disks OF copper and soft iron
charged with diamond dust. Among their
most wonderful productions are vases OF
various fruits, which are admirable count
erfeits Of nature, including grapes Of anne
thyst, cherries Of onyx, raspberries Of Sho-
donite, mulberries Of yellow ohalcedony,
white currants Of rock crystal. and green
leaves Of serpentine. The czer has a fact
ory in the Ural and another at Peterhof,
where such things are turned out for his
own private use at an expense OF 1000
annually. Such of the articles produced as
are not required for himself he gives away
as presents. Very few are sold, it being
only possible occasionally to purchase q
duplicate specimen.
Speaking Of quartz crystal, the most i'm
portant use made of the material is in the
manufacture of balls. So difficult is 10 to
obtain piece that will yield q perfect ball
of more than three inches In diameter that
such spheres increase enormously in value
as they go up In Size from that Dolnb- Inc
largest one in the UnIied States Is slightly
more than Ga inches in diameter, and is
worth IS 900. 1t came originally from
Japan. The biggest aud most perfect one
known Is in the Green vaults at Dresden.
Its diameter is very little greater. Nearly
all of the crystal balls in the market are Of
fered for sale as Japanese, but most of them
are actually made in France and Germany,
the material being obtained from Brazil and
Madagascar. The old method of manu-
facture practiced by the Japs was exceed
ingly laborious. They began by chipping
! the substance into a roughly spherical shape
with hammers, after rendering it smooth
| and perfectly round by rolling it with
water and sand in a trough, then polishing
the ball with emery and finally by rubbing
with the hand. Now the European work
| man holds the revolving ball in a cup
against the grooved edge OF a wheel of
sandstone six feet in diameter, which goes
around 100 times q minute. In this way q
crystal sphere is made in a week which
would have taken a yenr TO produce In the
| old fashion. Quartz or rock crystal is found
in pockets in granite rock. AS much as
$4,000 worth Of it has been discovered in a
single cavity. 1t ia not the labor but the
scarcity OF suitable material that makes the
balls costly. The greatest deposits of rock
crystal known in this country are in Gar
land and Montgomery counties, Arkansas
| where the farmers employ their leisure time
in hunting for IL and ssll 10000 worth Of ID
| annually.