The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1892-08-04
IN AN AMBER NINE.
q 01aer Industry IN Which LIon-
ssty IL at q Premium

Vsaunne Deposits Displaced By PropeessD
Oaaes and Carried AShose by ths
Waves - some Interesting
Particulars.
Deep down in the ''biue ea1th" along
enc s.,Oees of and beneath the treachsr-
ous i~ealsers of the Baltic sea nrr found
In bits and fragments Of fossiiized wood
the traces of vast forests that In ages
long past had covered nearly the entire
coast line Of what Is now known as
East Prussia, says the New York Press.
Large ttvcts n lalid hsNseaaanik tnere
below sea level and in time were cov>
cred with the rank submarine Erowths
Of eeapood and al0ae. WTrve~cr q
STORM taiurns ami l;sehcsth he ~aScs ;H<n
large masses Of this green tangle$kae
torn from the bottom, and often carry
with them pieces Of amber, the resin n
fossil pines, which, being but slightly
heavier sf1Ah saN ~aEss, will hoaa n
the network Of weeds Upon bringing
che floating meadoves. that cover the
sea aAter prepitious Rasa Aehore s*
given points, tHere depends frequently
an e9l1RmQds GAIN TO the amber RsAer,
Who AtSAted d stains pdRtaonS,of A,s
Gaore from the crown.
At those times the villages onS Sheaee-
board are all astir with excitement.
Nobody thinks Of rest day nor night,
and elEYdne is on the aaeft ready 70
ny to the edge 81 the waves st the frst
alarm from the watchers. Men defy
the roaring breakers, And standing up
TO their shoulders in the seething foam,
catch w4sps Of seaweed In long nets
and fiIS them shoreward, where the
women and children gather from them
the yellow jewels of the sea- In this
manner as much as fourteen thousand
dollars worth is known to have been
gathered in single night Butin spite
Of the most rapid work 1t Is not always
possible to bring all the cast-up amber
ashore; the larger pieces, especially,
are opt TO sink. They are gathered by
means of long-handled nets called
''catchers," when a bright day and
placid sea enables the amber fishers
sight to penetrate the Grnpid water.
1nusnmch as it is often necessary to
turn over huge rocks this work is very
labm5ous, yet case is known where
six hundred dollars worth of amber
amply repaid four men for a summer
Days drudgery. Recently, however,
this mode has been entirely abandoned
IN favor of one more in keeping with
modern ingenuity and inventions.
The company now having charge of
the industry recognized some twenty
years ago the fact that the largest
pieces of amber could not be easily
1,xy< <h<, ,f fhaiy
weight. and that therefore a lucrative
harvest could be gathered directly from
the submerged portion of the amber
bearing stratum. Accordingly divers
were imported from France, but the
very first attempt, though thoroughly
satisfactory from q commercial point Of
view, demonstrated that Frenehmen
were NOT able to stand the rigid climate
were substituted for them .ss.
Naturally the cleaning OF the bot
tom Of the sea along the eoasteventual-
ly exhausted the eaccessiblesupplyo OF the
valuable resin, and from twenty-eight
thousand four hundred pounds in 1881
the treasure dropped to five thousand
two hundred pounds in lS90, SO that div
ing had to be discontinued and will not
be resumed until the government permits
submarine amber mining The rapid
action Of dynamite is then to take the
place OF the work of divers, whose
movements are hampered by the stiff
and heavy rubber suit and brass helmet
Every miner has strapped to him q
bag, IN which he collects the pieces of
a fS ri f<,
aeare the premises after each days
work he is searched Scrupv1ously
honest men have had strangely per
verted conception of right and wrong
as regards amber. It seems to be con-
kidered as gift OF nature to which he
who finds it is entitled In the Baltic
amber fields such thefts were formerly
punishable by death, and occasion still
required quite frequent infiction OF
severe punishment A recital OF the
curious and ingenious ways and means
In which men have attempted to cir
cumgent the vigilance Of the examiners
would add highly interesting chapter
to the history of fraud.
The amber gathered In the mime and
che smaller pieces collected from the
shelves are washed with sand in rcvoiv'
ing drums Next the pieces are sorted
into nearly one hundred classes, each
one representing some particular adap
tatim OF the raw material. fat pieces
that are made into smokers utensils
, round pieces for beads and jewery, an6
smaal fragments out of which amber
vasnish Is made. The output OF las
year was manufactured In four hundrei
thousand dollars worth of smokers
utensila, and the balance OF som,
eighty thousand dollars worth into jew
elxy end varnish.
A Painful Expericnce.
A hnshful and youthful bridal couple
from the rural districts had painful
experience at Danbury circus day, say
the New Haven Re1ister The yo1IlS