The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-01-15
QUARTZ DIAM0ADSOF IDAHO.
THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE NEW "GEM
BELT0 NOT ENCOURAGING.

III y
BELTo ENCOURAGING.
Maybe There Are Real Diamonds md Opa,s
There, hut New York Dealers Are Sus-
~picious, and They Womb Like to Know
who "SandorS Kunz, Expert" May BE.
The reports which have been telegraphsd
from Boise City to all parts Of the country
from time Il time In the last two months Of
the discovery OF vast gem fields In Idaho have
not been received with much credit by dealers
in precious stones in this city. There have
been many such reported discoveries In diff
ferent parts OF the country. West and south.
which have turned out to be exaggerations to
say the least. Dealers Of experience have
learned to await developments before rushing
to new fields or investing money in claims.
The reports In the present instance were not
positively discredited here. Experts who have
surveyed the backbone Of our continent have
expressed the belief that gem fields might be
discovered at any time on either side OF the
Rockies. The reports from Idaho might very
we'll be true. But. on the other hand. there
was q chance that they originated in the state
ments OF irresponsible people or In n scheme
to float a wildcat company or two at the eS-
pense OF ignorant stockholders.
The Industry OF manufacturing gem heihs
BY sailing" q few rocky acres or two with
cheap gems and then selling stock and claims
at enormous figures was very popular anu
very profitable at one time on the slopes OF
the Rockies. 1t has declined Of late years be-
cause the burnt child breads tho IRE. IT
was about time. gem dealers were thinR-
ing. that a new scheme of this sort
should be started. when the wires began seat
terinc the reports from Idaho. still. the deal
ers expressed no opinion about these alleged
discoveries. They simply. waited. III there
was anything in the stories, gems from me
T"a H. u-ll /. V,ttlI Hnnn hA m IA Inn n n nntHNT
'q Tnt II ' last '' Thursday not a gem came. not
Ing parties. Said the telegraph, had been out
In tile Owyhee fields. which were said to ,ie
forty miles from Boise cry: hmn n"a ''n um, q
saprhir 9. and topaz, to shy nothing of dla-
monds Of great t,eanty and value a, opalinei
S %1ae at si%''9 &aI 'saS:; Ferry 8 s T%erev sS'I 'Sas
q %'y yr iii int ssppiiires ,snSiiS: i q colo, from
dark green to pale straw. Gold quartz. TN.
and mica were also found abundantly In TINS
Finally tho telegraph began to tell, OF big
companies 'orning with large, capita! TO de
claims had been taken In the owyhee district
alone. and a Zig rush was expected every DAY.
w wlth a a c sI%lsH1 or SIT sr.o6 SsEGG'1 to d H' il'S;' the
diamond basin. aud preparations were making
to begin work on u large scale as soon 20 s al
water. Already iity men were working IN the
frozen ROCK. at nn%'ine1; f., H,z.y a Mt OF these
50 the telegraph 9eit on clirking. and the
dealers in precious stones kent on waltz. 2 Tor
something more tangible than stories to pin
their faith upon. Ont.or two big trms wrote
to correspondents in the " est FOR paIt,ruinrs.
but got none. Geo'ge +; knnz o, dlitanS s. s.
gems said that he could see no reason why
genuine diamonds should not be iouhd IN
Idaho as we'll as Mt Kimberley.
But VII" ives %Saniort kpn@. the %reputed ex-
pert who had Teen quoted extensively as de-
clorirg that the diamonds found were gen.
uinns George +. Kunz lid not know u ~. and
none OF the diamond dealers N ihe ely nhd
heard Of him. II looked to some o, the dta inp n,
on the part OF Interested sChem RS in Idaho
to give the impression that the "rini2nS cams
here were openly ofthe opinion that the Idaho
At las, the first diamonds from the neg,
fields reached town. On THURSDAY Henry I.
s%ehnsewsiss an emI'SSyNe" e. ; O. TIE 'n Vice! ssssiy vi,
OF Boisd ity. 1t contnineI i've stones which
looked like rough diamonds. i. NJ; B.sss;
4 was great excitement In Boise City. and that
staSa of claims in the new diamond fields.
! The diamonds he enclosed. he said. were pee;
linens brought from the fields, He wani"i
1 MIR. Schnec weiss to nave an expert examine
One Of the supposed diamonHs weighed
about six ca, ats and was shaped like ~ acorn.
1t was a muddy white and opaque. Tho iou'
smaller stones weighed about half u carat
sSs large T" ston Near and ir nsariy t ram xh.tst ' Th1
smaller stones looked very mnch like real
diamonds to Mr. sclneeweiss. who is not an
Hut Charles Fox Of Mniien lane. who is an
expert. declared the minute he sHa'nined the
stones that they were not diamonds. on'
merely quartz crystals.
To prove to the inexperienced eye OF Mr..
Sc~hraeweiss tina the s." mes were not Ola monds
Mr.. Fox held each in turn against hi. g~rindina
lathe and had no diNicult' in Erlniing OF a
considerable portion OF each. IN, gfiniinS
lar stones readily. ut it does not at ct a dia.
even the most highly polisi.rd face is dim
med. Mr.. Fox returned the stones to, Mr.
S~chneeweiss yesterday and no sent them oacS
Rock crystals. such as these products of the
Idaho iields prove to lie. are found commonly
the Horkies. and around the borders Of tt'
great lakes they Often occur of Grent size
Tor diamonds oitrn enough; and have ,esn tn
occasion for many a groundless report oil TIT
discovery OF diamond fields. a.,
the present one should have no other Gauss
than tho finding Of a luantity Of "uar,z eTyS
boise City and Helena who. il not experls il
S1a% Hnas Gut sG "i .u set a at mi Fs ! any re fsT intIisn
Increases the beli-f here that the Idaho field,
have been "saltsa" Tor purposes Of lane NJ
AIN bNoCh 49, -
stances are on record. In 1853 Their
was great excitement over diamond field,
alleged to have been 'ound In Nortl
Carolina. Claims were sold at enormous ag
out o. sight. Then the crash came. Tn. ron
srirator? had bought about si5.OO9 worth o
monds. such as are used in making damon,
dust and drills-anh with this had iudiriousl
"salted" a quantity oil utterly barren an,
worthless land, Boris are worth less than
tenth as much as the diamonds Of commerrS
Many yeurs ago n similar gigantic -winIl
was penetrated in Cali o, MIA. Diamonds wer
turned up with a spa. 70 ~ "a depth nt u foot o
two. and the most violent excitement wa
occasioned, Aftrrward 1t was found tina
many Of these diamonds had Teen ground an
polished prev Gus to being iuried, hut In III
excitement Of discovery 20 one noticed that.
PeThaps after all. however. the claim mad
for idaho ar true. Pe-haps valuable dia
monds are really found there. Time alone wi
show. Speaking OF the opa!s. which are sai
to be mole common In the new fields than dis
monds and to show surprisin beauty an
briiiiancy. an expert said yesterday thai. no
withdrawing rsn9rts to the 'SHn ntt r IT Ia
found In this country. Some time ago htaut