St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1893-09-16
THE MIMIC BUILDING.
A STRIKING FEATURE OF THE
WORLDS FAIR.

Wonderful Exhibits Brought from the
Bowels of the Earth--Gold, Silver
and Precious Stones.
The two daysspent in the Mining Build
ing have been visit to land of glory
of whose grandeur I had never dreamed.
I have seen crystals and diamonds, gar
nets and sapphires, jasper and chalce-
dony, opals and amethysts, rubies and
amber, er1eralds and agates in glorious
profusion; gold and silver, iron and
aisminum, lead and platinum, copper
and zine, slabs of onyx and moss agates,
petrified trees, coal and coal fossils, and
every other imaginable thing that is
found in the bosom of the earth. l doubt
if any branch of the Fair is as complete
as this. Everything in the line of ma
chinery used in mining, from miners
lamp up to miniature coal mine in actual
operation, may be seen. I cannot give a
complete description of any particular
scribing few of the most striking fea-
lures.
Mexico has the richest, the most extern
sive and the most varied exhibit in the
Department of Mines. No other coun-
try comes to the fair with new marble,
the most beautiful the world has ever
seen. Discovered scarcel y year ago it
is destined to become as noted an article
in interior and monumental decoration
as the world famed Mexican onyx now
is. 1t presents the appearance of num-
haw IF 1c ,hal Tod ~
stone. The rosebuds are simply beauti-
full garnets Embedded in limestone. But
carbonate of lime and garnets are not the
only minerals in this marble. Vesuvian-
lite and Wallastonite are each present
The first is occurring in its rich sulphur,
the second in traces of light blue, pro-
ducing thus most beautiful combination
Great difficulty was at first experienced
in polishing this marble. The substance
and treatment required to dress the lime
stone would not finish the garnets and
those required to finish the garnets
would not glaze the limestone. A union
Of the polishing substances was tried
and satisfactory finish was given the
beautiful.
The onyx displayed is the most beauti-
full. Did you ever know that the So
called Mexican onyx is not in reality an
onyx? On the gallery of the Mining
Building there is display Of real onyx
from Lower California. 1t is very beau
tiful but cannot compare with the So
called Mexican onyx. This last only re-
sembles onyx, and has consequently been
so-called. In reality Mexican onyx is
marble. In the days when Aztec civil
zation filled Mexico's valleys and dotted
her hills with temples to its deities, the
architects and artists found in this materi-
al their chief agent for structure and
decoration The temples were called
"Teocali" The Indians corrupted this
term to "Tecali" and applied 1t to the
material used in constructing their Teo-
Gals. Christian civilization seized on it
for altar and baptismal font. In the days
of Cortez this was the use to which it
was put whenever it could be obtained.
l saw some samples of it that were
streaked and veined with luminous red,
brilliant green in semi transparent ivory
tinted body. And the silver! Silver in
all conditions, in all stages of purity.
None of it so interested me, however, as
a species called Ruby Silver. The men
who work the mine from which this sill
yer comes are covered from head to foot
as though they had smeared them
seves with raspberries. This mine
l was told is situated near Du-
range, Mexico The display of opals
is notably interesting. The rare and
cleaning variety with play of colors
like the yellow and red of flames is to
be seen. This, I think, is commonly
called fre-opal These opals are gath
cred by the Indians who in day polish
between 20 and 80 of them. The proc
ess is very simple. A rapidly revolving
wheel does the work and the brilliancy
and size of the stone determines its
value. When locking at this display,
l could not help recalling the Senator
Nonius who preferred exile to parting
with an opal which Marc Antony de-
sired. 1t was of great value, being
worth, if remember Alright, $4,000 600 or
100000. Mexico displays almost every
variety of useful minerals, from gold
and mercury down to coal and salt,
from Jewels and silver down to fire clay
and petroleum.
Cape Colony makes abeautiful
display of diamonds and crocido-
lite. This last is the name the
mineralogist has pasted to it, but in good
plain En- glish we call it "tiger.eye
Quite a crowd are usually gathered
about the Cape Colony exhibit during
the hours when they are washing and
polishing diamonds. A complete set of
machinery is working, drawing up the
ugly looking, yet valuable, mud. Before
the visitors eyes, the mud is washed and
the pebbles containing the gem are
thrown out upon table. Then man
goes over them carefully, occasionally
meeting with dull pebble resembling a
piece of glass, which he carefully sets
aside. This is then cut and polished.
The United States is not be-
hind the rest of the world in
her display in this building. Each State
has its own exhibit. These vary in
interest, wealth and utility. A crowd
is always attracted to Montana's display
to see the silver statue of Justice for
which Ada Rehan posed. The statue is
in the middle of the exhibit. Justice
holds pair of scales in her left hand
and stands upon sphere of silver. She
is in the act of advancing. The head
is erect, calm and digniied. You look
at the statue but hardly appreciate the
fact that about $4,000 worth of
silver is in it. Many interesting objects
are displayed.
Colorado and California each dis
plays magnificent collection of
mineral specimens and no small guam
tity Of native gems. They show the
various conditions in which gold is