The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-03-12

theft or amber was P"iS"oo'S 49,
death. and one penalty no" 10 severe
| whipping.
| When the amber has been washed
aua the pebbles have been picked out
II Is passed into revolving drums with
a certain amount OF sand, which scrubs
| of the outer surface or matrlx. III N
| then sorted into about one hundred Varl-
cites according 10 color. shape, cioudi-
ness or texture. Flat pieces are Tor
smokers goods. round pieces FOR beads
and fragments for varnish. The ciassi-
Gcation has been in a measure changed
OF recent years. An American has dis
covered n process by which the small
nieces of amber may be welded together
and made into slabs so that the size OF
a niece Of IL is no longer great COM
nerciaI factor. The size used TO be an
,,nportant element I'm the price. Now it
is as easy to make pipe mouth-piece
ton Yards long. as 1t was formerly TO
make one two inches long. AT the
Worlds Fair cigarette mouthpiece was
shown that was 4 spiral over % inches
In length: its price previous to the dis
coverv of the new mode of manipulating
the gum would have been simply fabu-
Io,,s. II. indeed. II could have been pro-
duced at all The pale pieces or amber 90
10 the nine makers of Turkey. Egypt. ana
The Levant; the light. whitish-colored ID
,ha. ornameut makers of Italy, the full
Yellow 10 the trade in Africa and the
South Seas. While the finest grades u
clear clouded 81 cen (rarest or am, gray
and blue are distributed ancng the 'oEi'eu
states England, France and Germany III
the old days all clear amber was from the
sea. and oil clouded from the mines, but
now both varieties come from the mine.
In 1893 there was harvested about 4Oo.OoO
mounds of amber, valued at SJOO,tv Inc
Prussian expert Herr Van MuGen, Is on
record as stating that the srIply Is near
~ at an end, and that the nine may De
come unavoidable at any time. In the
history Of the mine only one foreigner
Is known 20 have received permis sion 10
inspect the workings, and he was an
American, from whom much OF the IN
formation given in this article was OBJ
tanned.
The question remains what is amber?
Men of science say that ages ago, long
before the time when children were bap-
TIED with the cross of the Hammer of
Thor; long before King Olaf carried the
Gospel of the White Oh list into the
Norseland. and Earl Eric carried at his
side the mighty sword with the hilt OF
amber i'm which stirred the worm which
gave him warning Of storm and hght;
long before the destruction Of the Frost
Bridge and the coming of Ragnarock'
there stood on the Samland a mighty
forest of conifers whose descendants
to-day are found in California and ore
gon. In those days this land was called
"Nineheim the land of eternal winter.
These trees piled up aroInd their roots
the golden gum until the Dirt PERIOD
wiped cut the face OF nature as the SUR
breaks down a child's castle or sahu
and rolling over the fragrant forest left
tf-s- n
ever poetical had legend that when
Phaeton drove the horses Of the Chariot
of the sun and was hurled thence by
Zeus he plunged into the Eridanus, ana
was killed, and that his sisters bewaillnS
him, were turred To trees, their tears
congealing around their feet as they fell.
Cuneiform inscriptions show that centu-
ries before the Chr stian era caravans
from Asia journeyed TO the Baltic Tor
amber: to the barter OF this gum with
| Thrace is due the introduction of bronze
| into Scandinavia. and in the museum at
| Copenhagen are EtruscJp vases eN-
| changed for amber at prehistoric pc
riod. Amber may be traced through the
world as a love philter, u charm against
sickness contaSion, blindness, sor2ery
| witchcraft. poison, deafi ass; as incense
/ TO the old dead gods. its tunes have roll
| ed above the suffice of the Hindostan
| widow, through the temples OF Brahma
and the temple of the Sun at Heliopolis,
! in front of which stood the obeisk now in
| Central Park: back as Ear as tradition
/ runs, stretches the story of amber and
! its preventive and healing powers.
Eight hundred unclassihed insects and
! 1863 unknown plants have been found en-
| bedded i'm its clutch. The largest piece
/ I'm the world weighs Crly thirteen pounds.
/ And to-day, with science advancing by
/ strides in seven-leSgue cots, amber
| laughs at the inventor. for counterfelts
and even the small pieces fused together
may be distinguished from the original
| natural pieces by a magnifying glass fit-
| ted with a NicOl PRISM AT one time
! Nassau street was alive with amber
workers. but except in a few Isolated In
| stances amber work is dead as an Amer
| lean industry. 1t is cheaper to import 1t,
and amber jewelry is no longer fashion
| able.-New York Sun.