The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-03-12
AMBER'S ANCIENTGLORY.
MYSTIC VIRTUES ASCRIBED TO TIE
GUM IN ALL ACES.
Exhaustion Of tho Prussisn Vein and the
Discovery of Mine In Csn"ds-Dznger
and Difficulty In Amber mining.

omcscv of the beads. Thousands Of moth
.rv will swear by them. The idea ante
dates the Christian era Poppaea made
Nero dress the amphitheaire al Rome
with amber. and ad shields OF IL broken
iI the arena to prevent the INFECTIOUS odor
of the common people from reacnfng her
when at tie games during an epidemic in
Rorro rho frs, use OF the amber as a
fnouthpiocc for pipes followed, "hen the
Turks learned OF its alleged quaity OF
not carrying infection. ouch mouth
pieces were frs: fitted 10 the pubic
pipes, those which are passeu from mouth
TO mouth IN the markets. seoIe Vi more
heinr attached TO one large bowl contain
ing tobacco.
For nearly three thousand yeacs the
worlds suupIy of amber has been taken
firm the region which lies between
Frische-Ha0 and the kurische-Haff on
tie Samland peninsula IN frussla' anu
II il more than likely the amber gain
ercrs Of the North" the mystic Aesu or
prehistoric days, gathered IL there Ior
the forty-th oUsand-year- worship OF
the Brahmas. Traces OF AMBER nave peeh
found In Hindostan. and some iar-reach-
ING veins of the Prussian deposit have
been found I'm Norway. France, Germany
Poland. and Russia. but never IN working
ouantities Two years ago an importent
=
discovery of amber was made by %. >.
Klatz the Government asnOnoIne. OF
Canada. who reported finding an extern
sive mine at Saskatchewan, near Oeuai
Creek. This discovery is the more I'M
portant because IL is fact wen es'dp-
iished though carefully denied BY the
Samland people. that the Prussiah sup
ply is about at an end.
The gathering Of amber Is no cniid
play. but is fraught with prlVation' nara
work. and danger. The mother whore
baby wears a string of the yellow heaas
around its tiny throat has little idea OF
the risks run in gathering them. When
the gathering of amber first commenced
in historic times a rude. hardy body OF
men banded themselves together and lived
on the bleak Samland, waiting until the
storms rolled up heavy seas, ana so
loosened the wealth which lay at the bot
tom of the shore water, held iast by
rocks and sand. When the storms aoated
the hardy fellows. with long poles shod
with hooks of iron. ventured shoulder
deep into the rolling, icy surges, ana
raked IN and carried ashore the pieces
detached by the surges. These were Lana
I'm houses on the beach and were roughly
sorted bv the women and old people.
and sold for the benefit Of the community.
In the fifteenth century the Teutonic
knights received the right TO collect the
fragrant gum, and il was they who flrst
conceived the idea that the veins must
run under the land, and so commenced
10 mine for II. as well as 10 ilsh Tor II.
Then the Government eventually TOOK
hold OF t. and to-day the privilege is
leased 10 the firm OF Stantien q Becker,
who pay the Government about $2oOcO
year for the privilege. Win the progress
of modern times the old-tlme worker
waiting for storms disappeared. and in
his place came large boats, equipped with
experienced divers, who could go 10 the
bottom and detach the rich deposits.
The reef was found to extend co feet in
length and 400 feet In width and 10 be a
mass Of almost solid chunks OF amber.
What had furnished the richest find OF
other DAYS was seen TO be only the fringe
of the great mass. Storms let the divers
work only about nine months IN the
wear. The divers dress differed from the
regular suit because the amber seeker
had 10 work in a recumbent position. The
helmet was fixed sloping forward, instead
OF erect upon the shoulders, and the Cog
giles were placed at an angle looking DOWN
ward instead of straight ahead. on his
back he carried curious reservoir or box
which was supplied with air by the pumps
I'm the boat. and was fitted with d valve
arrangement to give just one respiration
Of air at a time. Another special pipe
carried off the carbonic acid gas as II
was exhaled. This reservoir and It's at
tachments were rendered necessary by
the hard breathing produced by the heavy
work, and the necessity OF the diver
to stay below and carry away whatever
pieces OF amber he might start to loosen
because, If left, the sea would possibly
carry the amber away. Some OF the
lumIs obtained required four. divers 10
loosen them and get them I" the surface
The work was so hard that even in the
depth Of winter, when the water is very
cold. the men would come TO the surface
bathed in perspiration. Then came the
day Of steam dredges. In 1891 the pro-
duct Of the reef was POI $50 Kilograms of
amber. In that year the operations on
the reef were discontinued. Deca sc of the
exhaustion of the supply under the water
and the land mines, which had orly been
PARTIALLY worked, received closer atten-
ton.
in the early da! of the mines, fifty
years ago. there were endless troubles
amorg the men. and disputes ever the
rights TO certain patches between the
Government and the landowners. Moon
light" amber was then as omnipresent a
fact as moonlight" whisky in Tennessee.
Then the Government passed very
stringent law against digging for amber
under any eli cumsctances until the for
ration of the present company, with its
II odern methods and appliances. In the
mines were encountered gre alter dangers
than those of the storm and uhdertow.
All the veins ran out toward the sea,
presumably to the reef. The amber was
found mixed with heavy gray-blue clay,
and above and around this clay vas sand
50 that a miscalcUlation OF position, a
chance blow with a pickaXe or spade. or
the clearing away Of rock either by
the men in the tunnel or at the bottom
Of the ocean by heavy storm, might at
any moment produce a weak spot into
which the water might soak and soak,
then drip and drip, until suddenly the
corridors would be flooded from end TO
end. The corridors were shored up with
timbers, Government inspectors Were APP
pointed, and great pumps were kept goin5
day and night, for as the men were -.
ways working at the far ends of each
corridor, on new ground, II was only eter-
nal watchfulness which gave even the
promise OF safety. In spite OF all vigil
lance, in February, 1891. just such.a assure
was made in the ocean bed, and food
poured in beyond the lower OF the pumps
10 cope with. II occurred at night. Ii
it had taken place during the working
hours not man in the corridors. could
have escaped. Search proved. that the
main fissure was above the usual high
water mark, and that an unusually high
storm had driven the water up to IL after
a three days gale. This fortunately is
the only recorded disaster in the mine up
TO date.
The miners go down into the corridors
CARRYING a pickaxe. Strapped at their