Weekly independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1887-1914, 1895-04-21

A species OF Marble That 1s Much
Used In This Country.
Used by the Aneisnts for MAkipE Masks
and Idois-where the largest Do
posits OF tho Agate Arc
~ Found. q

Some officers OF the United states
army In tho war with Mexico noticed
in n chapel of hat country n rarely
beautiful window made OF thin trans
lucent pieces of richly colorcd stone.
One of the officers brought home some
pieces OF the stone and left IL with "a
jcwclcr In this city to be dressed and
shipped, but being ordered to the
frontier he went away without rccciv-
ing the finished material back from the
jcwclcr. This was the first OF the stone
seen IN this country, and II attracted no
great attention. About thirty years
later considerable quantities of the ma
terinl were exhibited us Mexican onyx
Mt the Centennial exposition Mt Phila-
dclphia.
The Mexican onyx OF hat day was
greatly admired, but the price was SO
high, about ten times what It now Is,
that the material was looked upon Ms n
scmi.prccious stone. Ever since 1876
the material has become cheaper and
cheaper, until TO- it is used in largo
quantities, though only in expensive
structures. One Of the earliest build
ings to contain n large quantity OF
Mexican onyx was Il luxurious London
hotel built not many years ago. It's
staircase OF Mexican onyx cost twenty
five thousand dollars. Many new build
ings in this. city, says the New York
Sun, have been ornancntcd by the
lavish use of Mexican onyx. A great
business building downtown has u
stairway of this stone, md several Of
the new Fifth avenue hotels have onyx
wainscoting and stairways. a private
house in Chicago has twenty-five thou
sand dollars worth of Mexican onyx in
the hall.
Mincralogists have known nll along
that Mexican onyx is not n true ONYX,
but n species OF marble. II is specially
nm nragonitc, mndc up of calcium, oxide
of iron and magnesium. To the last
two II owes its peculiar beauty of color.
Several of the Mexican states send ONYX
to MS, but the largest deposits are found
near Tccali, in the state of Pueblo. II
was used by the ancient Mcxicans for
masks, idols and other small objects,
and some of the modern Mcxicans, find
ing these works Of their ancestors adj
mircd by travellers, turn out like objects
from the stone and sell them Mt good
prices. William Cooper, of Espcranzn,
found about seven years ago In n vol.
cano of Mexico II deposit that il now
called mosaic agate. II is II peculiarly
beautiful sort Of Mexican onyx. in
which the formation has been broken
up under pressure. There are n Cali
fornia onyx and an Arizona onyx, each
being n marble OF amber hues, and
%nragonitc is also found in Iowa.
Mexican onyx Is easily worked, and
has been used not only for building
purposes, but for ornamental household
articles, lamp standards, table tons,
mantcls, and other articles. large and
small. Some of II earlier articles of
the sort ave considerably decreased in
value since the price of the onyx came
down and IL has been so lavishly used
i'll building. II Is, of course, not suited
for statunry, because its varicgatcd col
ors would give the subject n motley M.
rcarancc that would not be beautiful,
but absurd. The material is too yalu-
able to be used much in places where
IL would he exposed to the weather.
itS use mas become so extended in this
city that it is now largely imported by
n few marble dealers. IL hardly gives
IN the crude state the promise Of it's
finished beauty, and scraps and frag-
incnts of the crude stone arc nov
wasted that would have been eager
preserved were its price what Il wa
nineteen years ngo. II may be doubted
whether my church of the United
States has been decorated as the little
Mexican chapel OF nearly fifty years
ago.
An extensive dealer in Mexican ONYX
and other marblcGS says that the stone
is less used than IL was ten years mo,
80 he thinks, because other and cheaper
stones, notably African marble, are
mere beautiful. There have been
within n few years several notable
speculative importntions of Mexican
onyx. In some OF these eases tho i'm
portcrs, finding the sale unexpectedly
slow, were unable tn pay the duties
II the quantity in port broke tho
price. Mexican onyx sells In the rough
Mt six to twenty dollars IL cubic
foot. Large pieces fetch more thar
their proportional price. Tho saving
into slnbs adds about two dollars q
cubic foot To the price, and the further
cutting, fitting and polishing greatly
increases the value OF the stone. There
is often n loss Of forty per cent. Of "a
tcrial in preparing Il for w~ainscotiug
So TINT the finished product fctchcs ms
high MS six dollars n foot, When ono
inch thick specially beautiful spcci
mems fetch oven more, and Il is posi-
bic to run mp the cost OF n building
decorated with specially chosen onyS
TO n fabulous sum.