Evening star., 1896-02-22


expensive wars and
concessions for working the mines were
exacted from the king as indemnity. Such
was tie idea Of their richness that when
the Burma Ruby Mines Company. Limited,
was orgsnized in London. the spectacle was
witnessed Of white-haired miilionaires be-
ing clubbed away from q bankers Office,
where they blocked in their eagerness to
obtain stock that was subscribed for three
times over before the books were opened
for the public. Immediately selling for
three times par. This stock, however, has
lot earned dividend up to this day, and
Is quoted at less than twenty instead Of
three hundred. Last year the company's
payment to the Indian government was re-
duced to encourage the enterprise. which
has proved very Improbable. The climate
Is the greatest enemy of the European: Of
fifty Ell glsh officers who visited the mines
forty-eight had the local fever, the other
two had had 1t before
The rubies, always associated with the
ruby-red spinel. occur in a layer Of sand
and gravel in the valley bottoms, result
ing from the breaking down Of crystalline
liinsstones. and are obtained by digging
pits as deep as is practicable before they
fill with water. and from open cuttings in
the hillside; also from cavities and caves
In the beds of granular limestone, and
rarely by quarrying into the rock. The
lines tone, the original matriX of the ruby,
is identified with the rock in which Opaque
rubies and immense spinels are found. in
Orange county, New York.
II Slam. the een-producing district lies
IN The interior, not very far from Bang
kck. 1t produces many small. but good
rnhies. sapphires, etc, and is worked by
various Persons and companies holding
concessions from the government. The
gems are found in layer OF soft yellowish
sand, at a depth Of from a few inches to
twenty feet. The methods of working are
Of the most primitive oriental kind.
In Macon county. North Carolina, in an
aiinvial deposit from the breaking down of
crystalline rocks. some very Interesting
crystals OF ruby have been found in fiat
hexagonal tabular forms. number of
small gems have been cut from these. all Of
good color, and quite equal to the medium
fubies from Burma.
The sapphire occurs associated with the
ruby, IN similar situations, and is also found
where riIbles have rot been. as yet. Ceylon
furnishes many Of the best, but they also
occur Of fine quality in Burma, Siam and the
Himalayas. and rarely in the Ural noun
tains and the United States.
In Ceylon the ruby. sapphire, spineI alex
andrite, caSs-eye and other gems are all
found as rolled pebbles In gravel IN or near
Old river beds in the government of Handy.
Where Sapphfres Are Found.
fifteen years are from very remarkable
discovery made in 1850. in the Zenskar range
Of the Himalayas, In northwestern Kashmir
near the line Of perpetual snow A landslide
removed an abundance Of sapphires, which
ct first were used as gunfint by the natives
One writer speaks of having seen about a
hundredweight of them IN the possession OF
single native. Traders. however soon car
rfed them to commercial centers where their
value became known. The Maharajah of
Cashmele promptly sent a regiment of
Sepoys to seize upon the mines and to
harry the natives who were suspected Of
having stones In their possession, or anv
knowledge of new localities where the gem
could be found.
In our own country corundum occurs at
various points along the es stern flank of
the Appalachian mountains At Franklin,
Macon county, North Carolina, Col c. W.
jerks first mined gem sapphires associated
with corundum, and q number OF blue pur-
ple and green stones, as well as ruDies up
to one carat, and of fire color were taken
out Of the crystalline rocks Of this region.
On the MisS3ur river on certain bars near
Helena, and elsewhere In Montana. sap
phiras occur in an auriferous glacial gravel
resting on a slaty bedrock, where they
have been found occasionally with mas
todon bones as a byproduct in gold mining
since 1864.
The Finest Turquofses.
The finest turquoises. and richest in color,
have been found, for centuries in small
Veins In clay slate near Nishapoor near
Meshed, Persia, but these mines, long 60
prolific, have been rudely worked, and are
now almost exhausted. Many turouoises
reach the market from Egypt; they are
really obtained from Mt. Sinai, This
variety. although generally dark blue when
found, often changes In short time to a
milky green. Very lately. also, turquoises
have been announced In New South Wales
Austla ala, but the yield thus far has been
triting and Of very inferior quality. New
Mexico Is the principal source Of supply,
near Santa Fe, and also In the Duno noun
tains Grant county. the rocks here are yell
low and gray quartZite sandstone with
porphyry dykes: the sandstones are. prob
ably, of carboniferous age hut 30 upIifted
and metamorphosed that their sedmeutary
character is obscured.
Companies are now working mines near
Los Cesl!os and the Buno Mountains. New
Mexico, and elsewhere in that region. Much
Of the product is pale in color; but great
quantity Of fine turquoise of robin's-egg
blue, equal to the finest Persian stones, are
obtained and a single piece sold for $4,000 is
Many Of these gems have gone
to Europe, where their excellence is ac-
knoWledged. and the total American sales
from 1890 TO the beginning Of 1894 were not
less than $5ao,o0O. This has proved the most
profitable gem mining in the United States.
Most Productive Emerald Mines.
The most productive emerald mines, af-
fording the finest gems, are near Muzo. an
Aniean village In the state Of Boyaca u
s. OF Colombia, about eighty miles north
west Of Bogota. These mines lie in a deep
round valley, and have been worked for
many centuries before the advent of the
Spaniards. They are now the property Of
the government which rents them to a
company. 1t was emeralds from these
mines that the Spaniards brought from
Peru, and took to Spain. where they were
sold within a short time to Father India
The mine itself is an excavation about 600
feet wide, at the base of an abrupt cliff of
ituminous limestone.
Emerald Mining I'm the United States.
Emerald mining in the United States is of
recent development; at Stony Point iI Alex
ander county, n. c., In 1880. beautiful light
colored specimens were found but not in
profitable quantities Or of good quality.
They occur in red eravelly clay, and in
the gneissoid rock Of the Blue Ridge; the
former decomposition of the latter. As
crystals they are magnificent, but they
have little gem value. All those obtained
by the Emerald and Hiddenite Mining Com
pany, in dozen years of working at these
n II es, have not exceeded $4,000 in value.
Some fifty miles west Of Stony Point in