Omaha daily bee., 1898-07-01
.COLORADO'S MINING DISPLAY
Centennial State Makes a Most Interesting
Show at the Exposition.
EXHIBITS SOME MARVELLOUS SPECIMENS
Everything the state Produces In the
Way of ore. Metal or stone Is
Placed in Easy Access of
the Inauirinp Public.

'-o
ley OF Colorado have completed the i~nstalla-
tion of the Colorado exhibit in the Mines
building and left for Denver Thursday night.
Commissioners Lee Will return as soon as
possible and will probably spend most OF his
time in Omaha until the exposition closes.
During the last week the Colorado repre-
seutatives have put in what many expert
mineralogists declare to be the most COM
plete and meTitorious mineral exhibit that
has ever been shown at any exposition. 1t
includes specimens that represent prac-
tically every form in which native gold is
found and the showing OF native silver is
scarcely less complete. The arrangement Of
the exhibit is especially satisfactory and the
visitor is able to discover at a glance any
specimen that he wishes to eXamine. The
booth which covers 1000 square feet Is very
artistically designed and decorated. although
the decorations are not quite complete on ac-
count of the fact that the visible supply OF
bunting in Omaha has been Temporarily
exhausted. In the center of the entrance
stands a hugh pyramid of quartz which con-
tains specimens from nearly all the mines
in the state. This is especially artistic in
its construction, and is designed to contain
a sample of each species of mineral in order
that people who wish to examine a par
ticular ore may be accommodated without
going into the cases. The apex of the
pyramid is a silver nugget from the famous
Mollie Gibson mine, which weighs 1871
pounds and which would coin into SIP sill
yer dollars. A small case at the light con-
tains a unique specimen of tellurium quartz,
across the face of which appears n golden
cross that has been brought out by passing
the flame of u blow pipe over the surface.
Some interesting Specimens.
The fiat cases that fill the bulk of the
space behind the pyramid contain the native
specimens, while the upright cases that are
ranged around three sides of the booth show
the economical or commercial ores and min
erals. The exhibit of native gold ore is
particularly interesting. The most striking
specimen is a twenty-seven-p pound nugget
from the Smuggler Union mine at Telluride.
which contains ten pounds of pure gold and
would assay 2,140. There are also some
very rich brown ores from the Leadville dis
trict and an especially handsome showing OF
the famous crystalized gold from the Breck-
inbridge district, which is conceded to pro-
duce the most beautiful specimens in the
world. The crystals are shown in every
conceivable snaps and some of them are as
delicate as snowflakes in their feathery out
lines. There are also specimens of native
gold in every conceivable combination with
other metals and the silver exhibit is ar
ranged in the same manner.
Not the least attractive feature of the eX-
hibit is the display of iron pyrites, which in
cludes some very pretty crystals from the
Gilpin district. These are purely natural
specimens, but to the uninitiated observer
they look as though they had been carved
from the most highly polished steel. Next
TO these is a very extensive display of
Amazon stones from the west side of Pixies
Peak, which are not only extremely attrac-
tive, but are an entire novelty to a large
proportion of the exposition visitors. The
display of lead ores is also very complete
and other cases show collections of topaz,
garnets, polished quartz, sapphires and
various other miscellaneous minerals. A
very novel feature is the case of thomsonite
from the School of Mines at Golden. Some
of the specimens resemble masses of fine
cotton in rough shells, so fine is their
natural structure. There is also a very
handsome exhibit of native onyx and
marbles, some of which are almost as beau
tiful as the finest specimens of imported
marbles.
COIOrndO's Commercial Ore.
The upright cases around the sides of the
booth contain specimens of commercial ore
from every producing mine in Colorado.
Each specimen is labeled with the name of
the mine and its owner and the value OF the
ore. Between the cases are pillars con-
structed from the marbles and building
stones of the state and above them hang a
series of panoramic pictures worked in oils
which illustrate the various mining sections
and cities of the state. These are extremely
interesting, as every feature of the land
scape is perfectly reproduced even to the
actual colors of the houses and the appear
ance of the soil.
Specimens of coal and coke and manufac-
tured iron are displayed on the outside OF
the booth and the arrangement of the score
or more of samples of coal is a type of the
thoroughness with which the entire exhibit
has been classified and arranged. Each
specimen is a cube of coal six inches square
and in each case the label tells not only
where the specimen came from, but also its
analysis, the comparative amount of caloriC
that it will furnish and every other item OF
information that a visitor might wish tc
know. This principle has been followed in
the arrangement of the entire exhibit, anG
there is scarcely a fact or feature relative
to Colorado mineralogy that cannot be dis.
covered almost at a glance.