The evening times., 1898-05-11
rourm.line . National Gem.

(From the Boston Travelcr)
The tourmaline. the flower of the
mineral Kingdom has become the fad.
1t is a distinctive American gem. and,
consequently, aside from its value and
beauty. arouses the patriotic spirit and
appeals to the 'love OF country" sentI-
ment. And fashion has declared in its
favor. OF all the precious stones 1t pos
sesses the one mysterious quality of hav-
ing two or more colors in the same crys-
tai. and for this one reason 1t well de-
serves its growing popularity. 1t has the
peculiar property of .polarizing light.
Despite the recent discoveries of fresh
deposits at Mt. Mica, Me-, which yield
large numbers (the, greatest stores yer
known of exquisite specimens. 1t is still
comparatively rare. and that will en-
hance its value, both commercially and
as social and fashionable favorite.
This Mt Mica is near the town of Par
is. in the rock-ribbed State of sheen.
lumber and fish,, There on the brow OF
a little hill, one of the spurs of the
''streaked mountain is one of the most
remarkable mineral deposits on the globe.
From an area % feet square there have
been obtained nearly 70 varieties of min
erals. some of them of extreme beauty.
and rarity. This spot was discovered
as long ago as 1920 by two students. Eli
Jah l.. Hamlin and Ezekiel Jones' while
hunting for geological specimens. Subse-
quent mining by blasts discovered many
cavities. which were literal treasure box
es. being lined with beautiful CRYSTALS OF
rainbow hues
Incidentally. 1t may be stated that
there is a strong inference that the mag
nihcent ruby in the. Russian crown is
in all probability a tourmaline and 80
likewise may be the monster red gem
which hangs as a pendant to the Jade
necklace. formerly belonging to the Chit
nese emperor, which is now the property
OF the French government having been
captured at the taking of Pekin In 1850
A magnificent group of pink tourmalines
was given by the King of Burmah to
Col Sykes. while the latter was COM
missioner at his court.
Tourmalines are also found in Siberia.
in the ural mountains. in Ceylon and in
Brazil. but none to compare with the
American crystals which have been
mined in Canada, Massachusetts. Con-
necticut. New Hampshire and slightly in
some of the northeast counties of New
York. and in California black crystals six
10 eight inches in diameter occur in fields
par veins in the mountains between San
Diego and the Colorado desert Some of
the crystals are red at one end and green
at the opposite. while others have a green
exterior and red core. Blue and pur-
pie varieties are occasionally found.
Mineralogists are unable to account for
this eccentricity of hues. and physicists
are equally puzzled by the strange cleo
trical properties Of the tOurma,ine 1t is
natural magnet. with a positive and neg
ative pole of attraction and repulsion.
The United States. aside from diamonds.
seems to be prominent in gem production.
The bulk of the worlds supply of fine
turquoises is now obtained from New
Mexico. where great numbers of large
stones equal in quality to the best of
Persian origin are mined annually They
even hold their color better. The finest
garnets in the world are also founS here.
In the vicinity of Moscow, Idaho, the vol
canic rocks are found honeycombed with
cavities. which in many instances con-
tain precious opals The gem material is
supposed to have been deposited by water
when the rocks were hot. In Oregon some
very beautiful ones are found in a bed of
volcanic ashes. Large. masses of cinders
being broken open reveal them. and
one Is a fire" or a noble opal