El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-01-09
A MINE OF PURE CRYSTALS
Romantic Story of Find i'm Ca1ave-
rdS County Cal.

Since balls turned 'frOmqusrtz crys-
tails have obtained q considerable
amount of popularity, chiefly for de-
corative purposes. new mining field
has been opened up for
those who have sufficient con-
fdence in the permanence OF the
present fancy. Thus far the largest
one notable specimen being nowi the
possession OF Miss Helen Gould is
abouts seven and one-half n
diameter, and, together WI old
and silver mount;ngs, is saio , have
cost Miss Gould $500 Bus within
the last year several stons of valuable
crystals have been produced in this
country. and it is hoped
that from from o, some s, OF these
be excavsted in the same neigh bor-
hood, balls may be turned which will
equal the foreign ones in size and
beauty: This immense deposit of
quartz crystals, says the New York
Tri bune, is being worked by a Mil
waukee mining expert, John E. Bur-
ton, and the story of how he came to
undertake the project reads somewhat
like the Captain Kidd tales of caves of
buried treasure.
Several year ago, said Mr.. Burton,
who has just epent a couple of weeks in
this city, "a friend of mine, minera-
logist, who was very i'll and believed he
could not recover, told me q secret
which he had long guarded carefully
Although his story sounded much like
m many the other S;ra improbable ~ss yarns
impressed with the idea that it was
true. Briefly, it was that in An old
cave. the exact location of which he
described carefully, in the Sierra
Nevada mountains, in Cslaveras Coun-
ty, Cal. there we're tons upon tons of
pure quartz crystals, many of them
of huge size. He gave me the name
of the owner OF the property in
which the cave was-Captain Jack
me, to believe what be told me, and to
invessig ate the contents of the wouder-
full cave. After spending many months
in Studying the subject of quartz crys-
tails, and in making inc uiries regarding
the demand for them and their market
value, L decided to try to dis
cover the deposit. Having
located the cave, it was bought by
friend of mine, ard 1 called on Tiffany
terested in quartz crystals. Naturally
they we're little incredulous about
the existence of the cave, but they
said that il my statements were true
they would handle all the crystals 1
could send them.
"Well. it took me seven months to
open the cave, but when I saw the as
considered myself we'll paid for my
time and labor. Last February I ship
ped twelve tOns-an entire carlosd-of
the sparkling stones to Tiffany & Co.
Among these were some magnificent
specimens, but L hope to discover etill
finer ones In the course of the present
winters work"
There is now to be seen at Tiffany 81
Co. g a crystal bali 81 inches in diane
ter which was turned from one of the
GALAXY ras county specimen. 1t is
valued at $1,000. The machinery
for turning the balls is
very expensive, and this
fact, together with the rarity of crystals
that will yield perfect balls of large
size, accounts for the high prices
charged for them. 1t would be pos
sible to produce much larger balls if
occasional flaws were admitted, but
often great deal of waste in the cut
ting. The 81 inch ball now st
inches in diameter. but
owing to the discovery of a small
flaw it had to be cut down and turned
to its present size. The value of the
balls increases far more rapidly when
the diameter Is more than seven inch
es. Mr.. Burton declares that if he
could secure crystal which would
turn a perfect ten-inch ball, such
q sphere would sell for $4,000
without any difficulty. Besides the
use OF the crystals for balls. there is
certain, although limited, market for
them In another way. At present but
tons of pure crystal. cut in facets, are
seen upon fashionable and costly gar
ments, and many of the smaller speci-
mems can be sold for this purnose.