The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1899-10-31
THE GEMS OF NEW YORK,
VARIETY OF THE PRECIOUS STONES
FOUND IN THE STATE,

Residents of New York customarily
look to the West and South and to
foreign countries for precious and
semi precious stones in their natural
state, but in the Empire State are To
be found some of the most beautiful
known. Underlying New York CITY
are gem -beariug quartz veins, but
these vaults are now locked and in
accessible. The seeker after precious
stones long ago gave up his place to
the real-cstate dealer, who has made
more money i'll building up than the
other could have by digging down.
An idea of the variety and beauty
OF the precious stones found in New
York State may be gathered from a
visit to the Tiffany Morgan collection
OF gems, belonging to the State
Cabinet atiAlbany, and to the Mineral
ogical Clubs collection in the Museum
OF National History. On Manhattan ISL
and are found ,the yellow aquamarine.
or beryl, the pale-green beryl. and
the small, transparent red garnet, the
quartz veins bearing them traversing
the arch1an rocks. The same veins
occur elsewhere in the State towards
the Adirondack region. In Lewis
County, however, precious stones are
most abundant. Here arc found. in
particular, great quantities of purple
and red garnets. At Newcomb, in the
same county, beautiful CRYSTALS of
brown tourmaline are found. Profess
sor Beecher, of Yale, made this dis
covery some time ago. In Richville.
in the towns hip of De Kalb. the finest
crystals of pyroXene are picked ND
from time to time. Cut into gems
weighing from three TO thirty carats
each, they possess q peculiar charm
They are of rich, oily green, differ
ing from the tourmaiine, pcridot. or
green garnet
One of the most valuable of the ma
tive precious stones is the titanic or
sphene, which is found in the .'TilIy
Foster mine, near Brewster's, in Put
nam County. This crystal is of n
brllIlant golden substance, and a great
tavorlte with lapidaries. Cut into
gems, 1T shows a greater play of color
than the diamond itself, it is said by
/ MIR. Kunz, the Government expert. 1t
would be one of the most remarkable
gems but for its softness; in beauty
and coloring it is unmatched. A sim
gle stone, in its natural form. brings
from 500 to $500. In oxcavating for
the ship canal on the upper end of
New York Island, crystals of smoky
quartz were found in blasting the
magnesium limestone. SO exquisite
In their capitalization and natural
polish were they that they had only
to be cut into smoky topaz.
Gouverneur, in ST Lawrence County.
seems to be the home of the tourma
line. One of these stones, of the col.
lection of Elihu Root. ST., is as thick
as n mans neck. Occasionally the
crystals are transparent enough TO af-
ford gems of from one to five carats
each. In Orange County, near Sus.
sex, on the New Jersey line, crystals
of sapphire are found, but they are
not sufficiently transparent to be of
much value. Recently they have been
referred to in certain scientific articles
because their occurrence in a lime
stone, such as that in which they are
here found, is identical with the oc.
currence of the true ruby in the valley
of the Mogok, Burma, where the most
highly priced pigeon-blood rubies are
found. All the way from Lewis County
to Coney Island there are boulders OF
chatoyant, iridescent feldspar, known
as Labrador spar. Masses have been
broken from the original deposit at
Keeseville and scattered during the
glacial period, until now they lie all
the way TO the terminal moraine in
Prospect Park, Brooklyn. The spar
exists in such quantities in one of the
rivers in Lewis County, and the colors
are so beautifully brought ont. that
tho river has been called Opal River.
LabradOrite shows play of red. green,
blue, purple, and yellow-like a pea
cock fcather-where it is fractured or
cut, il the light strikes it in certain
way.
Although, strictly speaking. it is not
precious stone, tho pearl has been
found in many Of the fresh water
brooks and rivers in this State. Pearl
River in Nyack has produced numbers.
as have also several OF the rivers in
st. Lawrence County These pearls
bring from 81 TO 500 each. Gen.
orally they are not white, but much
interest attaches TO tho tinting-pink.
violet, purple and brown. the pearl
being always the color OF the shell i'm
which it is formed. The so.called
Lake George diamonds" are more
beautiful than valuable. When found
in their natural setting Of calciferous
sandstone, they arc moro beautiful
than the diamond OF the African
mines when it is FIRST brought 10
light. They are found in great pro
fusion III Herkimer County, and they
are usually set i'm pins aud charms.
jewelers. say, however, that nowhere
do they look so we'll as i'm their nat
ural state, and minoralogists discover
them always with delight. The cry
stalls, when they are fine, are snowy
white, like Carrara marble, and when
free from flaws very beautiful Some.
times they are found go minute that
when carefully sorted from tho mud
it takes from 10000 Co 900. 900 TO
weigh n single ounce; md each cry
stall IS as perfect a. the largest. hay
ing eighteen perfect faces. Generally
the so-cnlled Loko George diamonds
sold in cities are no moro crystal on
quartz than are rhineslones bought
in Paris cut from Rhine pebbles. +
The namo is merely n catch. penny
one