Arizona silver belt., 1901-02-21
AMERICAN GEMS.
Recent Discoveries of Ruby and Sapphire Deposits.
COMPARE FAVORABLY WITH BEST
Wonderful Sapphire Deposits Have Been Found at Yogo Guleh, Mon tana. The Ruby and Sapphire
 Field in North Carolina

This country is looking up as n pro
 ducer of gems. We have no diamon,
 fields, but Tn certain other preciou,
 stones we seem to be richer than W,
 thought-so much richer, Tn fact ths
 our rubies and sapphires, obtained
 frem deposits newly discovered, may
 yet rival the Oriental product in tn,
 market. At Yogo gulch, in Montana
 has been found curious rock forma
 tion containing wonderful sapphires, which though lighter in color than those of Ceylon, are much more bril- liant and really more beautiful, having the additional advantage of sparkle at night, whereas the Eastern stones are usually dull by artificial light. At the same time certain gravels Tn North Carolina are yielding exquisite rubies,
 with some emeralds of the first water, and strikes" elsewhere promise to augment largely our output of other kinds of gem crystals.
 Yogo gulcb is on the Yogo fork of Judith river, 75 miles northeact of Helena Sapphires were found s while ago in the gravels of the fork, and by following these up the creek the orig inal source of the stones was located in two veins of volcanic rock that run parallel across the country, and which, each of them being about 20 feet wide, may be traced easily for distance of mile and a half. In the Yogo gulch deposits not long ago was found cop per colored ruby, which was offered for S25 to anybody who might want to purchase it. Its actual value was 5000, inasmuch as it was the only one of its kind in the world Its color was that of burnished copper
 Sapphires were first found in Mon taua while working the gravels of cer- tain bars of the Missouri river, east of Helena, for gold The auriierous stuff containing them is only few inches thick, and in the same layer occur garnets of rich ruby red and also topaz crystals The sapphires have strikingly beautiful metallic lus- ter. Most of these stones, which are obtained for distance of l2 miles from Canyon Ferry down to American Bar, are put on the market through the Helena lapidary company. They are pale greenish or greenish yellow, with occasional pink ones. anything approaching red or blue ones being very rare One sapphire from Eldo- rado Bar was an inch long by half an inch in diameter
 RICH FINDS IN MONTANA
 On the west fork of Rock creek, 35 miles southwest of Phiilpsbnrg, Mon tana, rich sapphire bearing gravels have been recently found. and are be ing worked SO extensively that the yield for last season IS reported st 900, GOO earats of rough crystals, ,000 carats being proper gem material, fit for cutting. In color these stones are more valuable than those of the Mis-. souri river bars, and the prevailing blnish green tint is deeper, Pale blue ones have yielded handsome stones of two or three carats Incidentally, Rock creek has yielded some of the finest yellow sapphires (topaz) ever seen, and a number of beautiful pink ones have been obtained. These gems bring high prices. though not valued equally with the deep blue sappbires, being re- garded as fancy stones. Sapphire is form of corundum. Corundnm is composed mainly of alumins, and, be- ing extremely hard, is of great value as an abrasive.
 Meanwhile. s ruby field has been discovered in the Cowee Valley of North Carolina, a short distance north l of the town of Franklin. Attention was first directed to the matter through | the finding of a number of fine crystals | of this gem material by people who happened to pick them up System. stlc search disclosed the fact that there | were many rubies in the grayels of the i valley for distance Ot three miles, and | now number of claims are being reg | nlarly worked with profitable results. ! The gravels that contain the stones are | covered to depth oi two feet or more with soil. which has to be removed in | order to reach the gem bearing layer. In color these rubies are equal to the | famous ones of Burmah, some of them | having the true pigeon blood" tint, and a number of the stones, when cut, have yielded gems of three or four carats.
 RUBIEs THAT ARE VALUABLE.
 Rubies, of course, are the most precious of all stones, A gem of this kind weighing one carat, unfawed and of good color, is worth twice as much as pure white diamond of equal size, while Il ten carat ruby of first quality will fetch $50, 00O- that is to say, about S70O, 900 au ounce Rubies vary in hue from rose to pigeons blood 1 which IS the most highly prized. The finest ones in the world are found in the Mogok district 90 miles northeast of Mandalay, in upper Burmah. Small but fine ones, pink or else purplish, are obtained from Ceylon, while good many dark red ones, resembling gar. nets, are sent to market from Siam
 The first sapphires and rnbies ever | discovered in this country were found | at Corundum Hill. in North Carolina, a locality which has also yielded some beautiful emeralds. Iu that neighbor- hood have been obtained many hard | blue .apphires of great value, as well i as some crystals. both yellow and blup.