The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-08-25

some secret fire. The lapidary, strange
man! was honest and he did not enthuse
over his commission. Still he set at work
and polished the stone and handed it
over to the owner.
rs this the gem you received yester-
day. the owner demanded with a look
OF amazement at the tame lifeiess bit
of glass
Inc honest lapidary, so runs the tale
TOOK back the stone, turned to his lathe
and roughened the opaIs surface. When
10! as II in protest, out leaped the flames
of light once more The polishing of the
stone had allowSd the light to pass with
out any breaking up of the rays
Just as the man had decided to have
his opal rough and glorious rather than
pollshed and tame, the stone snapped in
two, IN an unpleasant way opals have
when on the lapidary's wheel The
halVes We're cemented together and put
In drawer among other decrepit and
useless things. There they stayed for
months.
Then some one, hunting in the drawer
Tor something, caught the light of the
glowing fame from a dark corner. The,
neglected opal had decided to mend its
ways as Well as itself, and, cement and
all, was more brilliant than ever Tr
was set and has behaved very well ever
since PerhapS the sense of this mys-
ferrous personality in an opal may be
responsible for the superstitious fear
of it,
Opals come to this country from Hun
gary ana Australia in the rough. Those
from Mexico and Central America are
cut and polished near the mines. often
to the damage of the stone. Those
Whlch come from abroad are still in the
uatrlX or native rock. The average
ones are cut and polished bv the whole
sale dealers, but they keep the largest
ana hnest specimens uncut so as to
shape them for special orders
II is delicate task to cut and polish
an opal, because, if overheated, II
breaks. otherwise the work is quite
simple. 1t is cut with lead wheel
Galled a lap with emery on the surface
men II is polished with pumice. and
nnaIly Frightened with putty powder. A
SOU SIone is sold, when cut and polish
eu' al ABOUT SO carat, although there
Is WIDE variation in price, according 10
the brl1l1ancy and colors Under the
ploWpipe the opal cracks but does nor
melt: 1t dissolves in a solution of colo
caustic potash Consequently nnitbn-
potash nor blowpipes can be recarnmendl
Gu Ioie op2ls unless you think thew are
qlHucky and want to get rid of Them
IN that case one might try SMASHING r.,
suspected stone with a hammer. as one
Ii,,iS ulu' or throwing it into the semi
did '' "Aolner woman
~, II an opal grows dull, as it often does
iLi may mean simply that it needs mol.
t that Tho sometimes, though, it means
o omad me opal is pining for the wafer
cure or the oil cure. Try putting yoJr
dHdeiinc opal IN one of these fluids ana
n nb II II doesn't brighten up HYDRO
HJtieiie' ne DUBIOUS member of the fa M
n.y. is often transformed by being haiiad
IN IN OIL. 1t becomes brilliant and STAYS so
Generally opals are more brilliant
when they are warm. That is the req Ease, Snn
tne dealer often holds them in his hands
1911 eAnlpltlng them. There is one ia
nSoiTt 4 tPl' however, which is contrary
ABOUT this. 1t was in the Hope coIiec,
Ion ana was ordinarily a translucent
stone OF an emerald green color.
w 1en II got too warm it lost its color.
tI triIn tge 7,I was its temper, and
oClHeq Gull and Opaque. AS soon as it
cooled off, it became Translucent AMI
prililant once more
nr "a lew Years ago black opals We're
pIoQuced. or introduced. The authorities
On the stone admitted that the new opal
was beautiful, but thev questioned its
G %eT naturalness; The stones sold
genuine black opals coming from Queens
land One Of them sold for IS, 900
II seems STRANGE that stone can so
SG 7ToIl ct: lose its character as a good
luck brlnger. The Romans thought the
oeaI the most wonderful and desirable
OF gems The unfortunate Nonius had
an an, opal which was considered the mar
about the size of a fIbert.
,Antonius set his heart on it. but
Nonlus ran away into exile taking his
opal with him. That stone is variouslv
quoted it from e20,OO0 to e170. 900 The
latter figures are probably from the vel
low journals of the day Still it was evil
gently considered a prize, worth for
tune OF. poor Noniusl worth exile
And ncw-now the jewellers tell how
fldgety ladies' and giggling schoolgirls
bring back anaopal which has been given
them and ira de it of for something any
thing! And the opaIs heart burns-you
can see it!-bFt it bides its time