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

crown jewels and was apparently quite
willing to take it. But when the rumor
got out, his loving subjects had chlls of
terror. They wrote him letters by the
score, pleading with him not to tempt
tate by consorting with opals.
They evidently thought that if the opal
was put into the crown jewels it would
bring bad luck to the kingdom. From
that point of view the king ag eed that
they had right to be consulted He said
ne mad no SqueamiShneSs about epaIs
himself, but if his loving subjects would
be more comfortable without opaIs. the
crown jewels would have to worry along
win Just kohinoor diamonds and big
pearl-shaped rubies
OF course, the people who had cold
chllls over the prospect of an opal in the
royal JeWelry pointed to the French
crown jewels. Some of them are still
eXtant even though the monarchy has
gone to rack and ruin There We're two
big opals in the French outfit One was
IN the Order of the Golden Fleece: the
other served as clasp on the imperial
robe. 1t was unfortunate for Louis XIV
that these jewe's did not make his eve
sight good enough to see what a mess
his kingdom was getting into
Inc Duke and the Duchess of Corn
vail apparently have no fear of the opal
hoodoo. At Queensland they received a
they accepted with alacrity. The super
stttious will now be on the lookout for
disaster. The German royal family has
an open fondness for this maligned stone
and manages to get along without more
than its share of hard luck
1t is said that Sir Walter Scott is the
guilty man who started the prejudice
against this stone which had previously
borne such a good reputation The opal
in Anne of Geierstein'' was q malevo-
lent specimen of it's kind and struck a
chill to the hearts of all SCOTS readers.
The prejudice took root grew and flour
ished. ut has had it's day now and is
rapidly dying out.
But there are plenty of men and
women even now who shy at wearing
an opal. Tney assert somewhat sheep
lshly that they're not exactly super
st-tious, but they have a feeling"
about the matter. A gem expert con-
nected with one of the large jewelry
houses here owned up to having
feeling" aga INST ora,s. One of the lead
ing Chicago jewelers. has this feeling to
such an extent that he won't keep an
opal for sale. That is a sad thing for
his trade because for a number of years
the opal has been one of the most fash
ionable of precious stones
There is one respect in which the opal
is absolutely unique. 1t cannot be inli-
there are opals which are not worth five
cents. But there are no paste opals. a
piece of opalescent glass might be mi
taken for one of thee fve-cent opals,
but scarcely for anything much better.
jewelers. divide opals into various class
es. common, semi-fire. wood moss,
precious or noble and harlequin.
great many persons think that
precious stones have certain living
nature. 1t would be easy to feel tn
way about an opal. 1t has so much in
diViduality; it plays such queer tricks
with you and with itself
For instance, there is a certain variety
of opal which is an Opaque VIII tie in its
ordinary condition. But if you put it in
water it gradually be comes transparent
and sometimes develops brilliant flashes
of color. And that isn't all. 1t | k s
warm water better than cold and also
for its morals, sp rits of wine better than
| anything. When it gets over its little
-Jag' IKE some of its human prototypes,
it gets dull and lifelc IS once more.
Mr.. kunZ, the well known gem ex-
pert, has suggested using this hydro
/ phane, as it is called as a magic stone.
A lock of hair, or a tiny photography or
other small object could be enclosed in
it and would be quite invisible except
When the stone became transparent
through drink. 1t is sat u that q IS hydro
PlldHe VIII ur4nR Almost Its own bulk OF
water, which quite beats any German
beer drinking on rec, I'd.
The finest opals come from Hungary
and, of late yt ars, from Australia and
Queensland. Opals are not picked I'D as
diamonds are. They form veins in the
| rock. Generally these veins are very
thin, mores the pity. That is the trouble
with the opa4 deposits on this continent.
so far as they have been explored.
When the patch of opal isn't more than
an eighth or a quarter of an inch in
thickness it can't be cut to advantages
| espec ally as it is very brittle. jewelers.
who handle opals and the lapidaries who
cut them, as we'll as some careless per-
sons who have dropped their own opais
know this fact to their sorrow
! The Hungary mines seem to be almost
worked out so far as the largest and
finest specimens are concerned. In 400
more than 800 miners were employed in
the most famous of these mines whe e
now only about thirty men are at work
| The largest opals in existence came from
this mine.
One of them is in the imperial cabinet
| at Vienna. 1t weighs seventeen ounces
ana rumor says that half million forms
was offered for it and refused. The
Empress Josephine had superb opal
called the Burning of Troy, because of
| the wonderful plays of flames in it. This
stone is an example of the eccentricity
of the opal While it was alive with