The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-07-09
L TILES @ 3 q ALBER
MANY POWERS .HAvE@BEEN CREDIT
ED 70 THE YELLOW GUM.
The Belief In It's Ability to ward
Off Discusses of the Throat-Used as
Charm Against yariou. Kinds of
oIisfortune In OlLen Times.

OF Discusses Of the Throat-Used as
o Charm .AGninst various Kinds of
1Iisfortune In O1Len Times.
81 want to buyta string of amber
beads" said nervous young man to
q clerk in a large cigar store in Mas
sau street recently Il don't know
just where to get them. but L under
stand you people keep them"
Sorry, my good man. but we are all
out of them at present, but I can tell
you where you can get them And
the clerk gave the young man the adj
dress of a jewelry frl, near by.
Its strange" said the clerk, how
many people come in here to buy am
Der beads. We used to keep q stock on
hand, but there was no money in it for
US, and we gave it up" The clerk was
well informed on the subject and went
on to tell something about amber that
was Interesting indeed. You know,
it is an old superstition" he continued,
that a string of amber beads around
a child's throat will keep OF throat
troubles and especially Group Doctors,
Of course, poohpooh the idea, but moth
ers will swear by the beads. Wheth-
er there is really anything in it or not
1 cannot tell, but 1 must say that peo-
Die testify to the fact that these beads
do wonderful good in throat troubles,
and it is really facts that count
"You know, the idea Is an old one,
and amber was known before the
Christian era. History says that Pop
paea made Nero dress the amphithen-
ter at Rome with amber and had bro
ken pieces strewn IN the arena to pre-
vent the infectious odor of the common
people from reaching her when at the
games during an epidemic. The Turks
were the first to use amber as a mouth
piece for pipes, owing to It's alleged
Quality of not carrying infection. Such
mouthpieces We're first fitted to the
public pipes-those which We're passed
from mouth to mouth.
Few people know where amber real
~ is found, but most of 1t comes from
Prussia, and some from France and
Norway. Gathering of amber 10 no
child's play, but Is fraught with pr1va-
ton, hard work and danger The moth
er whose baby wears string OF beads
knows little Of the risks that were run
to get the yellow gum. In olden times
the amber used to be gathered after
storms. the heavy seas having loosened
the wealth which lay at the bottom of
the shore water. The men would then
venture up to their necks in the surf,
and with long poles, having hooks on
the end, they would rake up the pieces
Of amber and carry them in to shore.
This is now much si1nplided, and
we no longer wait for storms, but in
stead divers are employed, who go to
the bottom of the sea and detach the
rich deposits. When the amber has
been washed and the pebbles have
been picked out, it is passed into re-
volving drums with q certain amount
of sand. which scrubs off the outer
surface 1t is then sorted into about
a dozen different varieties. according
to color and shape. Flat pieces are
used for smokers goods. Round pieces
go to make up beads and fragments
for varniSh.
"The size used to be an important
commercial factor. Now it plays an
uniuportant part 1t Is just as easy
now to make Il large lnouthpiece as 1t
was formerly Il small one. \ few
years ago Il manufacturer as an adVer-
tise1nent made cigarette 1nouthpiece
that was over fifty inches in length
Years ago the price for such a big
stem would have been enormous, but
now it is considerably reduced The
pale pieces OF amber are bought by
the pipe manufacturers of Turkey ana
Egypt The light, whitish colors are
used for ornaments in Italy, and the
finest grades OF ciouded green, gray
ana blue are sent to the United States.
England and France.
.'Nhat is amber? Well. that Is not
so easy 10 answer. Men OF science say
that ages ago. long before Earl n.r1c
carried ut his side the mighty sword.
with the hi,t Of alnhtal, that gave him
warming OF the storm and fight there
stood on the Sanland q mighty forest
OF coJlifcrs. whose descendants today
are found in California and Oregon
These trees piled up around their roots
the golden gum, and when the sea sub
seo1ently viped out the forest the am
her Was buried in its depths. from
which it is now secured.
amber can be traced through che
world as n love philter, 4 charm against
all kinds OF illness, SorcerT. WltcAcfatt
noison and blindness. Hundreds OF
unknown insects and plants have p"eh
found Embedded in the yellow gum.
Strange to say, amber cannot be coun-
forfeited any more than dia mout!S can
Amber used to be very faShiona bic for
ievciry but now it is only used as
pipestems and for warding OFT dis
ORC