The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1904-07-11
QUAI.ITIES o!F a aBElIR
MANY POWERS HAVE BEEN CREDIT
90 TO THE YELLOW GUM.


zhc heller IN Its AbxIEty 10 ward
a Charm Alxaizas Various E1tnda or
Alfsfortnne IN OIaen Illness
Il want to buy string OF amber
beads" said nervous young man to
a clerk in large cigar store In Mas
san street recently. Il don't know
just where to get them. but | under
stand you people keep them"
Sorry. my good, man, but we are aIi
out of them at present. but can tell
you where you can get them" And
! the clerk gave the young man the adj
I dress Of u jewelry firm near by.
ITS strange" said the clerk, "how
many people come in here to buy ans
Der beads. We used TO keep a stock on
hand but there was no money in 1t Tor
us, and we give 1t up" The clerk was
wclI informed on the subject and went
on to tell something about amber that
was interesting indeed. You know,
1t is an old superstition" he continued,
..that a string of amber beads around
a chiIFs throat will keep OF throat
troubles ana especially Group. Doctors,
of course, poohpooh the idea, but moth
ers win swear by the beads. Wheth-
| er there is really anything In 1t or not
I 1 cannot tell, but must say that peo-
pie testify to the fact that these beads
| do wonderful good in throat troubles.
ard 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 nmphithea-
Ter. ut Rome with amber and had bro
1 ~. en- nv
| vent the infectious odor of the common
people from reaching her when mt the
| games during an epidemic. The Turks
were the first to use amber as mouth
| piece for pipes, owing to its alleged
! quality of not carrying infection. Such
mouthpIeces were first fitted to the
| public pipes-those which were passed
4 from mouth to mouth.
Few people know where amber real
I IL is found. but most of 1t comes from
| Prussia, and some from France and
Norway. Gathering of amber is no
| clild's play, but Is fraught with priva-
ton, hard work and danger. The moth
err whose baby wears string of beads
| knows little of the risks that were run
to get the yellow gum. In olden times
1 the amber used to be gathered after
storms. the heavy seas having loosened
the wealth which lny-a Mt the bottom of
! the shore water. The men would then
venture uLl to their neclSs in the surf,
1 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 simplided, and
| we no longer wait for storms, but in
stead divers are employed, who go to
the bottom of the sea and detnch the
1 rich deposits. When the amber has
been washed and the pebbles have
been picked out, 1t is passed into re
! volving drums with a certain amount
of sand. which scrubs Off the outer
surface It is then sorted into about
| 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
unimportant part. 1t is just MS easy
now to make large mouthpfece as 1t
was formerly small one. A few
years ago a manufacturer as an adver-
| tisement made n cigarette mouthpiece
that was over fifty inches in length
Years ago the price for such big
| stem would have been enormous, but
| now it is considerably reduced. The
| pale pieces of amber are bought by
4 the pipe manufacturers of Turkey and
Egypt. The light, whitish colors are,
used for ornaments in Italy and the
finest grades of clouded green, gray
1 and blue are sent to the United Suites.
| England and France
What is aIuber2 Well, that is not
SO easy to answer. Men of science say
that ages ago, long before earl Eric
carried at his side the mighty sword,
with the hilt of amber. that gave him
warning of the storm and fight, there
stood on the Samland n mighty forest
of conifers, whose descendants today
are found In California and Oregon.
These trees piled up around their roots
the golden gum, and when the sea sub
seduently wiped out tbs forest the am
Der was buried in its depths, from
which 1t is now secured.
amber can be traced through the
world as love pinlter, charm against
all kinds OF illness, sorcery, wltchcraft,
poison and blindness. Hundreds of
unknown insects and plants have been
found inbedd4d in the yellow gum.
Strange to say, amber cannot be coun-
forfeited ami, more than diamonds can.
Amber used to be very fashionable for
iewelry, but Row It is only used as
ptpestems and for warding of dis
ease. New York Herald.
rIve GOOD weather Rules.