The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1904-08-11
NORTH CAROLINA AT ST.LOUIS

The States displays Are Oreater Than
They Were at Chicago-Precious
Stones. Timbers, Fruits and Agri.
cultural IProducts-Infiuenc of State
Museum Felt at St. Louis Fair.
By ". II. Brimley, Commissioner General
ST. LOUIS, August 2.-North Caro-.
lima is one of the few States which
keep up permanent display of their
natural resources on an extensive
scale This is in the public museum
at Raleigh, and the growth of the
museum reflects to a great extent
the advance made by the State in its
Exposition displays. Since the Chi
cago Fair of 1893, the North Caro-
lima State Museum has quadrupled
the floor space devoted to exhibits.
The inference is obvious
At the st. Louis Worlds Fair this
State Museums influence is felt In
the exhibit in the Mineral Building is
shown the most complete and com
prehensive collection of cut gems and
gem material exhibited byany State.
About twenty varieties are repre-
sented and among them are many
specimens of surprising merit. In
golden beryl, blue and green beryl
tAquamarine) are a number OF stones
Of pure water and high value, and in
other varieties OF beryl are a fine lot
of cabOchen and emerald matriX. In
cOrundum gems the oriental ruby,
sapphire and topaz are conspicuous
he former, particularly. being shown
in fine colors and quantity. That
beautiful variety of garnet. the rho
dolite, is there in quality and the
dark pyrOpe garnets are exhibited in
variety OF colors and styles of cut
ting. That emerald green spodu-
meme, the hiddenite, is shown in sew
eral small cut specimens and quite a
lot of material in the rough. Some
of the colOrs in cut amethysts are eX-
ceptiOnally v good for native stones
and several clusters of fine amethyst
crystals show the source OF supply.
There are cases devoted to the com
mOner and semi-preciOus stones,
which include cairgorln. rock crystal,
citrine quartz, sunstOne, rose and
opalescent quartz. carnelian. etc, and
the list is topped off with one small
diamond, Il gem rare anywhere, but
particularly SO on the North Ameri-
can Continent.
But this rich mineral State shows
other things besides gems, although
as feature attractivetO the eye and
likely to make ii permanent impress
sion on the mind the brilliant beauty
OF the contents of the gem cases is al
ways paramount. In mica, for in
stance, North Carolina has always
been pre-eminent, and the display OF
this useful and now necessary mineral
is well beyond anything ever before
attempted along this line. At the
great Chicago Fair eleven years ago,
electricity was comparatively in its
infancy and only crude mica as mined
and the sheets as split and cut
squares were shown in the exhibit
Here things are different. Similar
lines of block, sheet and cut mica are
displayed, but along side OF them are
quantities of the material cut to the
shapes as used in electrical cOnstruc
tiOn-sOme of them were gun-wad
| looking discs, some in the shape O
washers and some in the indescribablt
shapes cut to fit the special places il
which they are to be fitted. A lot O
| the products, too, are exhibited, call
ING attention to the uses OF mica as
a constituent in some lubricants, II
wall paper, in the production OF the
insulating material called micanitt
and in various other ways.
A new mineral industry that has
sprung up since the Chicago Fair is
that of mOnazite mining. The mona
ute sand is washed from the contain
ing soil much as gold is washed from
the placer diggings, and the heavy
garnet and iron impurities contained
in the washed product are afterwar(
eliminated by running the impure ar
ticle through Il magnetic separator
the product of that being the pure
article of commerce. A large series o
specimens of this interesting and val
liable mineral is shown, exhibiting al
the steps in the eprocess OF mining an(
cleaning, even to the finished incan
descent mantle for gas lighting tha
we all know so well.
In the beautiful white clays OF tn
State Il department has been mad
from the old way of merely shown!
the raw material. Along with tn
clays themselves are exhibited her
in this display a beautiful lot OF china
ware, tiling and enameling brick
equal to anything in the building
showing the unfinished product alon'
side of the crude clays; and the adde
interest to the exhibit is manifold
The building stones are shown as /
Chicago for the general collection
but an added feature of great inter
est and value is the very fine series {
polished spheres. turned and polishe
columns and finished monument;
work that are ranged along the front
Some of the most beautiful OF thes
were not even discovered at the tim
OF the great 1898 Exposition an
Others were not sufficiently Opene
up for specimens to be readily Y secure,
SO. altOget her. the building stone g!
I hibit which the State is making &
| st. Louis is at least a hundred pt
/ cent. more beautiful and interestin
than it was eleven years ago. {
| course, the silver and gold ores, tt
| copper and iron, the corundum an
| / other abrasives are here in full line
All fresh discoveries of the past te
years are in evidence, and it is sa
to say that this mineral exhibit
North Carolina is two to one ahea
III of that made Mt the Columbian r.