The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-07-24


have at some time been found In the
United States. they have never been dis
covered In sufficient quantity or value to
make them a source Of great profit In
fact, our annual find IN gems is not
equal in value 70 the daily output of iron
and coal. Sometimes the discovery of a
real stone. a misleading crystal. or a fine
pearl causes a Wild stampede 10 some par
ticular part of the country. Transforming
an eTstwhiIe sedate and industrious people
into nomadic treasure hunters. but sooner
or later they all return 10 the less ex-
citing but more certain tasks of farming
OF merchandising.
Occasionally very fine gems have been
found. and this has led the United States
government TO make a systematic inquiry
Of nature regarding her treasures. the
geological survey conducting the work.
Private enterprises have sometimes re-
suited in a considerable profit to the pro-
moters. though the field is not yet large
enough. nor the prospects sure enough to
make the discovery and polishing of
American gems a source of permanent
revenue The latest survey shows that
each state in the Union has gems Of value,
though generally 10 4 small extent. and
also that the United States has several
varieties Of her own that mother Nature
has given her to the exclusion Of others.
\ beautiful gOlden-green stone called
utahlite, capable of being used as a gem
and a decorative stone. has been found in
Utah; while the mountains of California
bid fair to excel the Ural mountains in
the production Of beryl, topaz, and tour
maline. stones in which the Ural noun
tains have long led the rest of the world.
Diamonds have been found in four DIFF
ferent parts Of the United States. sections
totally unrelated geologically, and so far
the original sources Of the diamonds have
not been discovered. All that is known is
that at some remote age the gravel drifts
in which these imprisoned sunbeams had
found a home became part Of a great
glacier and were swept down in the
morning of creation 70 cover this CONT
nent as far south as the valley OF the
Tennessee, When the ice had melted the
long moraines held the diamond crystals
among the coarser gravel, far from their
original source One Of these diamond
fields lies in the Piedmont region of the
Appalachians from Virginia TO Alabama.
Another edges the region once covered by
an ice sheet In Wisconsin, Indiana,
Michigan, and Ohio Another follows
the western base of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains and crops out in the gravel
of the placer mines. II is believed that
many stones have been destroyed in Cali
fornia by the machinery used in the gold
mines. they having been crushed with
the gravel The fourth diamond field is
in Kentucky and Tennessee, and the
fact that the general appearance OF the
Kentucky fields was like that Of the
Kimberley fields in South Africa led hope
ful people to believe in similar treas
ures hidden there.
There have been several notable finds, "
and many that have brought great dis
appointment 10 the finders. The famous
Dewey Diamond" found by a workman
at Manchester, Va. in 1855, is the largest
that North America has produced. once
its value reached $6.O00 but now it is said
20 be worth only few hundred. North
Carolina has produced stones valued at
about 500 One black diamond, that may
have been OF very great value. was
enterprising citizen. who confused the
idea OF a diamonds hardness with its
strength, and tried a test of his own to
determine its genUineness. North Caro-
lima has n peculiar sandstone that is
flexible It is known as itaCOlumite. and
is believed 10 be a matTiX for diamond
crystals. Georgia has produced several
good diamonds and so high did the pa
triOtic interest once run that a Georgia
woman refused TO become engaged TO any
Of her many suitOrs until he could bring
her as an engag cement ring Georgia dia-
mond prettily set
The first California diamond was seen
in 1853 and taken 10 a clergyman for iden-
LITIGATION. He published the fact and a
rush almost as great as the famous gold
stampede Of fOTty-nine was the result.
The rivers flowing into Coos Bay often
bring down small stones, and in the Idaho
placer diggings several of value have
been discovered. At present ninety-five
per cent of the diamonds used in this
country come from Africa, and the home
product cuts little figure. Yet in 1895 dia-
mOnd cutting became a considerable in
dustry here, noticeably lowering the price
of such work in Holland, where it had
been almost a monopoly for years because |
of the superior skill of the workmen. a
Brooklyn and New York firm brought
over skilled Dutch workmen, and there
are now over 800 diamond cutters in New
York alone.
The credulity Of the people in the mat
ter Of gems has been played upon more
than once. The most famous fraud has
passed into history as the Arizona dia- |
mOnd swindle." In 1910 a company, claim |
ing 10 be backed by prominent business |
men Of the East, placed In the California |
Bank, at San Francisco, a great quantity |
OF rubies and diamonds claiming they |
found them in Arizona and New Mexico |
A large local company was formed. and |
experts brought from the Royal School |
of Mines in Saxony, and in two years a |
well equipped expedition set out to see the |
new GOlCOnda. AS the men had said /
there were diamonds and rubies lying on |
the ground. IN fact. there are still dia- |
mOnds and rubies 10 be found in that To- |
canty, for the men had purchased many
karats Of these stones in London and eff /
fectUally ''salted" the mountain sides /
Excitement ran high for awhile and be- |
fore the United States government dis |
covered that it was all a fake, the clever |
schemers had made $4,000.
IN 1913 much excitement was caused IN !
Georgia by the discovery of the famous /
Blue-Ridge Sapphire" or Georgia Mar |
vel. which two Southern jewelers. pro- /
bounced Of great value. On their advice /
the owner priced II at $4,000 and went 10 |
New York 10 sell it. Imagine his dis 4
appointment when he learned. after a 4
heated platinum wire had been applied /
10 ii. that 1t was only Q bit Of blue-bottle /
GLASS The WafUnpfxa Rt1bv fbaf oraofad 4
4 lot OF eXcitment for awhile, was found /
% be only garnet. In 1856 a London firm /
offered 10 name as Ruby King the per-
son who would find a sapphire or ruby /
in its original matrix. and a man in 1
III