The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1908-01-21
DIGGING FOR TouRMALINE.
How The Mines Of Burmah Are Worked
For The Gems.

.
Tourmaline Is beautiful minera
known according to its color by the var
iety Of names. The red Is rubellite, thu
pale or blush black is indicoIlite, th'
Berlin blue il called BY jewellers Brazil
ian emerald, and so on.
@Tourmaline IS found in separate
crystals in the interstices Of hard
granite looking rock. A. consequence
men with no means find it occasionally
profitable when they have leisure to die
down eight or ten feet on the off chance
Of finding some not very valuable bits,
says G. $. George, deputy commissioner
ruby mines district, Burmah. @Thi.
system * called kathe or Katbe system
after the idea Of tie original ruby die.
gings at Kathe The next method i
the ordinary Twinlon method Of sinking
vertical shaft about four or five feeT
square. By custom the owner Of tue
shaft IL entitled 70 extend his workings
underground anywhere to radius Of
five fathons from the center Of the
shaft
The vein Is formed BY vein Of white
hard granite rock in the interstices OF
which the torumaline is found, at times
adhering loosely to the rock, at others
living separate in the loose yellowish
earth that is found with the granite.
When a vein i once found It Is followed
Up as far III possible, subject to the five
fathom limit alluded t. above. What,
however. makes tie mining so exciting
ana at the same time keeps the industry
iiuctuating is that tonrmaline crystals
are only found internationally in the
vein.
~9He may get several in the length
Of one yard and then they will unac-
eouutably cease. Directly one man
strikes a vein yielding crystals, every
one who can commence digging along
the line of the vein, but it il all toss
up a TO whether. when che vein is reach
Ell, there win be tourmaline therein
Attaining Twinlons give absolutely dit.
ferent results, and It Is calculated that
at least two.thifds 81 the shafts sunk
yield nothing at all while only an oe.
casional one is at all rich
OF the siNty-two TwinIons at the
time Of Mr.. Georges visit, only three
were yielding and Of these only one had
traces Of the best quality stone The
sreinss are fairly deep down, none hav.
ing ever been reached at a lesser depth
than nine fathoms While an ordinary
depth Is forty OF fifty eubits; when the
vein takes a downward direction, it Is
followed as far as possible. but that Is
rarely over about sixty cubits for at thai
depth the foulness Of the air puts the
lamps out.
"The vein i said rarely, If ever, to
show an outerop, and it Is a matter OF
pure speculation where to dig says Mr.
George. As the whole place is covered
with jungle, prospecting, anyway, would
be laborious. There have been tnree
finds, each causing rush. The first was
seven years ago at Hpai Baing (Mil-
about nine miles to the south
of the present place and near where the
Chinese had worked formerly. The next
was a year or two later at Htankat be-
tween Milaunggon and Sanka
Then there were three or four lean
years and then, early in 1905, one
Konhkan struck a vein, near Sanka viii
lage. when has attracted the present
growth of population to Maingni, but, as
explained above. though the area with
in Toe yards Of Kunhkan's original saaft
Is honeycombed with pits, only three
are yielding. and .Konhkan's twin has
ceased to WELD All the material dug
ont from the inside Twinlon is pulled
up to the surface in small buckets. all
worked BY enormously long piyoted
bamboos worked with counterpoise
and the tourmaline IS sorted out Of
hand, the granite fragments being piled
in a wall around the mouth of the
shaft.-London Globe