The San Francisco call., 1908-07-12

NJ Kaiser Wilhelm smokes q pipe
w OF Is anything OF q collector.
he has. without doubt. owned
more pipestemE than any other man
living. why, don't you know the
chances are that your own pipestem
once belonged 70 him? Perhaps you did
not buy IL from his highness directly,
but nevertheless the German emperor
is the worlds greatest amber merchant
Can you picture william II flashing his
varIike mustaches behind a counter
piled with amber goods. peddling trim
Izets. beads. necklaces. pipestens and
souvenIrs2 What actually happens is
almost like that
TO the head Of the house OF Hohen-
zouern belongs the monopoly on amber,
and from It's sale comes perhaps the
largest part Of his income. Personally.
however. he is too busy TO exploit such
commercial interests very extensively,
and 50 has turned them over 10 some
dozen men who pay him handsomely
for the privilege OF mining the amber
and getting II 20 market Their larg-
est output goes 10 Asiatic countries. via
Armenia. the greatest consumption OF
amber being in eastern Europe. Turkey.
Turkish asia. and Persia. where IL is
manufactured into ornaments and in
ceuse About the only demand for am
ber Ia western Europe and America
rises out Of the trade in pipestems.
This traffic. east and west. nets the
kaiser Indirectly a large part OF the
F-1- is
income
Il has been possible 70 build up so
great a monopoly because there IS only
one place IN which amber is found.
That is along the coast OF Samlsnd, or
the amber coast" as II is generally
called BY ~Samland" one means that
small peninsula projecting into the
southeastern corner Of the Baltic sea,
where at q single point upon its beach
exists the lone mine from which has
come almost every piece Of amber in
existence From time 10 time small
bits OF il have been picked UP on other
shores. but such finds are termed
--dereiict amber" because il Is supposed
that amber discovered at any distance
from the Baltic came from there orig
fually. having been washed away and
carried OF by ocean currents Only in
considerable amounts Of IL have ever
been discovered elsewhere than on the
coast Of Samland-
The greatest End Of amber ever made
was al Samlaud, when q single lump
was discovered weighing IS pounds and
valued az $4,000. This specimen, the
heaviest recorded, is preserved in the
Berlin museum. Since finds reaching
the same value are likely 70 be made
again the deposits are most strictly
guarded IN the imperial interests.
Sometimes, walking along the beach Of
oil
yellow upon the sand. You are tempted
10 pick up the pebble that flashed IN the
sunlight hoping for q find" OF your
own. but stoop ever so little and q big
voice hidden near by viii call 70 you
10 straighten up: All amber belongs
10 the kaiser. and IL you want some
YOU must buy 1t from him"
For hundreds OF years this vast
stratum OF wealth underlying the Baltic
has gone 10 paying the bills Of the
Prussian royal house
Amber Mining in Palmnicken
II one has the opportunity it is well
worth while 10 take the trip from
Konfzsbergsn east Prussia Up 10 Palm
nicken in Samland. just TO see how the
mining IS done. No scenery along
The route VIII relieve the monotony
OF that relentlessly barren country,
whose inhabitants have abandoned IL
wholly 70 its own harshness, making
their meager livelihood by searching
for amber from year end TO year end.
But so soon as you reach the coast you
are struck by the rugged beauty every
where cropping out OF piled hills, trees
that have struggled against winds and
storms and the even. incessant beat
OF breakers upon 8 rough strip Of
beach lying under the tanned cliffs. A
small boat may be lowering just be-
,-ord the tossing line of breakers;
farther I'D the beach is a crowd OF
women and children dragging in sea-
weed 10 be sorted; and as you round
the small. blunt promontory you come