The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1910-09-01

'sbut do you know that this country is
very rich In these gems and that the
demand for them in the orient is sts
great that the mines here cannot be-
gin to supply the market?
'aTo begin with, the Chinese believe
that the blue tourmaline brings good
luck. health and warns away evil spir-
its; also the gem is one of the most
beautiful in the world, more beauti
full, think, than the rose tourmaline,
the green or any other, There are a
great many unworked lodges in Maine
that are believed to have the gems
The tourmaline lies in a pocket in the
ledge surrounded by decayed stone in
the form of dust.
Names Mines Valuable.
81 have seen tourmalines worth
thousands of dollars taken from the
mines at Mount Apatite. Auburn Me-.
and some of them have gone to dec
crate the crowns of such rulers as the
emperor of Japan, the emperor of Chi
ma and the petty kings of the Indian
states, some of whom are richer than
either of the emperors named One
company incorporated under the laws
of Maine has mines at Auburn, Minot
Corner and near Mechanic Falls.
'Apatite. one of the stones that are
mined at these places, has averaged
$3.50 a ton in tournlalines and SO
more in feldspar. various ores. beryls.
aquamarines. etc. The cost of min.
ing these gems is only $1.50 a ton
The vein is ten feet thick with tlat dip
covering three acres, in one Of the
mines.
"Then there is the wonderful mine AT
Paris, Me-, called Mount Mica, from
which a steady stream of gems hsfs
como for years and not half of the
territory has been scratched yet.
know a young lady in Boston, Miss
Eleanor G. Han1lin. relative of the
man who was vice president of the
United States, who has a necklace
which is the envy Of all the crowned
heads of Europe, and every one of
the gems came from mine owned By
her family for a hundred years. stu
ated two miles northeast of the little
hilltop town Of Paris. In Oxford coun
ty. Me-, where Honnibaf Hamlin was
born
in the necklace are all the colors
that are known to the tourmaline
Yellow. green. white. pink, blue, black
and rose are shades that burn and
smolder in this remarkable piece of
jewelry. and | dare say that few peo
pie in America know that such price.
less treasures are to be found here
Western States unexploree.
ut is my opinion that there are
many hidden lodges in the middle and
western states that contain equal dc
posits, but few of then have been dis.
covered There are mines in Caiffor-
mia that produce many tourmalines.
and they are mostly shipped to China
and Japan, where the average prince
prefers them to diamonds because of
their supposed lucky qualities.
in 1920 two boys who were inter
ested in minerals had been hunting
over the hills of northwestern Maine
for gold signs, Late one day while
they were on their way home they
stopped to rest on the land belonging
to the father Of one of them. Elijah
Z. Hamlin There had been a light
fab of snow. and windstorm had mp
rooted a tree. While they talked one
Of them saw green tint in the fresh
earth under the roots of the tree. ant..
looking more carefully. under the inn
preston that II might be a sign OF. cop.
per, he found beautiful green tour
maline as large as mans little fin
ger.
1T was perfect, with the exception
of slight fracture on one end. Dig
ging In the frozen earth. they found
several others and took them home.
The next spring the Hamlins began
mining the gems and have kept at ii
of and on ever since. 1t is one of the
most valuable gem mines In Amer
ica.n