The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-12-03
PRECIOUS STONES
IN THIS COUNTRY
Some of Which Arc to Be
Found in Hills of
Virginia.
Especial to The rimc.. dispatch, !

Special TO The Times Dispatch
washington December 2.-Rcccnt
injuries prepared by tho United States
Geological Survey show that In ,hts
eoun,ry there Is produced every year
practically every variety or preciou.
stone. from tho costly glistcning dia-
mond down to the very chcapcst ana
most valuciess OF ores.
Tho precious stones produced here
last year reached the total OF sa95.
'?7. as against s634.3SO In 1909. The
ihrSc decrease In the output Of a Few.
OF the more important gem minerals
iourmaiine, turquisc. chrysophrasc,
etc.' readily account for the TALL In
the value of production. AS an in
stance OF this decrease in production,
about eight and Il half tons of rough
turquoise were produced in 1910, as
compared with moro than seventeen
tons produced in 1909.
All the diamonds produced In this
country In 1910 came from Arkansas
and California, the output of Arkansas
amounting to about 200 stones. Several
diamonds We're found in California last
year. one Of which weighs about half
a karat and another between one ana
thfcc-iourths and two karats. The
latter is Il brilliant, flawlCss stone
with II tingc OF yellow
Colorado yields some Very pretty
aSates. ana somc are hcing SUCCESS
fully handled in the tourist trade. but
"a numoer OF these sold each year at
the summer resorts OF the state are
imported from Germany. where they
have been polished abroad, although
some are polished in the United States
In Montana sapphire Weighing
more than four and n half karatS ha.
been found. This stone, when discoY.
cred, had very much the shape OF .
rough diamond crystal, on account Of
which II had very great refractivs
power
When the Spanish took possession of
the Colombian mines in the sixteenth
century the emerald mines OF the In
dians were seized ny them. Excessive
erueitics We're practiced hy the span
iards on the Indians employed In the
OF 1916 the country WAS SO desolated
that tho mines OF cospuez and So
mondoco were entirely lost \ Colon
bian named Francisco kcstrcp. guided
by few hints given In ancient Span
ism parchment maps, and with little or
no Knowledge OF geology or cmcralds.
undertook the search Tor the lost en-
eralu mines. In 1896 he found traces
oil ancient workings and later the
large working OF the ancient mines
These mines are situated on = ridge
OF the great eastern range IF tho
ANDES. at an elevation ot about 5000
cuts and tunnels were scattered over
an area six miles long and three miles
wide.
40 particular section OF the United
states has monopoly on precious
stones. Turuuoises have been found In
both Nirs mia and Nevada. sapphrcs
In Indiana and Montana, and topaz in
Texas. Colorado ana California.
The United States produced 30.305,-
C56 barrels of salt in 1910. valued at
Sl,9Ou,3H. This was an increase Of
l.S,Vl0 barrels over the production Of
1909, but decrease III value amounting
to $ii3,iSi. The six leading producers
OF salt In 1910 were New York. Mich.-
gan. Ohio. Kansas, Louisiana and CALI
fornio. Nearly - per cent. of the sal,
consumed In the country was obtained
from domestic sources, the United
states having been long independent OF
foreign production.
salt Is thought OF mostly in con-
nection with cooking and seasoning,
but IT has great many other i'm
portant applications. 1T lis used largely
In the preservation OF fish and meat
In the dairyinS industry, and in chcmi
cal mctallurgical processes. IT is also
used as source of chlorine employed
in the manufacturing OF bleaching
powders and IN the COLONIZATION OF Ger
tain gold ores. r H. MEG