The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1915-05-20

Citations far more than for their CONNER
cial value or for profit.
| A score or more of the inhabitants
have wonderful collections of the native
jewels and the word ''gem" is an open
sesame to marvellous treasures of spark
ling, scintillating, shimmerlng stones
such as are seldom seen even in the great
jewel marts of the metropolis.
| 1t is wonderful revelation to enter a
modest country cottage, to step into an
| old-fashioned, low-ceiled parlor and to
| have spread before you, upon tables and
chairs, trays and boxes of jewels worth
a kings ransom and which would make
the crown jewels of many monarch
look pale and tawdry by comparison.
Your host brings out a worn, black
leather case. The cover is sprung open
and from the interior blaze forth the fire
and prismatic rays of a hundred marvel
Gus gems. Roya purple amethysts; am
ber-colored golden-beryls; pale. lambi-
ent aquamaries; deep, blood-red garnets;
honey tinted topaz; green, purple, yell
low. rose, white and hyacinthine tour
malines and flashing, diamond like, cae-
sum beryls nestle side by side upon their
plush bed and dazzle your eyes with their
flashing brilliancy and innumerable tints.
Surely, one thinks, no such display was
ever seen outside of fairy tale or Alad.
dln's cave, but each and every one was
obtained from nearby hills and was cut
and polished in the local lapidaries.
EVEN PEARLS IN THIS GEM BONANZA.
Presently another case is opened and
in place of the flash of faceted gems we
see rows of pearls, wonderful In their
iuster, marvellous in their purity and
perfection, and ranging in size from tiny
specks like dewdrops to great spheres of
sllvery sheen larger than peas. Certain
ly these were never found in the granite
ribbed hills; they SAVIOR of the Orient, of
dusky divers and of coral reefs; but the
owner smiles and assures US that these,
too, are Norway products, that this
fortune In p arls has been wrested from
the lowly freshwater clans found in the
brooks and streams of the vicinity.
AT first sight one is filled with speech
less admiration at the size and indescrib
able beauty of the treasures displayed.
Then ones curiosity as to their value is
aroused and a question is asked as to
their worth. Lifting magnificent, sill
very globular pearl from its plush bed
and rolling it in his palm the owner says
that this pearl weighs fifteen pearl
grains and has market value of over
five hundred dollars, but it is not for
sale. 1t was the first pearl he ever found
and is priceless for its associations. The
other gems have definite market value.
The largest, great pale-green tourma-
line, is worth one thousand dollars. An
other, limpid, honey colored beryl, will
bring five hundred; while third. scin-
tillating, flashing, water-clear gem, is
vol Of hcr
you exclaim as you admire the radiant
play of color and the living fire of this
splendid stone, but in this you are mis-
taken, for the wonderful gem is a cae-
SUM beryl, stone which only an expert
can distinguish from the finest dia-
mond.
Magnificent as are these gems and pearls
they are but beginning. Tray after
tray and box after box are produced,
each filled with jewels more wonderful
than the last and when one feels that the
end must surely have been reached, new
marvels are disclosed as scores of folded
papers are brought out, each filled with
dozens of cut stones of assorted coors
and varieties.
Even this is not all; the uncut, natural
stones are next exhibited-prismatic
crystals of every hue and form, blue,
green, pink, white, yellow, carmen, pur-
pie. Some valuable only as specimens,
others capable of being cut into almost
priceless gems and all gathered by the
owner from the granite hills and lodges
of the vicinity.
From this one collection you might Sc
lect gems of every conceivable size, color
or form and yet this is but an example of
dozen or more similar collections in the
village aud finally, to cap the climax, a
magnificent brooch is shown consisting
of Maine amethyst surrounded by
Maine pearls and mounted in a splendid,
massive setting OF Maine gold washed
from the sands of Maine river.
Although Norway is the center of the
Maine gem district yet it must not be
supposed that all the Maine gems are OBJ
tanned in the immediate vicinity of the
village. Throughout the surrounding
country precious and semi-precious
stones are found and each locality has
varieties peculiar to itself. At Auburn
are red and green tourmalines, caesium