Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-01-17
Geographic News
Bulletins by the
National Geographic Society
SOME NOTES ON GEMS

trails by which most of the precious
slones worn by the people of our
country reach the United States"
SAYS a bulletin of the National
Geographic Society from its Wash
ington, u. c., headquarters.
Though we may be Independent
about our supplies of petroleum,
copper, iron and coal and other USE
full minerals, and even about our
deep, rich veins of gold and silver,
we must buy in the nIarts of other
countries of the world our diamonds,
cur rubies, emeraldS and sapphires.
Big Bill for Uncut Stones
1.-The value of the gems which we
imported during 1921 was eighty
times as great as the value Of those
produced in the United States during
the same period, nearly $40,000,000
being paid for cut and uncut stones
by this country. Montana, during
that year., produced more than forty
times as many gems as any other
state and then the value of those
stones was only $4S9,U21.
THE love of precious stones has,
since the beginning of history. been
rife in the human heart. The
Pharaohs, the Babylonians, the In
cas-, and the respondent court of
NlOJlLtLulhd pldDtu Will IIl6lE RlOTYs
They figured in the religious rites of
the Hebrews, even from the days of
the Exodus.
Their clear and unvarying color
qualities have crept into our Ian
guage as ~adjectives OF more value
than superlatives-for example, The
Emerald Isle,' sapphire seas ruby
lips 'pearly teeth" and Shakes
peare's the natural ruby of YOU
cheeks
Birth Stone Idea Survives
'Superstitions have grown up
around these bits of prisoned ceIes-
tial fire. The influence they were
supposed to exert upon nativity, as
manifested in the lore of the Jewish
and Polish gem symbols of the
months, or birth stones still is
familiar.
Many of the students of folk
lore believe hat the custom of wear
ing gems originated in their po-
tential value as talismans rather
than in the desire of ornamentation.
The woman who wears careless
ly a string of perfectly matched
pearls from the Philippines, Burma,
Borneo or the Persian Gulf, may
not know that the pearl musseIs
made these beautiful gems, because
grains of sand Scratched their
backs or some foreign body chafed
their flesh. In Borneo the SUPER
stltlous pearl fisher pr eserves care
fully every ninth pearl he finds, puts
II IN a bottle with two grains of rice
Tor each pearl and stops the bottle
with a finger of a deal man in the
pellet that these pearls will repro
duce others.
Used as "Fidget Beads
To-day the precious jade which
comes from Burma, New Zealand.
Alaska, Mexico, Central Europe, ana
especially from the mines in the
harakash Valley in Chinese Tur-
kestan is being made into Ions
strings of beads to serve the same
purpose as the 'idget beads which
made their official appearance at the
Lausanne conference.
EARLY implements and ornaments
or Jad have been found in the Swiss
lake villages, in the caves at Men
tone, and among the ruins of ancient
Troy. The gem is beng made into
earrings for the women of TODAY
The wearing of earrings originated
IN some countries in the most in
tereStlng manner. First, 1t is said,
ears were pierced whenever women
had been ~indiscreet in hearing
secrets not intended for them. Later
costly earrings were fashioned tc
console the poor ear for the suffer
ing caused them.
ITO the Chinese. jade has always
been known as 'yu." or the gem.
and great significance has been at.
tached to it. They compare it tc
h subtle matter of the rainbow
concerted and fixed under the form
OF a stone To the Aztecs il was
known as the divine stone and was
valued next to the emerald. 1t was
carved in various forms of animals
and birds, and was placed on their
affairs.
India, SO long renowned as the
source or gems, still yields many
precious stones, among the most
notable of which are the rubies OF
upper Burma. The natives who sci,
these stones believe that their best
color and brilliancy are visible only
In the sunlight; consequently sales
must be made from nine to three
o'clock, on clear days only.
Before the discovery of the rich
mines in Brazil and the fields OF
South Africa, India also furnished
most of the diamonds, but today
many of u finest gems come from
Bahia. Minas Geraes. Goyaz and
Matte Crosse. in Brazil. The South
African diggings, the most valuable
CT which lie along the Vaal and Or.
ange rivers, have been producing
about SO per GEN. of tire worlds sun.
ply yearly. The Pretoria mine ir
the Transvaal yielded the largest
diamond in the world, the Cullinan
which weighed 1924 q carats.
"Emeralds come from the mines
of Muse in Colombia and from
New South Wales. A few, however
have been found in Alexander and
Mitchell counties, North Carolina,
Our best sapphires come from Siam.
They are also found in Ceylon
Burma and in Kashmir and Aus.
tralia. Many very good ones, also
come from the state OF Montana"
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