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10
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INTRODUCTION
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The
" Blue Ridge sapphire," or " Georgia marvel," as it was called in the
reports, was found in 1883 in a brook in the Blue Ridge Mountains in
Georgia. It was estimated to be worth about $50,000 by the owner, he
having been assured of its genuineness as a sapphire by two Southern
jewelers, who had arrived at its valuation by computing its weight.
Anything scratched by a file is sure to be pronounced glass, whether it
is glass, topaz, or some other equally hard stone; while, on the other
hand, the common fallacy prevails that anything that a file cannot
scratch is a genuine stone, even though it may be only glass. In this
instance the gem proved to be a piece of rolled blue bottle-glass, of
which fact its owner could be convinced only when he saw a platinum
wire coated with a melted fragment.
Another
wonder was a stone weighing 9 ounces, plowed up near Gibsonville,
Guilford County, N. C, which was pronounced a genuine emerald by some
local expert, who tested it, and with the microscope showed that it
contained various small diamonds. Its value was estimated up in the
thousands, and $ 1,000 was reported to have been refused for it by its
owner, who, as it was believed to be the largest known emerald,
expected that it would bring him a fortune. Being, therefore, too
valuable to be entrusted to an express company, he put himself to the
expense of a trip to New York, where his prize proved on examination
to be a greenish quartz crystal, filled with long hair-like crystals
of green byssolite or actinolite, on which were series and strings of
small liquid cavities that, glistening in the sun, had led to the
included diamond theory. The best offer that he received for the stone
was $5.
The
"Wetumpka Ruby," from Elmore County, Ala., was supposed to be a ruby of
six ounces weight, " after cutting away all the roughness." Owing to
its assumed value, it was deposited in the Wetumpka bank vault, and on
no consideration would be sent to any one on approbation. A small
fragment sent to New York City proved the stone to be only a garnet and
from its quality, of no gem value, even if a ruby.
Another
is a crystal found near Danbury, N. C, which was examined and
pronounced to be a genuine diamond by the local jewelers, and valued at
$7,000.
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