an Amsterdam diamond cutter and other parties abroad, endeavoring to find a market for them.
RUBY.
On
the Reeves farm, near Franklin, Macon County, North Carolina, in an
alluvial deposit, some very interesting crystals of ruby have been
found in flat, hexagonal, tabular forms, occasionally 10 to 12
millimeters in diameter and from 2 to 5 millimeters in thickness. Some
of these crysÂtals were of fairly good ruby color. One gem weighed when
cut three-fourths of a carat; a number of others weighed from
one-sixteenth to one-half of a carat, all of good color and quite equal
to the medium rubies from Burmah, one gem selling for $50. Some
investigation has been made, but as yet they not been found in
sufficient quantities to warrant working the ground. Associated with
these rubies are some irregular fragments of almandite garnet, very
light in color, which, when cut, produced stones of unusually
brilliant, rare, and beautiful tints, , many of which have found ready
sale at from $2 to $10 each. In many respects this was one of the most
beautiful varieties of almandite garnet ever found.
It
is to be hoped that the Burmah Buby Mining Company will be more
prosperous under its new lease, for which it will now pay the sum of
300,000 rupees instead of 400,000, as formerly, the Government,
however, receiving a royalty of 30 per cent, on all rubies found, and
the company relinquishing its right to mine for rubies in the whole of
Upper Burmah, but securing the exclusive right to mine for rubies in
the Mogok district, where the mine is situated and to which rubies have
hitherto been confined. Up to 1893 the company has not been fortunate
enough to declare a dividend.
TURQUOISE.
In
1893 turquoise has been more actively and more successfully mined than
any other gem. The Azure Mining Company reports that material enough
was mined to cut about 20,000 carats of turquoise during the year. Half
of these were very good material, many of them small stones cut in
Europe; and as the average selling price was $5 per carat, the
production for the year amounted to $50,000. This company has adopted
the system of offering to replace any stones that may change color; and
every stone is marked with a small circle engraved on the back, showing
it to be from this company's mines. Of the thousands sold, they claim
that none have as yet been returned. Many of the stones found are of a
paler blue than those formerly mined, and have met with ready sale.
The American Turquoise Company obtained and sold from its various mines $90,136.39 worth of fine blue turquoise during 1893.
The
" Persian," situated near the old Castilian, 18 miles from Los
Cerrillos, New Mexico, is another turquoise claim recently taken up by
