EMERALD. NORTH CAROLINA.
Emerald
is ranked among the few really precious stones and by some people is
considered the most valuable. It has been prized from early times
because of its beauty and rarity. The number of localities where good
gems have been found is few, and some of those once known have been
forgotten. The following notes on foreign localities are taken from a
book by Max Bauer.1 Emeralds found with the mummies of Egypt
probably came from the mountains along the west coast of the Red Sea in
Upper Egypt, where ancient workings were discovered during the
nineteenth century. Mines in the Salzburg Alps are said to have been
worked intermittently for emeralds since the time of the Romans to the
present. The world's principal supply of emeralds has come from South
America. They were first brought to Europe from Peru by the Spaniards
in the sixteenth century. None are now found in that country, and it
is thought that the Peruvians obtained them from Colombia. Three mines
were worked by the Spaniards in Colombia. Later two of these were lost,
and for many years the only mines worked were those near Muzo. Recently
the lost mines of Somondoco were found on the east side of the Andes
Mountains at an elevation of about 9,000 feet above sea level.
Fine
emeralds have been found in the Ural Mountains about 60 miles east of
Ekaterinburg. This locality was discovered in 1830 by a peasant, who
noticed the stones among the roots of a tree torn up by the wind. A few
other European localities are known. Emeralds have been found at two
localities in Australia. The most promising one is near the township
of Emmaville in New South Wales.
Several
localities in the United States have yielded emeralds, but the best
specimens have come from North Carolina. In Maine a few stones have
been found at Topsham and a pale-colored stone at Newry. A few crystals
are reported to have been found at Haddam, Conn.
In
North Carolina three localities are now known where good emeralds
occur. The first of these to be discovered was in Alexander County in
1875 by J. A. D. Stephenson, of Statesville, N. C. This locality was
later developed into the emerald-hiddenite mine near the present
railroad station, Hiddenite. The second locality was discovered in
1894 by J. L. Eorison and D. A. Bowman on Crabtree Mountain in Mitchell
County. Both of these deposits were developed on a fairly large scale
and a few fine gems were obtained from each. Progress at the third
emerald locality described below has been given in these reports for
1909 and 1910. The deposit is on the land of W. B. Turner, 4-3/4 miles
S. 30° W. of Shelby, near the east bank of First Broad River, in
Cleveland County. Some 15 years ago two emeralds were found loose in
the soil on the Borders farm about 1 mile east of Mr. Turner's. Further
search failed to discover more gems and prospecting was given up.
Subsequent jjivestigation indicates that these stones were transported
by residents or farm hands on the Turner plantation to the adjoining
place during friendly intercourse of long standing.
• Precious stones [translation by L. J. Spencer]; Charles Griffin & Co., Ltd., London, 1904, pp. 309 et seq.
