Traveller.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 374, 9 July 1903, Page 7

Traveller.

TURQUOISE MINING. "* "7^ earliest ages the gem now dHMD known as the turquoise, has rejgkK® taiaed »n eaviable popularity,aad at the present? tfij|a| it stttlf holds the foremost place list of jewels! whicfe tempt tl(e publijf fancy. Of all piemmve&inS 8it mostnearly approaches the opal in its structure and- variablel nature; but, strangely enough, the unchanging hue of the best turquoise is considered iti chief attraction, while the uncertain lustre of the so-called inferior qualities is looked npoa with great suspicion by the superstitious Persian villagers who hava mined the stone for centuries. Turquoise yeinß are found in sttata not dissimilar to that in which the fire flashing opal abounds, and it is also mined under conditions much the same as those connected with; the excavation of the more expensive-gem/ Indeed, a casual observer might find it difficult to' distinguish between,the vitreous layers of both formations, |which have in common a chalky siliceojns crust of varying thickness. Persial has long been recognised as the home ofthe turquoise, and the world's supply of the gems may be said to come from that country. The mines are situated in the heart of a gaunt mountain range, which forms the northern boundary of an extensive plain, or desert,' in the district, khowh as Bar-i-maden, and here the rocks have, been continuously tunnelled for po many hundreds; of years that the entire mountain |s networked by subterranean i.nck yet little progress seems to b9 made j tbe simple villagers who are employed at the mines receive small rjw&rd for their labours, and ?ttare existence lon the dole| g|udgis|fiy'< given by the cpjial buyers' of thei sjqne, who in turn h&#e to render up ai account I of their, doings to a ] which absorbs all profits. On the borders' of Thibet, in some parts of China, and in northern Arabia, turquoises are found in small. quantities, but in none of these countries can they be mined on a paying basis. i

In, Q icensland, however, that land of many, treasures, an extensive, turquoise deposit has very recently been discoVered? and 'soon we may expect to learn more of the little known! gem, and from a British source. Tne 'find' has been made away back in .the Warrggp in £ dryf | sandy, reptile infel|<Bd wms ' |ul|i |if wiry bushman loves,* and |t| |a^s|s|i^l6 a nature will "deter ali but Mft& and venture-loving rovers of the Empire from venturing across the intervening wastes The writer's experience of the gem was, acquired in this?remote district, where, incompany with half-a-dozen companions, he worked for {many wteks among the ..conglomerate- rocks enclosing the odd formation After much hazardous labour had | been expended to little end we inadvertently £nit | on a simpler sand *j|o*e lucrative method of obtaining a system which in gold would be called 'alluvial digging.' In sinking for water in the oldsbed,of;atf ancient stream near to our! sh;aff ''in the mountain severai peculiarly shaped pebbles . werjebfought tonight, which on analysis •proved' fo c bc true turquoise fragments* washed down, probably, in ages too far back to consider. The reefiing work was soon abandoned after this occurrence, and more shafts were sunk in the old water channels in tbe Vicinity with results that were_all.mejce or less successful. , like the .opal, is a com-, paratively "stone, therefore it is never cut into facets like the uv>re transparent' "gems* llt is simply given a roundel suiffaoia' and polished, though, occasionally the very .best specimens!are; cut into the form of truncated eones, and * similar devices, but only the best can be -treated in this fashion, as the apex of an ordinary stone so dressed would'show'but ; ' ;j||j||and straw-like against the denser ; : give an undesirable mottled apH

I&§Si&INB3E DIFFICULT* ;INSAN FBINCISOO. •.:'«A rosy-red apple with a maggot; in It was an Itaglish visitor's terse comment aboutSsnPriftTibisco—the 'Golden Gate': city, California. The 'maggot' is Cijinatown. Imagine, -if fl you can, 'Oriental city of som9 sixty thousand inhabitants, with all its gaudiness, its,. narrow' B.tree|s,i filth and s qualbr,; jls I idol temples and kis jos#.hoifees, -its opium 1 dens, its medievalism plumped right down into the centre of Manchester, for instance, and then you have? wx idea of what Chinatown is to 'the otherwise beautiful' City of St Francis.' ' Its dwelHng-honses are honeycombed, ~with d§ns;"offrefuge for those under the %£% w J^Unatioß#i#s prsw aronnd its alleys and seek shelter in its foul embrace.. Qpiumjeaters, American, Bnglisb, s^^J^|% , sfp> as thejcasemny be; arjyfei|||| a$ tplmours taking their 'dope' oW^a,m^giM^P9,' as it is called, wh||a||j| ; %egcan view their degradation. Lawlessness and filth abound in Chinatown. Y9t, just on the brow of the hill overlooking ' this * City ot EtelliV as It has been called, is California S millionaire street of the west. Senator Stanford lived there. 'Chrie' Hutchison the Sutbern Pacini $ til way magnate—has or had a year or two ago a palatial resi. dence there? W. jH. Hearst—the 'paper' millionaire—and many of his ilk are old residents, and, on a day when the breezes blew from the beautiful bay across Chinatown, from their windows they,can catch its puhgenkperf uflSgtf, I\s% Jfp f • Why is this city allowed to exist ?' say • yohV ;I don't know, but every visitor to that western land knows that it is there in all its bideousness lam not a prophet or the son of a prophet, but I think, some day, when the wind is from the east—the Frisco firemen will line up on the brow of the hill, and —a spark having accidentally been left in a 'Chinese Shack'—they will watch with amiable apathy the destruction of the foulest den' of infamy and vice in the wide western world,

ICELANDER'S MAIL BOX ' BUD- "" STIKKEtf.' Long: years ago, before there was any system of transferring mail or news, the. Icelanders were,in the habit of depending upon a despatch box, or ' budstikken/ as it is called, tot their information concern-: ing the events which were stirring the outside world, and even for political news in their own country. The ■budstikkea' wa,s r a plain, woodeH tube, or at))?, lin whiclyt: message deposited. It v was thin catriea 'to 4 - tne nearest farmhouse, where its contents were eagerly- scanned. Then some mem. ber of the family was dispatched to, carry it to the next farm, and in this manner the newiß was spread. If the news was of special importance, as in the case of a threatened invasion or attack.it was circulated in. an incredibly short lime, e&ch family seeing to it that the message went forward as promptly and as swiftly as i possible.