A LIBRARIAN'5 VACATION IN MAINE 



A. librarian having a tired head one summer, carried it to 

 Maine for rest, with instructions to Hve out of doors as much as 

 possible. In the process of carrying out these directions she 

 discovered that the locality in which she was rusticating, Stone- 

 ham, Oxford Co., lay in the midst of a region rich with the 

 semi-precious stones and gem minerals for which the state of 

 Maine is famous. In fact what is regarded as the finest blue 

 beryl which has ever been cut in this country was found within 

 ten miles of this little town, and some twenty miles away, lay 

 the Mt. Mica mine from which many thousands of dollars worth 

 of tourmalines had been extracted since its accidental discovery 

 in 1851 by two nephews of the Hon. Hannibal Hamlin, a dis- 

 tinguished son of Maine. This mine was visited, and found 

 very interesting, but far more so were the many varieties of 

 tourmaline, taken from the mine, and now deposited in the 

 quaint old former jail of Oxford Co. 



This small square building with massive stone walls fully 

 three feet in thickness, and still retaining its iron gratings at the 

 windows, and heavy iron door with its huge key, is the present 

 home of the library and the HamHn Memorial Cabinet. 



Here are hundreds of beautiful specimens of tourmaline, uncut 

 crystals and finely cut gems, in black and brown or in delicate 

 greens and pinks shading to white, delicate purple lepidolite, 

 yellow Cookeite, which accompanies the tourmaline, and 

 wonderful crystals of mica, which have given the mine its name. 

 The story of the building is about as interesting as the collec- 

 tion it houses. When the Grand Trunk Railway was extended 

 through that region the county seat on Paris Hill was left 

 stranded three miles from the railroad. For the convenience of 

 those having business with the county, the county buildings 

 were removed to the nearest rail point, South Paris, and the 



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