ONYX 



OPEN SHOP 



by a number of rivers also, among which are 

 the Black, Genesee, Oswego, Trent and Hum- 

 ber. It has many good harbors and fine fish- 

 eries. The principal cities on the coast are To- 

 ronto, Hamilton, Kingston and Oswego. T.E.F. 



See GREAT LAKES, for chart showing compari- 

 sons of the five Great Lakes with respect to size, 

 elevation and depth. 



ONYX, on'iks, or o'niks, a beautiful variety 

 of quartz that has its colors arranged in paral- 

 lel bands. It is strictly a variety of agate; the 

 colors are varying shades of red, green and 

 brown alternating with white. The sardonyx of 

 the Bible was onyx, with deep red and white 

 bands. Onyx is easily carved and takes a high 

 polish; it is therefore highly prized for man- 

 tels, table tops and interior finishings of ex- 

 pensive buildings; onyx of this quality costs 

 from one dollar to two dollars per square foot. 

 In the Orient, it is used considerably for pillars 

 in Mohammedan mosques. .It is sometimes the 

 material for cameos, the figures being formed of 

 one layer and the background of another in 

 contrasting color. 



Onyx Marble, or Mexican Onyx, a variety of 

 limestone containing a small quantity of iron 

 or manganese, which when polished becomes 

 partially transparent. The iron and manganese 

 produce beautiful clouded and banded effects, 

 usually in shades of brown on a white back- 

 ground, which make the stone valuable for 

 finishing interiors. Onyx marble is found in 

 paying quantities in Mexico, Arizona, Califor- 

 nia and Colorado. 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles In these volumes : 

 Agate Gems 



Cameo Sardonyx 



Chalcedony 



O'PAL, a precious stone admired for its 

 beauty and variety of color. The Roman 

 writer Pliny said of opals: 



There is in them a softer flre than in the car- 

 buncle ; there is the brilliant purple of the ame- 

 thyst ; there is the sea-green of the emerald all 

 shining together in incredible union. Some of 

 their refulgent splendors rival the colors of the 

 painters, others the flame of burning sulphur or 

 of fire quickened by oil. , 



The ancients believed the stone possessed the 

 power of magic, and the superstitious fancy 

 that ill luck befalls the wearer of an opal, un- 

 less it be his birthstone, finds credence even 

 to-day. The person who believes this supersti- 

 tion feels that he may wear the gem in safety 

 if his birthday falls in October. Thus the old 

 verse says: 



October's child is born for woe, 

 And life's vicissitudes must know ; 

 But lay an opal on her breast, 

 And Fate shall lull her cares to rest. 



Opals are a compound of silica and water, the 

 latter occurring in a proportion that varies from 

 two to thirteen per cent. Pale shades of yel- 

 low, red, green and blue are the ordinary colors 

 of this stone, which is not nearly so hard as 

 quartz and is much more brittle. Of the sev- 

 en! varieties the most valuable is the prcciou* 

 opal, also called noble. This variety, which 

 displays an exquisite play of colors, is usually 

 bluish- or yellowish-white. Because of its brit- 

 tleness it is never cut into facets, like the dia- 

 mond, but is polished with a convex surface. 

 The finest specimens occur in Hungary, but the 

 precious opal is also found in Germany, Central 

 America, South America, Australia, Mexico 

 and, in the United States, in Oregon and Wash- 

 ington. Other varieties are the fire opal, of a 

 hyacinth-red color, with green and yellow re- 

 flections; the .girasol, bluish-white with reddish 

 reflections in a bright light; and the common 

 opal, which shows no play of colors and may 

 be red, brown, green, yellow or watery white. 

 Some remarkable specimens of precious opals 

 from the Hungarian mines are exhibited in the 

 Imperial Museum of Natural History in 

 Vienna. 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. See SCHOOL, subtitle 

 Public Schools. 



OPEN SHOP, an establishment in which 

 both union and nonunion workmen may be em- 

 ployed, as opposed to the closed shop, which 

 employs only members of trades-unions. 



In the struggle between capital and labor the 

 capitalist contends that employers have the 

 right to make individual contracts with their 

 employees, and that in demanding the closed 

 shop and exclusion of all except union em- 

 ployees labor is interfering unjustly in the man- 

 agement of business concerns. The trades- 

 unions maintain that labor has a right to a 

 voice in the division of the wealth which it has 

 produced; union men refuse to work in shops 

 with nonunion men, unless consent of the 

 union is given, because when both classes are 

 present collective bargaining is impossible, and 

 the question of wages, hours, sanitary condi- 

 tions, etc., is entirely in the hands of the em- 

 ployers. 



Itclated Subjects. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 

 Capital Labor Organizations 



Collective Bargaining Sabotage 

 Eight-Hour Day Strike 



