The Sun.
London, England, 1852-07-27 00:00:00

CUTTING, OF THE KOl-1.1-NOOR

The first step was taken on Friday af tereoon in the
progress en °Potation intendedcelebratedamond into a greater pro-
minence than they have
Ex-
hibition of
hitherto exhibited. This pre-
ekeue stone, which was the cynosure of the Wolter::
ram the multitudes who last
spun 1851,
it, ac
tt
xptrei
year gazed u
.ns of disappointment at the
expeetscions entertained frtohmeltzds
thooti hfirarofvePugi
ndrignanitgsnescemiit
beeocnsenut
ilti'dt
proprietors.i ti
co xp r aa e d
bens ‘
somewhat dim radiance of
thohighs
flown descriptions
lustre, not fulfilling the.
Light—a title
i':llich many beholders hold to aurtumtat
which had been given of
oofmer. This dis-
Appointment having conics to the knowledge of thous into
whore possession it had passed
df effecting such alteration
the desirability,
as would remove thelt rhadtiemonti ituteei ad
opinionsdt eh shapefe,ets
oh:
vt
the
into vilybicithhitthhi'sadviabwe
gentlemen Were taken,' Leubjec..ed by its
to the possibility of cuttinggem without incurring a great risk ionidit.ssod3e3:trudeoluiobnt.
oxradim id; upona:pdte:_ivep:til ,htehsee ellsieCriae.cchit:zielfial::
the
Professor Tennant find Mr. Mitchelf were
,e/iggepted
,ithpro vement.
jerl a cwi 'grit tnni66
_ot( r,
t_t the i :.
)tL (I,'
they admitted the improvement which O; proposed
alteration in shape would eff,ct upon the Koh-i-Noor, ,
but expressed fears that any lateral cutting would
endanger its integrity. It was then determined to sub-
mit the matter to the opinions of practical lapidaries;
and with that view the Crown jewellers, Messrs. Gar-
or ahrtda
I,
no f
ae
Partonrportfrom
lont mph
street, II acyomarektee t were instructed to
, t
persons versed
in ei,mond caning. These gentlemen thereupon
consulted Messrs. M. and E. Coster, of Amsterdam
(the diamond cutting trade having been entirely lost to
1 this country), who, while admitting the accuracy of the
fears expressed in the report of Professor Tennant and
Mr. Mitchell, nevertheless were of opinion that the
dangers were not so formidable as to prevent the in-
tended operadon from being safely effected,
prodded the necessary skill of superior artists was
This opinion was sufficiently encourag-
Zpitonycido•duee an order for the preparation of the
requisite machinery to b© erected upon the premises of
Messrs. Garrard, and accordingly a small steam-engine
under the
of from two to four-horse power was erected,
and Sons, which was on Friday after-
noon for the firilt time put into practical operation. His
directionmaasiay , oFfieid Mr. Joshua Field, of the firm of
,
Grace the Duke ci Wellington having manifested great
and net least glorious, lan-
interest in the precious gem, so associated with the land
'vlieartntehrisdedrsste'veral times during the pro-
of the preparations, end on Friday honoured the
incitement of the delicate operation
geese
e e Er
eas won,t
establishment in question with his presence, to personally
this being the largest diamond
cut in Europe for at least ono century. His Grace
was received by the Messrs. Garrard, . and the Koh-i-
-aslissoitaitt toin :lee nprace,
is.oor_ having been embedded in lead, with the excep-
aoupehroartii
zo•nlr'itahlis wheel revolving Grace placed'
tion of ono small salient angle intended to be first
submitted toth
the gift upon the ,suatr
with Almost incalculable velocity—whereby the ex-
pecctineg_
osed
angle
was removed by the friction, and the
first facet of the new cutting was (-fleeted. This,
the first step in the operation, forms but a small
item of progress, as it is expected that the work, under
the hands of the two Dutch artists to whom it has been
entrusted, will occupy a period of some months,
it be-
ing, as may be conceived, a work of great delicacy, in-
volving an equal amount of skill and care. The Koh.i.
Near is intended to be converted into an oval brilliant,
and the two smaller diamonds which accorepeny it are
to be similarly treated as pendants. The present weight
of the principal gem is 186 carats, and the process now
in course of progress will not, it is anticipated, diminish
in any material degree its weight, while it will largely
increase its value, and develope its beauties. Some con-
versation took place respecting the doubts imputed to
have been cast by Sir D. Brewster upon the identity of
the Koh-i-Noor; but the general opinion amongst those
best seqainted with the inhjeJt appeared to be, that it
was fituposAble for Dhuleep Sirgh to palmed e have ff a
fictitious diamond, when his constantly tveatieg it on
state cccaeious must have rend •ered it perfectly familiar
to thousands who would instantly have detected any
attempt at aubsitution. Th© more probable assumption
was stated to be, that the the Mountain weight of
of
Light had been more 0 n'et:tale somewhat exaggerated.
We regret to add, that
in superintending the erection of themachinery,
. had
the misfortune to fail through an aperture in the flaor,
thereby breakingof one the small bones of his leg ;an
accident which -
prevented his being present on Friday
last.

The brief historical sketch of this celebrated diamond
is at follows:—Tho Koh•i-Noor was found iu the ,mines
of Golconda, and was presented by the Viceroy of the
Deccan to the Great Mogul, from whose successors it
W4B "'ken by Nadir Sbab. Oa the assassination of
Nadir Shah, it was seized, with his treasury, by
his general,, Abmeed Shah, the abdalee, who took it
to his native country, Affghanistan, of which he became
the sovereign. His descendant, Shah Socja, when
obliged to fly his country, took it with him, and throw-
ing himself upon the protection of RunjeetSingh, was,
by a little torture skilfully applkd to the mind end body,
ralde to surrender it to his generous host. On Roeieet'" death it was inherited by Dauleep Singh, and on the late
revolt and defeat of the Seikhs was yielded to the
13ritish Crown by special clause in the treaty thou con-
cluded.

A SCENE OF iiORICOR OFF BRIGHTON.
On Monday evening,
theof
as twilight was slowly deep-
entog
with t hijel to tiight,
emotions
idlers upon our cliffs were seized
tear and
ingroups,
terror.
n
naEvery-
where they might be seen gathering
versiog in anxious and hurried tones, and all dircotidg
their gaz-,,
with painful intensity, towards an ob-
ject just visible en the verge of the horizon westward.
In that direction were dimly to be discerned rising clouds
of smoke, and a red glare reflected on the still waters.
At first this appearance was scarcely perceptible ; but
it became momentarily more vivid, the smoke thicker,
the lime brighter, and then there ran from one end
of the cliff to the other the exciting intelli-
gence that there was " a ship on fire in the
(an." All was now confusion. Ladies were running
to and fro on the Esplanade, demanding why some-
thing was not done—why somebody was not sent out?
Gentlemen poised their telescopes, and, nautically astute,
were heard to declare that " there was a fire in her hold,
—a terrific fire in her hold." " Bat why are there no
flames ? " asked the bewildered crowd. "She's
smouldering," answered they with the glasses; "she'll
burst out directly. Now, now. No, that's a signal
of distress run up the mast. See, they're an-
swering it at Worthing." The crowd could
see anything. They wore answering at Worthing.
The flames were bursting out; they could see them now,
and see the coast-gusra rushing down to the beach, put
off their boat, and make for her, while other boats were
following. Oh, shocking, shocking! In the midst of the
excitement the red glare suddenly vanished. " She's
gone down f' shrieked some excited spectator. " She's
gone down," re-echoed far and wide, and the ex-
pressions of sympathy and alarm were pitemss.
But auddenly the red light re-appeared. " She's come
up agin," cried some irrevont jester; but no one
laughed, the scene was too exciting, too awful, for
laughter. " She's making for the pier," was the sudden
cry. Instantly everybody made fcr the pier. Be,
between the Esplanade act! "the pier stands the
Custom-house, and there to the general indigna-
tion, the imperturable " watch" leant against the
railing unmoved. " What—what ship is that?" asked
everybody at once. " That?" replied the guard, slowly
heaving round and pointing.
Yes, yes; that out
there " Oh, that? Why, that's Captain Bullock's
revenue boat a survoyin' the, coast, and she's signallin'
to some of our men to go oat to her; that's all. There
was a general expression of thankfulness and relief, a
curse or two muttered against the " system of signalling
at night, "just to frighten people, and the crowd dis-
persed.—Brighton Guardian.
•

EFFECT OF THE EARTH'S ROTATION ON Locomo-
TION.—Mr. Uriah Clarke, of Leicester, has called our at-
tention to an article in the Mechanics' Magazine V him-
self on the influence of the earth's rotation on locomotion.
It is well known that as the earth revolves on its axis once
in twenty-four hours, from west to east, the velocity of any
point on its surface is greater nearer the equator and less
further from it in the ratio of the cosine of the lati-
tude. Mr. Clarke says :—" Some rather important conclu-
sions in relation to railway travelling arise out of the view
now taken. The difference between the ratative velocity of
the earth in surface motion at London and at Liverpool is
about twenty-eight miles per hour • and this amount ef_on"la-
teral movement is to be gained or 'lost, re
motive in each journey, according to the directienn are
travelling in from the one place to the other; and la
,P of the
tion to the speed will be the pressure against then lee
gine a ten-
rails, which, at a high velocity, will give
as respects thcs)vei
thereectiOn. Could
dency to climb the right hand rail in each
between London and
the journey be performed in two hours
ovelociy of the
Liverpool, this lateral movement or rotatrivd
iminished at the
locomotive would have to be increased,
glinute, and that cu-
rate of nearly one quarter of a mile efrh if not sufficient to
tirely by side pressure on the rail,lllll°eld be quite sufficient
cause the engine to leave the line, w°Hation; lt" may be ob-
todangerous osci b
~
alluded to will
produce violent and use a 0N e
served, in conclusion, that as theca
along
the parallels of latitude,
ha inoperative while we travel
degree of speed may be at-
' it clearly follows that a
hier ..
running east and west than
tained with safety on a railway
nd south." There is no doubt of
on one which runs north a ks'of on the right-hand rail, but
Clarke IV-% •
the tendency Mr. . be found to be so dangerous as he
we do not think it will
the Great Nprth ern '
eitest on d B • k
au :awn
says. It will .tie
gill° Great Western. Berapalt.
lines, and least on t