The emigrant aid journal of Minnesota. [volume] (Nininger City, Minn. Terr. [i.e. Minn.]) 1856-1858, 1857-10-10

\1NOEh, DAAOl n OOC ~ / :,
tive to careful Search but impart spirit the labor
which must render less irksome But the lash still
the hand of the overseer and numbers of the human
family kept down to the level of beasts Of burden
The process Of cutting brings out the inherent beauty
Of the diamond, and greatly enhances its value Even
after the stone has been cut if unskifuy done, the
sparkling beauty of the gem is wanting No change of
position which the commissioner tried could make the
Koh-inoor APPEAR at the London Exhibition, much
peror to piece of rock crystal but after having been
recut, it became one Of the choicest brlians. For
long period, the Jews of Amsterdam have almost
clusvely monopolzed that branch of industry. At the
time when they prosecuted in all other nations Of
Europe, the liberal laws and ourshng trade of Amster
dam encouraged them to settle there in great numbers
and the diamond mills erected under the special
protection which the States of Holland afforded to capt.
tai and enterprise 1t is calculated that not fewer than
10000 out of the 28 900 Jews who live in Amsterdam
depend directly and indirectly on the diamond trade.
The Diamond Cutters Company under the direction
Of Mr. Posno have three factories, all worked by steam
The united capacity of the ngnes is ninetyfve horse
power, driving 1873 mills, and employing 925 workers
There two other diamond cutting factories in AM
sterdam, the one belonging to the firm Of B. L. NJ
Arons conducted by Mr. Prins, having engine of six
horse-pow driving forty mills and employing seventy
people, the other is the property of Mr. Coster, with
steam power of forty horses, driving seventy.two mills
and giving work to $50 hands In tie factories of the
Diamond Cutters Company, and that of Mr. Prins, the
mills let to those who not shareholders fixed
rate, for the hour day Mr.. Costers mills on the
other hand, driven his account; and to him
have been ntrusted the two most valuable gems that
have been in late years. the Kohnoor and Star of
the South
Having obtaine, introduction, the visitor to this
mill is treated with the greatest attention He
enters of the fats than the heads of dozen per-
stretched forward, offering their service to
workmen arranged along the side walls of the build
ing and before each is circular metal plate, revolving
horizontally with great velocity short lever of iron
with extremity the bench and the other on
the revolving plane. The diamond po;sher stops the
motion, and lifting the lever shows the stranger that
the end which rested the mill has ANAL gam placed
upon it, in which the stone fxed to leave only
the side exposed which is being ground Handing the
lever to an assistant 1t put into small furnace, heat
ed and then returned to the rolisher The amalgam is
soft, and the diamond, having been picked out,
replaced with the part exposed which next to undergo
the action of the mill clever workman can keep two
or three small diamonds on the shift at once; but
the greatest has be taken that they are not ex-
posed too long The minute facets of diamonds, so
small as to require from 500 to 1000 for single
caras weight, be easily cut and the stone de-
stroyed In the Netherlands division of the exhibition
at Paris rose diamonds exhibited which required
500 to the carat and that is not the limit to which
the cutting can be carried.
The stone having been fixed in the amalgam, which is
then hardened by cooling it in water, the workman
shows the visitor little box OF fine POWDER of which
minute quantity put with few drops of OIL on the
mill. This is the diamond dust with which alone the
polishing can be accomplished, and it possesses value
of about 90 pounds sterling the It is chiefly OBJ
tanned in the first process which the diamond undergoes
after it has from the artist, who, if it is valuable
stone draws out plan by which it may be cut with the
smallest loss of weight. Leaving the mills we ascend
to this department, and find that the workman does
everything without the aid of machinery Having taken
two small wooden levers handles he selects two da-
monds, and fixes in each. The rough form of the
facets then made smooth by rubbing the diamond
against the other over little box, which receives the
powder as it falls.
The Star of the South, brilliant Of the purest wa
ter as seen at the Paris Exhibition in the fac
tory OF Mr. Coster and the abest artist Of the estab
shment, Mr. Vorsanger, had the honor of successfully
re. cutting the Kohnoor in the work shop of the
imperial commissioners Paris assigned pour les lap
idaires damantares Hollande taille de damants
roses lvres commerce, we'll bestowed.
The Koh-i-noor, when presented to Her Majesty
Queen Victoria by the East India Company of an
irregular egg form, and the cutting had been unski
fully executed that its appearance scarcely surpassed
that of cut crystal In the sides grooves which
had been cut for the purpose Of fastening it in the form
er setting, and near the top was small split To re-
move these without greatly reducing the weight present
ed considerable difficulties, but Mr. Coster OF opinion
that these might be in the hands of skillful
workman. Several models presented to Her Males.
ty, of which she selected the form it BEARS that
of regular brilliant. 10 accomplish the work of re-
cutting small engine of four horse power erected
to drive the diamond mills. The cutting commenced
the 10th Of July 1852, and finished in ght
working days of twelve hours each In removing one
Of the flaws, the speed of the revolving plane required
to be increased to 900 revolutions per minute and
then the obect attained slowly The velocity with
which the mill rotates and pressure the lever which
rests the diamond upon the plane alone give power to
the workman That pressure may either be applied by
the hand weights prepefened to the size Of the
and nature of the work. In cutting the Kohinoor it
regulated be capable Of being increased from
one to fifteen Netherlands pounds.
The process reduced the Koh-i-noor from 1856 l-6
to LOG ll6 considerably under the average loss,
which is estimated at onchaf The Star of the
South when uncut weighed 254 carats and is now l25,
the reduction being somewhat than half No large
diamonds before cut with little dminution
of their weight. The Regent, which belongs to the
crown jewels Of France, lost nearly twohirds But
this is the only circumstance which points out the
great progress made in the art of diamond cutting The
time required to perform the work has been very much
shortened. The Regent occupied two years; while the
Kohi-noor, which only hirty.sevcn carats lighter,
finished in less than six weeks and the Star Of the