New Orleans Republican., 1868-06-14

liar good fortune Is rare. 1t iB usually
a severe and toilsome process to se-
cure these gems. They ars usually
found in connection with deposits of
gold. (
In GGlconda they are found in black,
bOggy earth by the natives, who dis
csver them in the mud with their feet.
In Brazil they are found in the sand
and gravel taken from the beds of
small rivers and streams in the dry
season. The water is diverted from
its natural course when the material
in which the diamonds are usually
found is removed to sheds prepared for
the purpose, where it is carefully
washed and examined.
There are few diamonds, which by
their size or history or both, are fa-
nous worldwide. All have heard Of
the Koh-i-nOre, or mountain of light.
1t now belongs to the Queen of Eng
land, who received it the third of July,
1850, from the East India Company,
who had acquired it by treaty the
year before. Its history dates as far
back as the Christian Era. and it has
been the cherished gem of many pow
erful dynasties, A tradition is CON
nected with it that the dynasty from
whose possession it passes is doomed
to destruction. Then there are still
others which take rank with the Koh-
i-nore. There is the Orloff diamond,
worth at least $500,000. once the eye
of an idol at Pondicherry, and stolen
from the temple by a Frenchman and
brought to Europe. The King of
Portugal has one of fabulous proper
ti6ns, weighing 1850 grains, and if it
is as good as estimated it is worth
$2S,O0a,00O.
But it is well known that diamonds
have other uses than merely as orna-
ments. Every one is familiar with
the manner in which glaciers cut the
hard and brittle window glass. A lit
tie diamond, firmly set in its socket,
and lightly drawn across the surface
of the glass, almost instantly does the
work which otherwise would be nearly
if not quite impossible to accomplish.
Diamonds pulverized to an almost i'm
palpable powder in hardened steel
mortar produce q material for grinding
and polishing other precious stones
unequaled in excellence. Again, the
fine splinters of broken diamonds are
fashioned into little drills, which alone
can penetrate rubies and other stones
which arc employed in the best
watches as bearings to diminish the
friction of the running parts.
The most wonderful thing about dia-
monds, after all, seems to be the fact
that they are composed of precisely
the same substance as commen char
coal. By what process pure carbon
has been transformed into the brilliant
diamond is one of the secrets of the
great laboratory Of nature 1t is an
other display of the power and wisdom
of Almighty God. Perhaps it has been
produced from vegetable substance by
the application Of great pressure aud
heat; perhaps it is only specimen Of
what under certain circumstances all
our vast deposits of mineral coal might
have been: perhaps it is the resultant
of an unknown capitalization Of carbon
in a gaseous state.
Most of those who read this brief
sketch viii never own one of these
beautiful gems. They are for the
wealthy, and for kings and princes /;
they are the baUbles of this heeting
world but however poor, it is the
privilege of every one to aspire to &
crown decked with many jewels,
which shall shine as the stars, or as
the sun in the heavens, forever and
forever Toiling here, if need bo, rs
the slave in tho mine, the hour will
como when, called to our reward, the
King of kings will place upon our
radiant br0ws a crown that fadeth not
away .--Ziov'5 Herald.