American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1872-09-28
The Diamond Fever.

Denver is diamond-craZy San Fran
cisco and New York form companies with
a million-ten millions capital Salt Lake
has its ''shares snapped up by the leading
merchants; the first gangs hurried away
months ago, others are leisurely equip
ping for all winter. Many of these dIa-
mond-hunters are swapping a bird in the
hand for two in the bush. Their eager
ness to suddenly grow rich cannot spring
from laZineSs. because digging is hard
work !; nor from misery greed. because
miners are generous. 1t seems to be the
love of adventure and of the marvellous,
Joined with Il stupid disposition to lefty
diamonds and gold. and to underrate
whatever gold and diamonds cannot buy.
Men like to risk and gamble they must
have a seasoning of luck to flavor the
commonplace of industry. Hence, when
they might gather diamonds in digging
turnips. and truck their beets for rubies
bigger than they will ever find, they
choose to grub for the stones themselves.
1t is human nature to make gold an end,
not a means. and to cOvet the produce of
luck more than that of labor. Mr.. Sew
ard, playing upon popular weakness, eX-
tolled not so much the seal fisheries of
Alaska when he sought to annex it. as
the '.vast gold deposits on the river Ste
keen; even the wheat growing virtues of
this antechamber to the Pole were reck
oned less amazing than its precious met
ais. So. the other day. an idle yarn, from
the Darien party, about gold and silver
deposits on the proposed line of isthmian
canal divided popular interest with the
vast tolls and the trade benefits sure to
come when this neck of land, now tempt
ingly inviting the knife, shall be cut, and
a new highway thrown open to
commerce. Once more, when San Do
mingo annexation was preached, not con-
tent with SANTANA bay as a safe, commOdi-
Gus harbor and West Indian supply sta
ton. its friends danSled the dazzling
s'gOld-fields'' of Professor Gabb before
the eyes of our people, to inflame their
cupidity as if Colorado were not scanned
with gold and Nevada ridged with silver,
while more Golcondas of golden grain
TEEN in the West than ten centuries can
exhaust.
Irving depicts a treasure-digger who,
never having unearthed a penny, woke up
from wrctchedness to riches one day.
when a railroad needed his farm for its
track. But the glitter OF the jewels
blinds the seeker. The Aztec quarries,
he thinks. are found at last those ''ruins
of an ancient city, lately seen by dia-
mond party were surely the home of old
perceives distinctly that Janin stock a
thousand diamonds from Il ton and half
of gravel but cannot observe that his
second trip did not reach the precious bed.
You read for his behoOf from the papers
''They suffered great privatiOns, and mar
rowly escaped perishing while crossing
the Colorado DESERT He answers, ''They
picked up diamonds by the pint and rli-
bies by the pound" You continue :
1.-Two of the party strayed from camp
and were tortured to death by the
Apaches." He murmurs, Diamonds, ru-
bies the size of peas, emeralds, opals, gar
nets, sapphires big as pigeons eggs, alma
dimes, chalcedony." You read on: 1.-The
brilliant crystals supposed to be diamonds
are nearly all minute, and of small value !;
the rubies are pronounced by experts to
be of inferior quality; the emeralds are
of good size, but PALE He busily fig
ures with his pencil, muttering, Given
ty-five men can take out million per
month-my share, just $4,000 !'-Octo-
hen. GnIry-u