The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1883-09-20
DIAMONDS.

The POssessor of the Third Largest Dia-
mond In the World Looking for q
Purchaser-A Chapter Precious
Stones.
Mr.. Peter Rhodes, the fortunate finder
of the great "Rhodes diamond has
not yet secured a purchaser for his gem.
But he hopes to do so, and, if it be true
that certain millionaires in Paris are in
competition for the precious stone, it is
possible he may sell it at its price. The
position, towever, suggests some inter-
esting reflections. In the first place,
more goes to make the owner of dia-
mond lucky than the possession of it,
for before he can be completely happy
he must dispossess himself of the treas
IRE. To get the gem is only the first
half of good fortune; to get rid of it is
the other. 1t is with diamonds as with
loving hearts-they must be exchanged
for equal values to complete the sum of
bliss. Again, to buy such stone as
this the purchaser must beggar himself,
so that the original owner, who prefers
riches to the crystal, must go about
the earth until he finds his exact
opposite, the man or woman who
prefers the crystal to riches. For him
self, the digger would rather have
large annual income than one large dia-
mond; but to accomplish his dreams of
luxury he must first light upon some
one who is prepared to renounce luxu-
ry, and for the sake of one big diamond
to be content with q small annual in
come. A few people, of course, can af-
ford to have both huge gems and huge
incomes; but there is no great choice of
such millionaires, and Mr.. Rhodes may
find it longer and more wearIsome
quest-the search for buyer--than it
was to look for the stone. Days
dragged along drearily enough at times,
no doubt, down in the deep gulches
of the Kimberley mines, but he has
probably been. as often just as heart-sick
in his three years pursuit of a million
aire as ever he was in the mud and
slush of the South African diggings.
For, apart from the anxiety that must
naturally attend the sale of such pos
session, there must be the dismal con-
Seriousness that from East and West there
are rogues ON his track only too ready to
ease him, if they can get the chance, of
his splendid embarrassment. That he
is liable to be robbed of it has, as his
friends know, been an ever-present tor
ture to him, and this fact should to some
extent assuage the ferocity of the envy
which humanity not unnaturally regards
the possessor of the third largest dia-
mond in the world.
In its present state the Rhodes stone
unquestionably holds that proud posi-
tion among 1.-the paragon gems" mas
much as it weighs one hundred and fifty
carats. By how much this may be re-
duced before the diamond assumes its
final shape under the grinders hands
remains to be seen, but in the mean
precious stones, and is inferior in size
only to the Orloff gem, belonging to the
Gar of Russia, which weighs one hum
dred and ninety carats, and the reputed
diamond in BOrneo, still uncut, said to
weigh nearly four hundred. 1t exceeds,
therefore, in dimensions the Koh-i-noor,
the Star of the South, the Regent (or
Pitt), the Austrian, and the Sancy
jewels, and in purity of water is re-
ported to rival the Regent, the finest of
the notable gems. The prejudice
against the products of the African
mines as compared with those of the
Brazils is, according to the latest word
OF connoisseurs, quite unreasona BILE; for,
though the Cape stones have often
failed in color, they have as often come
up to the highest standard of the mar
ket, and fairly challenged in water and
brilliancy the choicest produce of Amer
lea or India. And what a triumph of
art and nature the perfect diamond is!
Other precious stones enchant us with
their colors. and in the mystical beau
ties of the changing opal, or the glow
ing heart of the carbuncle, there is a
charm added to the simple tint. The
diamond, however, depends for its SOW
ereignty upon the flashing living soul
within it, and, scorning the easy tri-
umphs of color, allies itself with
human skill to gather from the
air round it radiance of pris-
matte splendor which nothing else
but it is subtle enough to hold, strong
enough to alchemise, or pure enough to
return with undiminished brilliancy. 1t
glitters with ruddy flame that is the
despair of rubies, flashes emeralds as no