The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1885-09-05


| (thls family have about eight establish
had five of these rings, the Russells
had three, and so forth. A much
cleverer though not such an extensive
scheme was worked in Paris in 1873 by
a notorious French 'chevaler de indus
| trie.' He had magnificent stone worth
| 10000 francs. of which he also had an
imitation made and set in the same
manner as the original He then went
| to the most extensive retail dealer there,
and, handing him the genuine gem in a
ring, asked him how much he would
charge to reset it in a combination set
ting. orin setting where the stone could
| be used as a ring, scarfpin and stud. The
| jeweler named an amount which he
said was much more than he wished to
spend, as the stone was only an imita-
| ton and not worth the outlay. The
jeweler was astonished to hear that the
| fine stone he had in his hand was an
imitation, and testing it slightly, assured
| the owner that it was real diamond.
At this the sharper laughed and stated
he had bought it in Baden Baden from
gambler out of luck for $50 francs
and that the jeweler must be mistaken.
| He willingly left it until next day for
further testing. When he came the
following day the jeweler assured him
it was real diamond Gas he well knew
and to back his opinion offered to give
him p, 500 francs for it. The sharper
still asserted that the ieweler was mis-
| taken, but agreed to sell it for that
price on condition that he would not be
held responsible if it was afterwards
| discovered to be an imitation. This
was agreed to and a document was
drawn up by VIII oh the ieweler agreed
| to give y, 800 francs for the ring and to
hold the vender, who had bought it and
still believed it to be imitation, not re-
sponsible after the sale. The transac-
ton was concluded in the presence of
witnesses. just before the money was
paid over and the ring delivered, the
sharper skillfully substituted the imita-
ton and palmed the diamond. In
few days afterwards, when the fraud
was discovered although the schemer
was still on the spot, the dupc had no
remedy, as, in the document he had
signed, he had agreed to purchase the
stone whether imitation or not. Icould
tell you many Well-verifed anecdotes of
this description. but they are all yar;a-
tions of one plan. After confidence is
inspired a sudden skilIful stroke is
PLAYED which is generally undiscovered
until it is too late"
"Is it fact that stones bavino all the
properties of the diamond have been
produced bv scientific means?"
The first effort TO produce diamonds
dates back 70 tbe middle arns If mnst
be admitted. however, that DURING the
last half century the systematic e2neri-
ments of many scientists. in France
especially, have been awarded with
some amount of success. Sucb GREAT
minds as Sir David Brewster. De La
tour. Gannal, Deprctz. etc. have oivnn
themselves to this evcitinp nrTsuit
The scope and method of their exneri-
ments are too involved for a brief ev-
PLANTATION. 1t is mdeniable from the
experiments of Deprctz and De Chan
courlois (Which are The most recenN
that diamonds can be produced nv the
action of strong electric currents and
intense heat. The oems nroduced 90
far have been of the very smallest size.
Iue only problem now Is whether gems
OF understandable dimensions can be
manufactured in the same way"
A few days ago a Tribune reporter
renewed his acquaintance with a men,
Der of one of the largest New York
firms who import precious stones. After
some general conversation the talked
veered around to the present condition
of the gem business. How have YOU
found trade this trip?n was asked.
"TOlerably good" replied the i'm
porter.
What are the quotations for dia-
monds now Are they higher or lower
than in former yearsp"
That all depends on the grade. The
tendency for the last few wears seems
to be as follows: For old mine stones
or fine specimens of other kinds the
price is almost stationary. or if there is
any change it is in an upward direction.
The hawed or imperfect goods are con-
tinually going down, and from the
present outlook it is hard to say what
will be the ultimate value of the stuff"
81 have heard great deal of old mine
stones; what doe. the term mean?"
IAN old mine STONE ORIGINALLY ,yas
pem of pecuIiar color ard es1ooiaIlv