St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1885-10-10

or three times until they were well ac-
| quainted with him and the gem. One
Saturday, which is their busy day. he
rushed around to the whole collection
and left one of the limitations for sums
ranging from $1,000 to $4,000. He
placed twenty-eight in all. They pos
sibly did not examine them closely, as
he was so well known and his appear
ances and manners were calculated to
ward off suspicion. The shrewdest
pawnbrokers in London were taken in
by this schemer. The Attenboroughs
(this 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 'chevalier de indus
trie.' He had magnificent stone worth
SO, 900 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 combination set
ting. orin a setting where the stone could
be used as 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
ieweler was astonished to hear that the
fine stone he had in his hand was an
imitation, and testing it 81 ghtly. 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 (as he well knew)
and to back his opinion offered to give
him %. 800 francs for it. The sharper
still asserted that the jcweler was mis-
taken. nut 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 ch the jeweler agreed
to give 22.500 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-
tion and palmed the diamond. In a
few days afterwards, when the fraud
was discovered, although the schemer
was still on the spot, the dupe had no
:: xIa La I,
signed. he had agreed to purchase the
stone whether imitation or not. Icould
tell you many well-veritied anecdotes of
this description. but they are all varia-
tons of one plan. After confidence is
inspired sudden skillful stroke is
played which is generally undiscovered
until it is too late"
''Is it a fact that stones having all the
properties of the diamond have been
produced by scientific means?"
The first effort to produce diamonds
dates back to the middle ages. Itmust
be admitted, however, tha: during the
last half century the systematic expert
ments of many scientists, in France
have been awarded with
some amount of success. Such great
minds as Sir David Brewster, De La
tour. Gannal. Depretz, etc, have given
themselves to this exciting pursuit.
The scope and method of their expert
ments are too involved for brief ex-
planation. 1t is undeniable from the
of Deprctz and De Chan
(Which are the most recent)
that diamonds can be produced by the
action of strong electric currents and
intense heat. The gems produced so
far have been of the very smallest size;
the only problem now is whether gems
OF merchantable dimensions can be
in the same way"
A few days ago a Tribune reporter
his acquaintance with men,
ber 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" 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 years?"
THAT all depends on the grade. The
for the last few years 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 flawed 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"
Il have heard a great deal of old mine |
stones; what does the term mean?'
IAN old mine stone originally was a
gem of peculiar color and especially |
fine fire found in the Golconda district. !
Now the term is much broader. 1t en-
braces all stones of the blush white cast
50 priced by connoisseurs. Many called
old mine now were found in Brazil.
some fine specimens even in Africa.
These gems, wherever found. always
the highest price; that is to
say for white stones; of course, q rarity
in the shape of q fine black or rose-col-
ored diamond always brings an extra
ordinary price"
What is the present selling price of
line stones?'
.'Storekeepers generally ask between
s1OO and 1925 for flawless carat stones
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