Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-01-23
A POOR INVESTMENT.
The Custom of Putting Spare
Cash in Precious Stones.

The fmc-honored custom of put
ting yoslr spare hundreds or thousands
duFing flush times into jewelry and sill
vcrware, under the impression that you
are at any rate laying away a ncst-egggg
for a raiJy day, is a great mistake that
people are waking up to- remarked a
broker and an agent who is an old and
prominent citizen of San Francisco,
and into whose possession has fallen in
a special way of late a large quantity
of the valuables Of which he spoke.
cit is a custom fruitful of sorrow
and disappointment to many of tho
persons who indulge in it, and in more
instances than you would imagine,
upon first thought, a ource of serious
annoyance and difficulty to their
friends. All the conditions under which
the habit is practiced, favor such re-
suits. In San Francisco during the
last few years the facts of the case have
been demonstrated in a most peculiar
and forcible way. The public knows
very little about the matter, how the
trade in these costly articles is con
Quoted, or what is the ultimate DISPOSE
ton of the wares, and it should be pro-
vided with general information con
corning the subject. Then consider
able vexation might be avoided, es-
pecially on this coast. The subject is
an interesting one. full of novelty and
suggestions of the lights and shades of
Aife on the high tide of success, as we'll
as the low ebb of financial depression,
and l will try to give you a few points.
Probably there have been few instances
iii history where there was such a uni
versal disposition on the part of every
one to buy these costly goods as dur
ing the bonanza times of California;
the noteworthy era Of colossal fortunes
made in a day; the time Of inflated
values in all property: the days when
people of all social grades, into whose
hands, as if by magic, heaps of gold
had fallen, plunged into all sorts of ex
travagances, and the vendors of dia-
monds and precious stones, and costly
ornaments, and wares of gold and sill
yer, reaped a harvest. Millions Were
spent.
''Not only did large establishments
offering these gems and luXuries pros
per here. but Eastern dealers sent out
large consignments to be sold here.
The Eastern dealers continue to do so
now. The sales in this city were enor-
nous, and there was another extremely
large influx Of goods which were
brought here by old settlers and min
ing magnates who had gone East to
visit their homes again after making
their fortunes. When the large major.
ity found that the untruStworthy stocks
had swallowed up their money with
the same startling speed that it had
been amassed, the gems. etc. in theil
possession went for the most part to
the pawnbrokcrs. As a matter OF
curse mono of their owners received
anything like the amounts the goods
originally cost. Many people, yet re-
tanning their faith in the stocks they
held, Fut up their Jewels as security in
the hands Of their brokers. Then came
the first realization OF what a small
percentage of the original cost can be
obtained under any circumstances. |
wish to emphasize particularly the case
of jewels and precious stones, because
it is q natural and widely prevalent be-
lief that at all hazards a iewcl-a dia-
mond earring, for example, would be
worth at any time, and in any place,
very nearly what it cost, for the set
ting is an inconsiderable portion of the
value, and the stone remains the same
always. But the belief has no founda-
ton in fact. In actual practice ii
would only be q question of extraordi-
nary luck it the owner obtained, under
3 forced sale, more than thirtv-liye to
fifty per cent. of what he paid for ii
when he bought it out of the store,
One OF the most astonishing examples
OF this kind that has come to my knowl.
edge occurred in this city.
"a gentleman took q magnificcntse SCI
OF diamonds, which he had presented
to his wife while in a"tlIuent circum.
stances, to his broker, and delivered
them up as collateral for stock that h,
was holding. The set consisted O.
earrings and a cross. and the man hac
paid q firm in this city five thousanc
six hundred dollars for them. He SUP
posed, Of course, he could dispose O.
them any day for at least from thre,
to four thousand dollars, and nearl,
any man owning jewelry in the cit,
would believe the same thing. Blu
they would be far from right. Whe,
the stocks that the broker was holdine
for tho gentleman sank lower instead
OF going up, it became necessary tt
sell the jewelry, and the very best ofc.
that the firm who had sold them to tn,
gentleman would make to take then
back was one thousand three hundred
dollars-not o~nc-quartcr OF what til,
goods first sold for. 1t is a very yI;i,
case. The firm admitted that tn,
stones were tie same that they had sole
for the large amount. but the price a
which they would take them back indi
Gated that a prof.. of about four thou
sand three hundred dollars had been
made Oh them. This is Only one O
many cases, ana nearly all dealer
seem to prefer to deal with the trad,
and bring mere and more stones to til,
nlHr!'Gt in preference to offering even