St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-05-02

representing mOdesty, virtue which,
believe, is generally admired. In Persia to
this day people suppose them to be drops of
water which have by some means entered
the oyster and become crystallized there.
Pearls and diamonds are the most popular
stones to-day among all classes. They are
| ALSO"
1.-The most expensive" said the gen e.
man promptly.
'Gh no, SIR" continued the jeweler be-
coming businessiike involuntarily. Here
are some splendid stones, white and with
out flaw, which / can sell you for-Ia beg
your pardon-I forgot that was in the
midst OF DISCOURSE" IAN emerald that
has no flaw in it," he resumed in his calm
est manner, lis typical of the purest love.
Some people say that, as few such emer-
aids can be found. purest love is necessarily
rare"
''Oh, John!" said the lady, bashfulIy.
You are not obliged TO believe that I'M
less you like. An emerald WAS always
thought to possess the power of discovering
treachery in the shape Of alleged friends
The Romans believed that serpents would
become blind if they merely looked upon
an emerald, and that every other object
OF contempt and detestati0n would fall,
overwhelmed. in its presence. The emerald
is popular in courtship and in marriage
After marriage it is supposed to bring har-
mony into the household and to further
domestic joys in every possible way. The
amethyst, in the days of chiyalry, was be-
lieyed to have great power for good in
| battle. The Wearer was rendered
brave, far-seeing ana honorable The
amethyst was also said to de-
strOy the craving for Intoxicating
liquors. which you see was as prevalent in
those days as it is in these-Or nearly so. /
have often wondered why some OF the
modern temperance societies have never
patronized this wholesale stone-eVen if
only for the sake of old traditions. The
| Greeks and Romans used to believe that
AGATEs INSURED GOOD HEALTH
and long and prosperous life. Agates
were also supposed to be able to render
their wearers invisible. The stones are not
very popular to-day. Garnets. which are
cheap and pretty (the gentleman smiled
affably at this; the lady closed her eyes and
wouldn't look at garnet), are invariably
thought to bring cheerfulness and ability
| to hold ones own in the world. Coral has
always been supposed to act as health
giver."
| rs that why children who are cutting
asked the feminine customer, Sagaciously.
Precisely. The custom still, as you say,
survives, and it is a remnant of the old be-
lief. People to-day say they don't believe
any such thing, and that they give coral to
their children merely because it is hard.
But there are scores of substances equally
hard and not nearly as expensive. In the
middle ages nearly every stone that was
blessed by the sovereign had some healing
power. Imagine to-day how strange it
would be to see Queen Victoria blessing
gems and handing them to the people,"
Il suppose if that were done in England, {"
said the male customer, ''some Anglo-ma-
MAC would bring it to this country, and our
legislature would be forced to vest healing
power in the president of the United
States"
The lady customer had by this time be-
come tired OF ring lore as expounded by the
monotonOus accents of the jeWeler. She
| selected the ruby ring, which happened to
| be tue most expensive trinket in the case.
Il am sorry it costs so much, john" she
said, alphabetically. THAT is not the rea-
son why chose it, ! assure you. take it
simply because it expresses -ahem! pas
tleman coughed and seemed to feel very
acutely the fact that passionate love cost
SO much to express. But he said nothing.
why do we always wear wedding and
engagement rings on the fourth fngerp"
she asked, as they were about to leave the
| jewelers. shop.
"The reason u.s." said the smiling jeweler,
| thai in olden times nerve was popularity
supposed to run from the fourth finger d.
rectly to the heart. 1t used to be called
the healing finger, and physicians invaria-
bly, used it when they mixed their medi-
cnes."
Everything is old about rings except
their prices" grumbled John as he left the
shop, land they always keep pace with the
times. "-LondOn Times.