The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-12-19

4
avenue danes. Knights Of Labor nt times vie
with capitalists in display Of the precioza
stones. Their radiance is seen on every street.
and beneath every electric light Edward y
Stokes says that on an average $500 600 worth q
precious stones seen IN the Hoffman HOuu3
cafe every day. Charles f. Vernam places tbs
value of the precious stones shown in the Nor
ton House daily at similar figure. DelmOui-
cos and the Brunswick not behind 10 the
display. Of course, these resorts are frequent
ed by actors politicians, brokers. and the male
elite of the city; but the fact remains that 81 00
900 worth ofsdamonds are nightly on exhibition
in four New York bar-rooms. On nights when
German operas are given THERE'S never less than
81, 900. 600 worn in the private boxes. On matt
days IL is estimated that at least 50, 0O0 Goo
in diamonds are worn by promenaders on Broad
way, between Fourteenth and Thirty fourth
streets. The most of this display is made with
in two hours in the afternoon. This indicates
that over 81. 600 in diamonds an hour pass
the ST. James such days.
The extent of the craze is astounding While
in the Morton House, the other evening, saw
a gentleman with distingue air catching his
cuffs with the closed fingers of his hands, and
drawing their well-starched surface into sight
This jerking process was repeated every minute
At first got the impression that be was afflicted
with the St Vitus dance The mystery. how
ever, was quickly explained After watching
him some minutes saw that he was trying 10
exhibit two enormous diamond sleeve buttosx-
They were larger t5an Mrs. Frank Leslie's ear
rings; they shone like electric lights in an
underground passage Their saffron hue de-
tracted greatly from their value. Recoverlng
from my surprise, l was astonished to fud
them overshadowed by stud as large aS
big horse-chestnut 1t defed descrip-
ton, although it was clearly off color.1
The man wore diamond buttons on
his waistcoat and sported a collar button
that blazed above his tie like fiery spark. The
owner of this unique collection of gems was
Charles L. Davis, of the Alvin Josyn troupa.
He is fairly loaded with solitaires. Some
months ago the we'll known Pony Morse of Lon
don, whose stepdaughter married Charley
Mitchell, the pugiist. dropped into the Morton
House cafe. Moore owns some of the finest dla-
monds in London. He wears three old nine
stones on his shirt front as large as nutmega
and as translucent in color the eyes of az
angel Some one introduced him to DAVIS.
The latter drew down his shirt cuffs and tried Ia
paralyze Moore by the hrilliancy of his sol
itaires. The negro minstrel was as stoical as an
Indian. II see you are fond of diamonds" he
said. Perhaps you would like to look at some
beautiesp
He drew chamois bag from his pocket aud
rolled out handful of stones of exquisite luster.
Nothing daunted, DAVIS pointed to his stud and
the buttons on his waistcoat. lie next turned
down the band of his trousers and exhibited
huge diamond, doing service in undergar-
ment. Get on to that and die" he said, in O
tone Of sarcasm.
After this he drew fstful of loose diamonds
from hisposket, and threw them upon the bar for
Ponys inspection Not long sfterward load Of
ice was dumped into the chute leading to the
cellar The noise startled those In the cafe.
whats thatp Moore asked
They're dumping Daviss diamonds into
the safe down stairs" James w. Collier, the
actor, said He has them locked up there every
night"
The largest diamond in the country is said to
be the one worn by Minnie Palmer. It is called
1.-The President Cleveland" The next largest 10
owned by Tiffany, and is on exhibition at his
Charles Levy, the proprietor of Centre-street
cafe. He brought it from the South African
mines. When first cut 1t weighed 152 carats Il
has since been trimmed down to 50 carats aud
it is said to be of the finest stones of its
size in the world 1t is valued at $40, 900.
These figures show that the diamonds Of to-
day far outstrp in value those worn in Tweed's
time Jim Fisk's great headlight cost only $iS,-
OOO Boss Tweed's was never valued at more
than $4,000. and Judge Barnard's kicked the
beam at $1,000. ZIsKA