Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-12-19
i.monds ara worn by promcnaders on

Tho extent of the craze IS aStound-
irp. While in the Morton House the
other evening / saw a gentleman WIN
q d,stnoue air catching his cuffs with
the closed fingers Of his hands and
drawing their wel-starched snr'acein'
sight. This Jerking process was 70
pea,sd every minnto At nrst l gov
The Impression that he was afflicted
with 81. yitus dance. The mystery,
however. was quickly explained. Al
ter watching hIn some minutes saw
that he was irving to exhibit two en'e'
mons diamond sleeye-bnttons. lnsY
were larger than Mrs. Fra'k hesNs.S
earrings: they shone like e'ec' nc
lights in 81 underground passage. laelr
saffron hue detracted greatly from their
value. Recovering fron ny surprise !
Vas as'oni.hed 10 fad them over
Swallowed by a stud as large AZ O'g
horse. chestnut. IL de'ied description,
although it was clearly soil color. -
The man wore diamond buttons on his
wais,coat and sported a collar-6ntton
that blszed above his tie like a fiery
shark. The owner Of this UNIQUE col
lection Of gems was Charles l. DAVIS,
9f The ALVIN Joslyn troupe. lie was
Cairlg loaded With soitalre5. Some
months ago the well-known Pony
Moore. of London. whose stepdaushter
married Charley Mitchell, the p15ll'st'
d,opped into the Morton-lI0u3e cafe.
Moore owns some of the finest dia-
monds in London. lie wears three old
mine stones on his shirt-frOnt as large
as nutinegs and as translucent in color
SIS the eyes Of an angel. Some one IN
,roduced him to Davis. The latter
drew down his shirt cuffs and tried to
paraly2e Moore By the brilliancy OF his
solitaires. The negro-minstrel was rs
s,oical as an Indian. 81 see you are
ford Of diamonds" he said. Perhaps
you would like to look at some beau
ties?"
lie drew chamois-bag from his
pocket and rolled out handful Of stones
of exquisite lustre. Nothing daunted
Davis pointed to his stud and the but
tons on his waistcOat. lie next turned
down the band OF his trousers and ex-
hibited hugo diamond doing service on
an undeIgarment. SECT on to that
ard die" he said, in tone Of sar-
casm.
After this he drew fistful Of loose
diamonds from bis pocket and threw
them upon the bar for POny's inspec-
ton. Not long sftergard a load of ice
was dumped into the chute lsading to
the cellar. The noise startled those in
the cafe. Whats that?" Moore
| asked.
"They're dumping Dlvis's diamonds
into the safe downstairs James W.
Collier, the actor, said &" lie has them
locked up there every night"
The largest diamond in the country
is SAID 10 be the one worn by Minnie
Palmer. 1t is called the " President
C'eyelaud." The next largest is own-
Cd by Tiffany, and is on exhibition at
his store. The third largest is in the
possession Of Charles Levy, the pro-
pIie;or Of a Cantro.strtet cafe. lie
brought il from the South African
mines. When first cut it weighed l52
carats. 1t has since been trimmed
dawn to IS carats. and it is now said
to be one of the finest stones Of it,
size in the world. 1t is valued at
/ $4,000.
These figures show that the diamonds
Of to-day far odtstrip in value those
worn in Tweed's time. jim Fisk's
great headlight cost only SIS, 900, Boss
Tweed's was never valued at more
than $4,000, and Judge Barnard
kicked the beam at $1,000.
GOSSIP OF TIE CLUBS.
Asarule whenever the sensational
local reporters of the daily papers at
tempt to manufacture club sensation
they generally make a mess OF 1t. The
other dav the community was startled
by sensational reports that the Union
Club had detected 4 systematic robbery
by the employees that has been goiae
On for some months and aggregated
100000. Now, as only one or t@o
Of the employees ever handle any
OF the cash. and as the most elaborate
system Of checks and duplicates 20 pre-
vent coll1siye robbery By employees Is
followed in al the clubs, this statement
caused no lutte merIimcnt among cllo
men. and caused the outside world 70
wonder how much is spent in clubs
II was reported that there had been
wholesale discharge of the employees
ard that there was a general demorall-
cation in the aristocrauc and naughty
old club. in which those noted ben a.
rants and wits, William Is. Trayer:
, Uncle Billy ~ and Lawrence jerome
&. Larry - tcll all their new stories
II apueers there was discharge o
some servants because they we're grog
Ing irattentiye, but have high authO
rity that there has been no population
unless the accepting of a small com
mission by one Of the employees from
a supply dealer DO considered such
The members of the Union figure in too
many domestic scandals to be misrepre
rented by such a one as this little TEN
pest in very small and leaky teapot
Mr.. Loubat, who has become famous
by his successful suit to be reinSta.eC
5 in the Union Club, from which he ga:
! expelled in consequence Of his cOnnec
ton with the notorious Loubat-Turn
bull scandal Of several years aS), IA;
: returned from his soiourn abroad, b1
- has not attempted to enter the club
! lie is middle-sged, digniied-lookin,
t gentleman, with an inherited income o
$50. 600; a bachelor constantly on ia
: 90 IN society; a student Of numlsma
t tics and the author of valuable worl
n ON the subject-the last one in tn
D world to be mixed up in such disre
putable affair. lie is, however, one o
the poorest "incOme men in the club
It There's Freddy Gebhard, who has $50,
IS coo per .annum; Lloyd Phoenix, will
= his 100000. Those that have no
n over $25, goo per annum are considere
II poor.
il Mark Twain makes the Lotus-Clu'
y billiard-room his headquarters while il