The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-11-16
a GREAT NEW DIAMoND.
S2,ooo.ooo Given by the Nizam of
Hyderabad to "Mr. Isaacs."
Ernnl fha Cractntn.

S2,OoO.OOo Given by the Nizern of
Hyderabad to "Mr. Isaacs."
From The Spectator.
IL Is just thirty-three years since the
writer was assured by the great Indian
jeweler Of that day that there was one final
limit on the value Of diamonds and rubies.
NO one" be said, remained in the world
who would give more than ESQ. 900 for any
single stone. They won't do II, )" he said, the
they meaning princely purchasers gen.
erally, mot if could produce a ruby as
large as a roc's egg; they have be-
gun 10 think or interest," The wealth
OF the world has increased since then, aud
especialiy-the wealth Of individuals-no
one then was worth a clear IS, 900 ,OO0-in a
oegree which we hardly recognize; but we
should still have said that the man who
would give 100000 for a single stone,
would, that's, pay $4,000 a year forssthe pleas
nre OF possessing useless article, usually
invisible both TO the possessor and the world,
could not be discovered. 1t is evident, how
ever, that the Jeweler moderated the charm
OF the articles he dealt in.
The suit brought by the Nizam Of the
Deccan against MIR. Jacobs, the teweler of
Simla, has revealed the fact that there is at
least one man capable of paying 100000 a
year forever for the possession Of a big dia-
mond. Mr. Jacobs is said to be an Italian
or Italian jew named Barri, who In early
lie either adopted or professed Mohamme-
danism, who wandered through all the
courts Of Asia buying and selling jewels,
and who, settling at last in Simla, attracted
the notice Of Marion Crawford, who ideal
lied him into "Mr. Isaacs." 1t seems GER
tain that Mr.. Jacobs had large transactions
with the princes of India, that the Nizam
HUHnruhaA hah
him FAC. 900 a year, and that he at
last agreed to buy from him a mighty
diamond, the Imperial, at the amazing
price Of e430000. This Is not mere
newspaper gossip, which we notice tends
always to exaggerate fortunes and other
sums or money. The nizam, either because
he was repentant, or because be thought
himself done, refused to complete the barr
gain, alleging, after he had seen the stone,
that he purchased only upon approval. A
quarrel ensued, ending In the arrest of Mr..
Jacobs at Simla, and decision by the SUI
preme court that the nizam must person.
ally give evidence, and submit to be cross
examined by commission. The order so
shocked the fierce mobiles Of Hyderaoad that
it might have produced an Insurrection {;
but the nizam, who has no notion
of being defeated in a plant, recollected
that the Prince Of Wales had given evidence
in court OF justice, and by a procla-
nation which dwelt upon that circum-
stance, as well as upon certain religious
considerations, contrived to soothe away
irritated feeling. His highness was exam
ined and cross-examined, and gave his evil
dence, so far as we can tell from uele-
graphic report, straightforwardly enough.
he really had been willing to pay e430. 900
for diamond, and had actually given an
order for t23O,OOO in order that the jewel
might be sent for him to see. After that
all is confusion, or rather nothing is de-
cided.
1t may be taken as certain that the
Nizam OF Hyderabad would have given
&430, 900 in hard cash for a diamond, had
he approved the stone and the question is,
why he gave it. The Nizam, though young,
Is not child or an unusually foolish per-
son. but a young man Of the athletic per-
suasion-at all events, he is the best and
holdest driver IN Asla-who is intellectual
enough to know what be is doing when he
sends for DR.. Lauder Brunton to investigate
certain particulars in the operation of
chloroform in suspending sensation. He is
no Vanderbilt either, or mammoth mil.
ionaire of the American type, but an In
dian prince who may have a million al
command but who, when that is gone,
must raise money by regular processes
and at very heavy interest. - - What
makes him give a sum which would daunt
Baron Hirsch or the Gear of Russia for bit
of shining carbon TO which he does not as
an orthodox Mussulman attach any magical
Importance The Imperial" however as
we understand the narrative, Is a new dia-
mond, diamond with no story attached to
it, and no suggestion that it conveys either
empire or misfortune; and what did the
nizam want it for at prics which would
have purchased hundreds of Injuries and
gauds appreciable even by him? HeJis not
a girl to care for personal adornment, nor
is the "Imperialn the kind of investment
in which even an Asiatic sovereign
can believe. We do not doubt,
though the statement is often
denied, that the princes of Asia accumulate
Jewels as treasures, as European Eonarchs
also did when bonds to bearer were un-
known: and we believe that one motive is a
sense of insecurity, an idea that they may
be driven to sudden flight, which scarcely
ever leaves them. The nizam cannot have
wanted it only as portable property. Nor
Is there any evidence that he is one of the
man physically attracted by gleam and
glitter and refraction. There are such men
In scores, as every specialist knows who
has studied the recorded evidence about
kleptomania and they are much more
common in the east, where the will
grows harQor. lnQeeQ, 10 Is prOCdDlo Jnat
men have some trace Of the feeling, or the
long dominion of gems weuld be difficult to
account for, as would well-known variety
of what is called fascination" The present
writer, who does not collect jewels freely
Acknowledges that the immense translucent
stones of the second order, so well kno wn to
trading mineralogists-huget thick topazes,
beryls, amethysts, and crystals-exercise on
his eyes a kind of physical fascination, so
that he never tires OF gazing into their lus-
trous depths.
We imagine the nizam's impulse was the
double one, that of the collector and that of
the man who values a decoration. The COL
lecting mania is just as common in the east
at in the west; but outside of japan and
China its objects are more limited, being
confined to religious symbols, which, IL they
have history, are purchased as eagerly as
relics were in the twelfth century. and to
precious stones, which, apart from their
beauty, are regarded as wonderful things
in Sc, flashing in way not given to any
other things created, except the eyes of con-
scious beings. The nizam, who buys precious
stones in large way, was doubtless told
that If he bought this diamond he would
be the possessor of the rarest one in the
world, and would feel as proud as any COL