The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-09-09

who secured situations IN several rich fami-
lies and robbed them of their jewels In a
very original fashion. He had been jewel
maker by trade and it was no trick at all
for him 20 borrow the rings and bracelets
from his employers and have the settings
filled with paste stones after removing the
real ones, which he sold. The robberies
were only discovered through the fact that
the lady chanc ed to bring one Of her rings
to Ilhany's 20 have the setting fixed.
FAKE LAPIDARIEs AT THE sEAsHoRE.
'At this season Of the year a brisk BUSH
ness Is done by fake lapldaries at many sea-
side resorts, who iucite people to hunt on
the beaches for gems To credit them one
might imagine that the sands Of Jersey s
| shore and elsewhere we're actual mines Of
| precious stones of every description. Guile
less persons fetch them pebbles OF tTanslu-
cent quartz. which they pretend to cut
| into real moonstones. In reality they
| simply give a 25-cent moonstone in
exchange, charging 81 for 1t. For other
gems they provide the purchaser with vari-
| Gus cheap imported stones. I understand
! that they manufacture smoky topaz out of
common smoky quartz 10y applying heat.
! his sort OF business Is pursued on quite
| scale by fakirs at English watering places,
! VINO go so far as to SOW the ocean with
| fragments of green bottle glass, which are
| washed ashore in a water worn condition. to
| be subsequently picked up by deuded hollis
| day makers, who are persuaded by the lapi-
| DIARIES that they have found emeralds or
| aquamarines.
FUsING RUBY SPARKS.
There Yves a great sensation a while
ago." continued Mr.. Kunz, "over the re-
ported discovery by a French inventor Of q
| process for manufacturing big rubies by
| fusinR together many small ruby sparks
| So much faith was had IN the report that
| the Partisan jewellers demanded protection
| from the law against imitation of this kind.
| But no such rubies ever got on the market,
because the method Of manufacture
suggested was impracticable. To be-
gin with, it would necessarily have less
ened the specific gravity and hardness
| OF the material. However, rubies are made
| by article to-day. The thing Is accom-
plished very successfully by fusing alumni
ate OF lead and bichromate Of potash with
| silicate of soda and coarse sand, the result
being real ruby. But it is readily distin-
guished from the natural ruby by the bub-
bles of air it contains which are the result
| OF imperfect capitalization. These artif-
| cial rubies have not the much-desired
'pigeon-blood color and there il very little
demand for them.
ARTIFICIAL PEARLS.
| Artificial pearls. you know, are merely
| small blown-glass balls, lined with the
| coloring matter obtained from the inside
| Va bhO oChA6s VI a bIudll ISL Cdlleu the
| 'oleak' that is plentiful in Europe. They
are filled with wax, to make them strong
| and keep the lining from scaling Off.
| There does not seem to be any prospect
| that diamond mines will be found in the
| United States. The biggest diamond ever
| discovered in this country was dug up by q
| laborer while grading near Richmond. II
| had a big flaw on one side aud
was injured somewhat by the finder.
who put it into an iron furnace to test
| its quality. IL weighed nearly twenty four
carats and quitting reduced it to slightly
less than twelve carats John Morrisey
| once loaned $4,000 on it, but probably it Is
not worth one-tenth of that to-day. A
| great many diamonds have been DESTROYED
by ignorant persons who attempted to ap-
| ply heroic tests to them for the purpose of
| ascertatning whether or not they we're
| genuine. II you ever come across a large
| gem Of the kind, do not hit it with a ham,
mer, because the diamond, though the hard.
| est Of substances, Is very brittle Nor would
l advise you 70 experiment. upon IL with
1le because you will be apt to damage it.
Both OF these methods are popular with the
unsophisticated.
| NECKLACES OF MUMMIEs' EYES.
Speaking of things that are not what
they pretend 60 be, you may remember
what a talk there was a while ago about
| necklaces and other ornaments composed OF
the eyes of Peruvian mumuiies Their
structure was like that of pearls, each one
being an aggregation Of successive envslop-
| ing layers; their color was from golden vel
low to golden bronze, and they were found
10 be susceptible of a very beautiful polish
| As matter Of fact, however, they are
| merely the crystalline lenses of the
| eyes OF large squids Of cutie fish. In the
rainless region whence they we're obtained
| the corpses of the dead were dried Ia a sit
Inc he IKxv 4.
beds, often thousands in one place. Being
thus exposed to the public gaze, cuttle-fish
| eyes were placed In the orbless sockets of
| the mummies to render their appearance
more attractive. For this purpose each
| spherical lens was cut into two hemispheres
Sometimes the color in these remarkable
bodies are In alternate bands, like Mexican
| fire opas.
| DIAMONDS AS SAFE SECURITIES.
diamonds may be said to be the safest
| Of all securities Their value never lessons:
| on the contrary 1t has been rising steadily
| through centuries Under circum-
stances Of insecurity, such as war, they
| represent the best possible shape in which
to have money, bong readily portable and
easily concealed. Half a million dollars
worth of them can be stored away in ones
waistcoat pocket The danger Of owning
| lewelry OF great worth has vastly dimin-
ished In ancient times they were perilous
treasures to possess. II you have read the
romantic history of the Kohinoor you will
remember how that great stone over
threw monarchs and caused princes to
blind and murder their own brothers
and other near relatives. Even so recent a
potentate as the Duke o. Brunswick kept
his celebrated collection of gems, dispersed
since his death, in an armored room, with
alarm bells on every hand. Now there are
families in New York which individually
own nearly 81 zoo, 900 worth Of diamonds.
though twenty-five years ago S25, 900 was
considered an astonishing investment in this
form of property. But there is no danger
involved, because the jewels are kept In safe
| deposit boxes save on the occasions when
they are actually in use The worlds entire
stock Of diamonds is valued at about s., 0O0,-
100000.
| THE HALL MARX.
Attempts have been made TO introduce
in this country the hall mark which is put
on gold jewelry in France TO indicate its
tiueness Every French manufacturer of
| lewelry sends his products to the official
hall marks Of the government, who test
the article submitted to them and make a
little jag % each piece to certify that it is