Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1892-02-05
sAPPHlRes OF CEYLoN.
The Blue stones Are bv No Means So Rare
as Represented.

as Represented.
To n reporter of the Post Mr.. Fred c.
Whitney, who has travelled around the
world. gave the following interesting
account of visit to Colombo, on the
Island of Ceylon:
''Our steamer anchored behind the
breakwater in the open roadstead at
Colombo one bright May morning and
those of the passengers that chose To go
ashore were transferred to the steam
lighter in waiting and were soon at the
long wharf opposite the Grand Oriental
hotel. This hotel is well named, as it
is truly grand and quite oriental, both
in structure and service. The broad
verandas and spacious cool apart
ments are in the custody of brilliantly
costumed Cingalese servants, who
move noiselessly around, carry
ing cool drinks and ices to the
guests or moving their baggage to
the apartments assigned them. They,
the native servants, wear no shoes, and
the new arrival is sometimes startled
by finding a tall, swarthy native, with
his huge turbaned head respectfully
Kent to receive an order, right over ones
shoulder, just as you think you are
quite alone.
II think the Cingalese make the best
servants in the world, and know their
cooks rank with the most celebrated
chefs of Europe. AS we had only few
hours in which to do the town our party
dispatched a hasty but substantial
luncheon and entered gencrikshaws for
a spin through the principal streets to
the Notifications, where one of our fell
low-passengers Immediately got into
trouble by trying to kodak the sea face
of the principal fortress. The English
troops in charge do not permit sketches
to be made or photographs to be
taken of any of the Notifications
of the island of spices for fear the
pictures might find their way into the
hands of an enemy and aid him to de-
prive the English crown of one of it's
camera tiend. who departed, glad to
escape with the loss of his picture box,
which the officer of the guard confis-
Gated, and we drove to the cinnamon
gardens, then along the sea wall back
TO the clock tower and through the res
idence portion of the quaint city, which
is very rapidly becoming European in
character, business and architecture.
1--WE arrived at the hotel hot, tired
and hungry, where we were beset 10y
horde of Arab jewelers., who offered for
sale the greatest variety of Ceylon cats
eyes, rubies and sapphires it was ever
my lot to behold. These precious stones
were offered at all prices, from one
rupee to many thousands. Our guide es-
corted us to Moorman's establishment,
where we were shown the largest
cats-eye ever found on this island of
gems This stone was quite as large
as small orange and very brilliant,
and had Just been returned to it's orig
inal owners by London firm that had
failed to find a purchaser willing to
pay the enormous price asked for il.
The stone is too large for any ordinary
purpose, and the only hope the owners
now have of disposing of it at a fair
price is to sell it to some government as
crown jewel or to an East Indian
raiah. The rubies and .sapphires were
both numerous and beautiful, but were
held at prices about as high as those
asked for the same grade of stone in
England.
1.-The annual report that the sapphire
mines of Ceylon are failing is started
for the purpose of 'keeping up the price
of the gems, as there are probably
enough of these beautiful blue stones
on the island of Ceylon alone to sup
ply the world for the next twenty
years, to say nothing of the rich mines
of Burmah and those of the mahara-
jah of Cashmere. which are said to be
the most extensive in the world.
1.-THE Cingalese dealers also have
large quantities of diamonds of all
grades, mostly cheap yellow cape
stones, and the lower grades from the
Golconda river mines; these find ready
sale among the natives and tourists,
while the more valuable, higher-qual-
ity brilliants are sold to dealers and
expert collectors
THE coffee industry of Ceylon is
nearly thing of the past, the insects
having almost entirely destroyed the
last few crops but the planters are do
ing quite as well, If not better by
growing Indian tea and chinchona, and
the island is rapidly becoming as pros
porous as of yore. The only cities hav-
ing any European population to speak
of are Colombo and Handy, the present
seat of the colonial government. The
once famous seaport Pont-du-Gallc
is now little better than an ordinary
native village, as the construction of
the huge brealSwater at Colombo has
diverted the steam traffic that once
made this part of the island so pros
porous. At nightfall we re-embarked
and began our journey to Australia,
eight thousand miles away. Wash.