The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1896-12-17

ung "a unakilfully done. tJJuNVV may
be cut OIL with equal ease. Tho stone
has never been out Of the possession
Of the great diamond syndicate, OF
which Cecil Rhodes IL the head, and
which controls the entire diamond out
put Of South Africa. II was found by I
ono Of the syndlcate's workmen In /
June 1898. In the jaeger Fontein mine,
near Kimberly. Il is known ms the
lager Fontein Excelsior. From the |
moment OF It's discovery up 10 the |
present time Il has been guarded as
carefully rs the treasure IN the BANK |
of England. To make Ga security al 1
The greater. strict secrecy hiss been /
observed a. 10 rs exact location. II /
was frst kept under military guard al
the syndicato'g South African place,
end then sent under special escort to
London. There Il has remained ever
since. But, beyond the fact that u Is
In the city somewhere. no ono has been
permitted 10 know anything about a.
The secret OF itH location has been kept
by the officers OF the company and a
few trusted employees No effort has
heretofore been made for its cutting.
because a customer for a two and a
half million solitaire 81 not 20 be picked
up every day. As The cutting process
Is very expensive. tho syndicate did not
care 10 go ahead with the work until
there was some prospect Of a sale, I,
takes an emperor or a king 10 secure
control OF such a stone aH this. and the
impcr0u and kings OF Europe are rath-
-ar hard up at present Who u h that
has finally promised TO take the jaeger
Fontcin Excelsior OF the syndlcate's
hands Is not known n is rumored m
london. however. that like all he 9TH
or great THINGS In the world. the biz
diamond s. coming TO America 20 some
rrCat American millionaire. Compared
With the lager Foniein Excelsior all
The other great stones a. present in
existence are as hazel puta 20 hen
Eggs. Il weighed when rxhumed 96)h
,arais It's extreme girth In width was
5M inches, and iis extreme girth In
length wa1 ca ines. rs greatest
length on any ~ was ~ inches, and
lte greatest wiau on any 0ac side was
inches. lie tmnllcst width was ~
inches. Aitoe Their Il Is not unlike o
small basohalh ..n size There a.o per-
haps a half sosen diamonds In the
world rh1i will rank with the jaeger
rontcln as among the greatest gems In
existence. though none Of them APP
proach Il IN any sense either 10 value
or size. Tho Mogul diamond. which q
among the Persian crown jewels
weighs $50 carats. rs one OF the chief
asrcta Of the Shah Of Persia. and AL
sorts Of fabulous prices have been Of
fcrol for a.
Tho Orlon diamond In the sccptre ri
the Russian Car weighs i0iA oarats
According to one story. Il formed th'
eye Of an Indian idol and vas stolen b.
French dcsericr. another that Il be-
lonecd 10 the Nadlr Shah OF Persia, anl
on his murder came into the hands o
an Armenian merchant. who brought
10 Amsterdam. II was sold 10 Ruasl
IN i772 for $4,000. with an annuity o
$4,000 and a title Of Russian nobility
= Among the British crown jewels
Nthoskohlnoor This stone has had
mdst remarkable history. and until
icllJnto the hands OF Queen Vic,ori
caused wars innumegahle AZ dat
not fxei by history. Il was discoycre
In the Ganl mine near the iamou
mines Of Colconda. In 1895, al N
sack Of Delhi By Ala Ed hin. the Su
ian Of the Mogul dynasty. u Tell int
che hands Of the conquerors. who Il
related. esteemed II at the sum
the daily maintenance Of the who
world"
AT this time Il weighed 795 karat
The gem passed along from generate
10 generation. until the Emperor Al
renegade came to the throne. tn
old gentleman became tainted Wi
western hcroslos, and concluded IA
the Mogul In a. state Of cutting vi
y not fashionable enough To serve {
court purposes. So he had a wosteI
lapldary. Dorgio by name. take Il und
contract TO cut II according TO Eur
poan ideas Borgio was highly pleas
M the commission but before he &
through ne dovouily wished that
might have been drowned before q
emperor ever sent for him. For
months the stone was In the lapidarl
hands. and when ho had finished
Job he returned q with much pride
ils royal owner
Il took the Emperor Aurcngzeho ~
three seconds 10 order that Bori
rhould be boiled IN OIL torn limb o.,
limb have his head cut on and nail
20 the city eotoa by the cara, anal
undergo various other equally nlcasi
and cheerful experiences. In cutti
the diamond. norFlo had been co
nellod 10 reduce u thr9o-Quartors
alsc. That the Job was sciontiaca
and artlslioally done from tho IN
dnry's standpoint cut no figure "
the enraged monarch. lie wanted
Ccm trimmed un according to west,
ideas. hul he didn't by any manner
means intend 10 lose three.quarters
a. lie was finally prevailed upon
spare Borgio's lie, but got even
conascatlng all the property posses
BY that unfortunate individual. VII
was no, inconsldcrable. Il has b
conjcctured that In cutting Il. the 4
mond was divided. and the other
hcrame the Orion stone.
~ la reduced form the stone pes
along from generation "a generatl
cauNng vars and riots lnnnmera
nnlIl In 1873 upon the conquest Of