The morning news., 1897-08-29
COLORED DIAMONDS A FAD.
Smart Society Women Are Scorninr
White stones

Whlte stones and what once becomes com
mon in the way of a luxury is apt 10 be
deemed vulgar soon. OF course blue
green and pink diamonds are very costly.
but expense is no object to the people
who compose the meringue on top of the
upper crust of the fashionable pie in the
metropolis, says the Boston Transcript.
Colored diamonds, by the way, contrib
uted largely to the beauty of a remark
aDIe utensl that was given TO a fashion
ahle churoh the other day This was a
communion chalice composed of gold and
precious stones. There were 1S0 stones in
an including diamonds sapphires, emer-
alds from the Ural mountains garnets
rSm Nevada, zircons and chrysoberyis
from Ceylon, green tourmalnes from
Maine, rubies carbuncles from Siam, peri
dots amethysts, chlorastrolites and mol
davites-the last a rare green volcanic
glass found in Moravia.
Speaking of colored diamonds, it may
be mentioned incidentally that the excep-
tional values attached to these fancy
stones when of large size and of first rate
water place them altogether beyond the
reach of persons who are not actually
multi-millionares. The finest green dia--
mond in the world is in the Green vaults
of Dresden. The De Beers company has
in its office at Kimberley about a dozen
very beautiful colored diamonds some of
which are deep blue. One, of considerable
size, is a hawless stone of an intense rose
tint, which is believed to be the finest
pink diamond in existence. No money
can purchase ii.
another fashion coming into vogue is the
engraving of diamonds. Work of this kind
is now being done for the first time in this
country. The fad is an old one revived.
Mary, Queen of Scots, is said to have pos
sessed a large diamond engraved with her
coat-of-arms. which is now owned by
private collector in England. At the late
Antwerp exposition were shown finger
ring and cross, each cut out of sin
gle crystal of diamond. The cutting is
performed by means of very small re-
vloving drill, similar in its action to a dem
lists drill. The tool is manipulated with
the fingers like a pencil the operator dip
ping the tip from time to time in a mix
ture of oil and diamond dust The work
is extremely slow and requires the utmost
patience and skill. 1t spoils the brilliancy
of the stone almost entirely.
The system of inspection at the South
African diamond mines is almost incredi-
bly, minute, and yet from 10 to j. per
cent. of the total output is lost by theft,
as reckoned by the companies. Most in
genious ruses are adopted by illicit deal
ers for conveying stolen diamonds out of
Kimberley. The boundary of the Trans
vaal approaches within a few miles of
Kimberley, so that thieves can quickly
get across it and be safe. Recently one
of them, a very notorious person, was
seen leaving Kimberley on horseback for
the Transvaal. He was seized on sus-
pcion by the police on the border and
was thoroughly searched. Nothing was
found on him, and he was perforce al
lowed to proceed. No sooner was he well
across the boundary than, while yet un-
der the eyes of the detectives, he deliver
ately shot and cut open his horse, extract
ing from its stomach a large parcel Of
diamonds, which, before starting on the
journey, had been administered to the an
imal in the form of a bolus.
Necessarily the Illicit diamonds buyers
depend upon the workmen at the mines
for supplies of stolen gems. The laborers
are watched all the time by the hawk.
eyed guards, to see that they do not Sc
crete any stones. They are hired for a
certain term, during which they are in
prison, when not actually engaged in their
labors, in a compound surrounded by
high wall. On returning from each days
work they are obliged to strip They pro-
ceed to the searching room, where their
mouths hair, toes and armpits are sub
jected TO elaborate examination. Then
they go to their rooms in the compound,
where they find blankets in which to wrap
themselves for the night. During the
evening the clothes which they have left
behind them are carefully and minutely
searched, being restored to their owners
in the morning.
All these precautions being taken it
seems amazing that even a single diamond
of small size could be stolen from the
mines Nevertheless, not long ago, a ne
gro laborer of Kimberley managed to Sc
cret and carry away a lump of earth about
the size of his fist, on the surface of which
were forty-five diamonds of good size,
the largest Weighing about sixteen carats.
This kind of earth, blush in color is the
matrix of the diamond. and If it were as
valuable throughout as the lump referred
to it would be worth $6000000 a ton. The
lump is now the property Of a diamond
dealer IN New York city; there Is no tell
ing how many big gems may be inside
of it.
The native who stole it was murdered
shortly afterward by somebody who ex-
pected to find the proceeds of the sale upon
him. Many Of the Kaffirs who work at
the mines have very virtuous object in
view. The wages are very high, and in
short time they can get money enough to
90 home and buy a wife from their chief.
All the women are owned by the chief,
who sells them to the men. In this way
the chiefs exchequer is maintained.
II Is related that once upon a time there
South African mines. He was engaged in
loading a cart with blue mud when some
thing shinging attracted his eye. The
notion that a diamond in the rough is not
brilliant Is one of the most absurd of pop
ular errors. The man picked up the stone
and hid IT, Maybe his purpose was to
steal il, but he deserves the benefit Of the
doubt. At all events, possibly deferred by
the difficulty Of getting away with IT, he
delivered Il few days later TO the man
ager of the Jagersfonten mine. As re-
ward he receiver $3.50 In cash and horse
and saddle. The stone proved 20 be a blue
white diamond. faultiess except for a
small spot IN the center. II weighed near
~ half a pound avoirdupois being three
inches long two and q half inches wide
and one and half inches thick. No ac-
curate valuation has been placed upon It,
inasmuch as Il Is by far the largest dla-
mOnd ever known.
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