The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-11
GREAT PROFITS IN DIAMOND MINES
Some south African Companies Pay
100 Per Cent Annually.

Kimberley Letter in London Telegraph.
AS is pretty generally known, the largest
and most successful diamond mining COM
pany In the world is the De Beers Consoli-
dated. and it's success rests in great meas
ure on its being a strict monopoly. Elk
perience has shown that the opulent por-
ton of mankind is prepared to spend be-
TWEEN 100000 and f5.0O0,0 600 yearly on these
radiant pebbles. This means so much ad-
dition to the worlds store, for COMPARE
lively few are lost, and they never wear
out Increase the supply and the price
falls. But, unlike most commodities, the
reduction in cost does not stimulate de-
mand; its effect Is ra Their to rt1ring your
gem into less repute, for the RICH patrons
of these crystal forms value them not
merely for their intrinsic and unique bril-
liancy, but also for their rarity. Cheap
would mean common, and as a common
thing the diamond might take rank little
higher than its three rivals that are en-
titled to be called precious-the ruby the
sapphire and the emerald-or even with
the stones of fancy, the chrysoberyl, the
tourmaline, the opal, the topaz and the
garnet. The pearl found within the oy-
ster shell is an organic substance, but all
the gems alike are jewels when mounted
Overproduction Of diamonds existed for
merly and in 1889 the price per carat sank
to 19s SAD, and dividends to 5 per cent.
Then the Consolidated Company was en-
gineered, mainly by Cecil Rhodes, output
was restricted, the price per carat rose to
24s sd in three years and dividends to Is
per cent. The monopoly Is now two-fold.
De Beers controls the supply and they
sell to q syndicate who govern the mar.
ket. The syndicate consists of five of the
largest diamond firms extant and they
10 kr.Iva frnv. he Ar.e,a
pany 208,000 carats per month, at the fixed
price of Us Cd per carat the company
binding itself to turn out only very small
quantity beyond these figures. By this ar
rangement the price is kept up and COM
Portable dividend of 40 per cent. Is secured
The chairman at last years meeting told
the shareholders that the directors could
easily double the production, but they pre-
ferred to give the world what II wanted
and no more.
Of course, there is taste in diamonds
The syndicate to which / have referred
knows exactly what that taste is and
where to place the various kinds. Coun-
tries like England, France, the United
States and Russia take all varieties, but
these are mainly the fields for the best
the finest blush white crystals. Precious
stones are measure of opulency and the
growth of fashion. The Americans i'm
ported $120000,000 worth In twenty-four
years, but of these $50, 900 were in the
latter half of the period. In the year
1889 they bought ten times as many as
in 1869. The gems range in color from
blush and nearly pure white to blue,
pink, yellow, orange green and brown
while some are Opaque. Taste has decid-
ed that the stones are most precious that
are most translucent and brilliant
The largest diamond ever met with was
found in Brazil and an enthusiast valued
iteby weight alone, at 1924 900, Co., but 1t was
black and not brilliant, the estimates
gradually sank to 100000 and to-day il
would probably not fetch nearly so much
as the most modest count. Colored specl-
meas do best in South America and the
east.
In this part Of tho world II Is hardly safe
to have a diamond unless you can show
that you brought it with you into the
country or have purchased Il of a licensed
dealer. Time was when receivers of the
lowest order came here from all parts and
bought the stones from the workers. /. d.
b. Qllicit diamond buying attained such
proportions that one-half Of all the gems