The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1897-07-25
DOWNFALL OF KING DIAMOND

"A recent Associated Press dispatch
says that number of the diamond mer-
chants in New York city are going out
of business. The reason assigned was
that so many diamonds are being snug
gled into the country that it is no longer
profitable to continue the business.
While this may be one of the reasons
for the retirement of the diamond mer-
chants, it is to be doubted if it is the only
one or if, indeed, it is the principal one.
For hundreds of years the diamond has
occupied a position that intelligent peo-
pie are now beginning to regard as
false and unnatural one, as the king of
precious stones. 1t has no intrinsic
value; it is of very little use in the arts
and sciences, where it's fieldo operation,
years has been very limited. Its value
has been measured almost solely by the
appreciation of humanity, and has,
therefore, been almost purely aesthetic.
Up to twenty-five years ago the value
of the diamond as measured by its
market price was about the mos't
stable of all values. People invested
money in them, knowing that when they
wished to realize they could turn them
into cash without loss. Dealers would
sell the stones accompanied by writ
ten contract to pay 80 per cent of the
amount paid for them within a certain
limit of time, should the purchaser wish
to return them.
Yet the diamond has never had an ar
bitrary, fixed value set upon it like ths.
of gold ad silver. No man could go out
on the street or go into a store and pur-
chase goods and pay for them in dia-
monds as he could with gold or silver
piece or a bank note Few men are dia-
mond experts.
Notwithstanding all these things the
diamond has continued to be the king Of
precious stones. To own them argued
wealth. The measure of plutocracy in
some circles, is the number and value OF
the diamonds possessed by those who
move in them Fashion has been a
great factor in maintaining the standard
of purchasable value, and it is safe to
say that fashion has been less tickle
in the case of diamonds than it has
with any other article
Gradually, however, a change has
come about. Vast diamond diggings
have been discovered in South Africa
and Brazil To be sure, the output of
these digigngs has been controlled by
monopolies that have been very care
full not to allow the market to become
overstocked, so far as they could, proven;
| it. Those who have read Conan Doyle =
story, 1.-The Firm of Girdlestone," will
remember that the action of the story
hinges to very large extent on a corner
| in diamonds, that was broken by the
discovery of new and rich fields in the
Ural mountains. But diamonds have
become more plentiful.
Human ingenuity, too, has produced
artificial diamonds that only experts can
tell from the genuine. This has had an
influence, small, perhaps, but none the
less effective in depreciating and
cheapening the diamond market. Many
people will not wear even diamonds if
they think they are becoming too COM
mon" The hard times have also affected
the diamond trade.
/ Do all these things forecast the down
| fall of King Diamond after so long a
period of absolute domination-a reign
to which the boosted reign of Queen Vic
toria is but passing second recorded by
the pendulum of time? Stranger things
have happened.