The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-26
VANITY OF THE GORGEOUS.
THE CURSE OF THE DIAMOND AND
THE BANE OF SILVERWARE.

blazed and famed and glared till they seemed
almost as big as cobblestones. The shelves be-
hind the counter displayed silver soup tureens
OF capacity sufficient to battle n baby In. and
other inconvenicnt but costly articles. Strewn
about the place with magnificent recklessness
were objects Of opulence and splendor in gold
and silver and precious stones that made tho
shop a delight to persons of large aspirations
and small pocketbooks. The whole air Of the
establishment was of liGhtness and brightness
and wealth, and still the jeweller was undeui-
ably gloomy.
Nice stone, that" said his friend, trying TO
Sneer his depressed spirits, and he nodded at a
mass Of solidihed light and fire imprisoned in a
golden cage.
YES" replied the jcweller YEARLY, politely,
jn1iferently.
The comforter examined the thing carefully
and scrupulously and closely.
"A new kind of bicycle lamp ~ he guessed
finally. Though I admit it's rather large to
carry on a Wheel" no added.
NO. replied the jeweller, with gloom and
Indifference and politeness undisturbed. Its
. diamond ornament for the hair"
Hum" murmured the friend. Now. IL you
had said 1t was a locomotive headlight I
mishtn't have been surprised; but isn't it rather
large for an ornament y
mo-" said the jeweller.
Something you've got up for the strong
woman in the circus, perhaps - continued his
friend. looking at the thing again.
Not at al" replied the jeweller. Its sur
prising." he added in n tone which said that the
surprise excited in his breast was hardly worth
mentioning; "it's surprising the weight a
woman can carry on her head IL it's in dia-
monds.''
Its surprising the weight an italian woman
can carry on her head IL it's in rags retorted
the friend; but she doesn't have to look
pleased about it."
And do you know" rejoined the jeweller,
breaking into a sort Of gloomy enthusiasm,
there's a sight moro money in the rags than
there is in the diamondsl That's the wonderful
thing about diamonds, big ones especially.
There may be a lot of profit in handling 9s-
cent diamonds, but take a big stone and there's
nothing in 1t for anybody. 1t may be worth
thousands of dollars. yet never brings profit to
anybody. only trouble or ruin, when it brings
anything at all. Do you remember the fairy
story OF the Princess who couldn't sleep all
night because she felt the three peas in her bed
through the fourteen mattresses Well, I
mover believed that story till I grew up and be-
gan handling diamonds. Take that stone there.
1t isn't very big"
Not big!" interrupted the friend.
well. not big in comparison with the stack
of notes and mortgages and claims and liens
pAhStCiSu al oNeE i. why. tue pie ) AZ dig as q
house, and yet the diamond makes itself felt all
through the mass. The Princess's mattresses
were nothing compared with the amount of
paper piled up on top of that stone"
Where there are debts, there has be IN
money"
Money or credit or hopes. If there has been
any money connected with that stone I'd like to
know who got any of it. Everybody to my
knowledge has been losing money on /. from the
word go! The man who found the diamond
originally sold it. say. for $40 cash and $50 in
notes. He Immediately spent the cash and ran
in debt on the strength of the notes. So he is
worse Off than he was before. The man who
bought it made the same kind of deal with a
third victim, only he was left several times
worse Off than the first man because he has his
notes to pay. and also because the diamond has
risen in price, and he has como deeper in debt
consequently than the first man. This process
is repeated by all the men through whose hands
heavier on 1t than the man before him. Now. l
S sapeps and tpb badK ns 81 9ba Its psies is . rsp Ges,n Led BY
much more. Who makes any money out OF
Your theory seems to be that you lose
money by selling . diamond for moro than you
pad for it. Don't sell it and you'll be all
The pesky thing works every which way.
It's like the wandering jew; it has to go on. on,
comes along and sells it for him. I tell You.
there is something inherently evil about the
d deaniseiyi. IL s @iHlnif It to q eSs sSnsF &c See pa% %n 1T It
and gets only part OF its value, and the pawn.
only exception is when a rich man buys it and
+ Keeps b it Locked up in "a eurglar.PToEf safe where
then Aiis Il virtGa liS'A repr trSm "1 so ma;ch hna m ons1
thrown away: oh. a diamonds q wonderful
power of evil" he concluded. and relapsed into
The friend; out Of sympathy, remained silent,
together. conveniently; watches with bandi
moon. and stars concealed RIdd't about them; cres
cents OF diamonds and rubies whose spread
garter clasps with mirrors and picture frames
on, them studded with brilliants: emeralds and
were as little adapted for personal wear as hens
eggs; bars Of gold curiously chased and twisted
and carved; big enough for bicycle handle bars
canes; suspender buckles of a half.pound weight
or thereanouts. incrusted with jewels. and man,
other gorgeous things. The sight suggested som'
What the use of all this truck T. he asked
Of the jewellers gloom. WI don't you Keel
something that somebody would be likely Il
need , Then you might sell something and MAKE
Why does a London tailor make your Goa
"Because he doesn't know any better"
No, because he has to make a bluff at givini
gov your moneys worth. lts the same wa!
49, Na''Na = NcD'N ~ v 'N'aJ 1850 -
buy jewelrS. They have just so much money
that they have to spend, and we've got to giv'
them something to spend it on"
You might help them to spend 1t on some
thing that might stand a show of being Of SOM
use. Why don't you surprise the public b!
bringing out a parlor clock that will keep time
say =
Use A parlor clocki You know a lot abou
1eweIry! How could a man carry a parlor clocl
about with him with any comfort T.
What are you talking about, anyhow =
Sense about jewelry. A parlor clock ism
supposed to he OF any use; SO what's the good o
making 1T Keep time There is only one use 70
up"
80 when a man buys iewelry for Its usefu
ness he wants something that he can carry abou
with him"
Convenience for hooking isn't the only thin
TO be considered in buying jewelry."'
les, 1t Is. What else is 1t good for
For ornament"
Ornament be hanged! Why should a man Q
sense pay $500 for Il big diamond when for 30 h
can get a bigger piece OF glass that will do quit
as we'll r.
1T is considered vulgar to wear glass tina
NAV be mistaken for n liamnnl