Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1900-12-06
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! THE METEOR DIAMOND
How 1t Was Recovered by a
Detective.
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1t was the night of Nov 4, 1899, as
Mr.. David Allen sat blue penciling
some proof sheets. when there came a
ponderous thud that to him seemed
just under the window. 1t shook the
whole house, and when he looked out
of the window he saw that something
had made a deep hole in the garden.
The next day he dug up a small me-
teor. 1t was a most formidable look
ing piece of metal 1t contained at the
surface small crystal.
The stone in size and shape resem-
bled the egg Of a rock pigeon, but in
color it was watery, with just a tinge
of yellow. Mr.. Allen wrapped it up in
tissue paper, placed it in box and call
ed on the scientist to ask his opinion.
DR.. Reford said it was a leopardite-
a mineral, he said, found always in
crystallized condition-and talkedabout
lateral planes, oblique prisms, trans
lucent edges and wound up by giving
the component parts of this wonderful
stone and its specific gravity.
'Is the stone of any value, DR.. Re
ford?" Allen asked.
"Well, scientifically, yes; intrinsical-
ly, no. But before returning it /
would like to make further and more
exhaustive inquiry into the chemical
parts of it."
Certainly, Dr. Reford Keep it as
long as you wish" Then Allen went
home.
He thought no more about it until
his friend Jones asked:
"What have you done with the peb-
BILE, Allen?"
"Oh. took it to a local doctor who
dabbles a bit in science"
"Did he tell you what it wasg I'll
tell you why l ask. Do you remember
Clayton of Yale? Well, no matter.
He's wonderfully smart chap. / saw
him absolutely make a diamond a few
weeks back. He explained that the
pinhead he produced was of the first
water and that when electricity was
better known diamonds would be as
cheap as they are now dear. He placed
a few metals and other ingredients in
to crucible and then boiled the lot up
by the aid of powerful electric cur
rent, with the result I've told you.
Now, Clayton says if he could only get
an odd hundred or thousand degrees,
I forget which, more heat he could
make diamond as big as a hens egg.
Despite all efforts of Allen to dispel
the thoughts conjured UP by Jones re-
marks the matter would recur. He
tried to laugh it away, but to no avail,
so he walked over TO DR. Reford's to
ask for the pebbles return.
The doctor was in and disengaged.
"WelI, Mr.. Allen, 1 have dissolved
that stone. 1t was nothing more than
glass" DR.. Reford showed Allen a
wide necked vial with some whitish
liquid in it and beneath which was
small ridge of greer. sediment.
"There," said he, sis all that is left
of your treasure, Mr.. Allen"
Allen was disappointed in not having
the pebble to keep as a memento. He,
however, said it couldn't be helped.
"I'll tell you what win do, Mr.. Al
len. I'll solidify that sediment so that
you may have something to remind you
of your midnight visitor"
Allen jumped at the offer and left,
contented.
About a week after this DR.. Reford,
accompanied by Il youngish looking
man, called upon Allen. The doctor
introduced the youngish looking man
as DR.. Smith. He said DR. Smith was
going to take charge of his practice
while he voyaged to Europe.
The next day a gentlemanly indiyid-
ual called to see Mr.. Allen ON urgent
business.
"My name is John Westlock." said
he, "and I'm a detective sent to you
under instructions from Mr. Albert
Jones, a friend of yours"
"Good heavens, man, what's up"
According to Mr.. Jones, sir, few
weeks back you had meteor fall in
your garden"
81 had. What thenp
"You sent a pebble it contained to a
local doctor named Reford for exam
inationY
Certainly
"Well, sir, the day before yesterday
this doctor called upon Mr.. Clayton,
Che eminent scientist, and explained
that the meteor fell in his garden and
that he found the pebble. Mr. Clayton
examined it and found it to be a most
valuable diamond. a few minutes aft
er the doctor left Mr.. Clayton's house
your friend, Mr.. Jones, called and was
told the story about the meteor. He
was satisfied that somehow this doctor
had got the pebble from you and had
deceived you. OF course it's your af-
fair, but if my advice is worth any
thing I'd go and get what he says is
all that remains of your pebble"
To this Mr.. Allen agreed.
Together they journeyed to DIR. Re-