The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1902-01-31
REALDIAMONDS MADE
Genuine Gems Produced by Two In
dianapolis Men.
Results Obtained by French Investi-
gators Followed by the Ameri-
cans and Success Said to
Have been Achieved.

The production of diamonds by
artificial means i@ no longer mere
theory. The manufacture of the
precious stones has been proved pos
sible and practical by two chemists
of this city, after experiments cover
ing period of five years, have made
veady to announce their discovery to
The world, says an Indianapolis cor
respondent of the New York World.
The two men are Louis II. Schulz
meyer, chemist, and Henry Reitz,
chemist and electrician. Both are
well known among scientists of In
diana.
The two investigators have labored
ceaselessly in the development of
their process. Although, to begin
with, obstacles beset them on every
hand, police raided their laboratory
established in Virginia avenue base
ment and carried away some of their
mechanical devices, they held stead
tasty to their work, devoting the
night to their labors to prevent the
curious from discovering and betray-
ing their plans. The ordering of ma
chinery was accomplished with the
utmost secrecy, different portions be-
ing distributed among machinists in
various localities in order to prevent
disclosure.
Their laboratory was always
locked. The doors and windows were
made doubly strong by steel bars.
The light by which they worked was
produced by their own electrical en-
gines; everything, in fact, was done
to prevent strangers from intruding.
Before furnace whose tempera-
ture ranged at 1000 degrees Fahren-
heit much of their work, perforce,
was accomplished. Oftentimes, with
their hands and faces blistered by
the heat, they were obliged to delay
their operations until the burned
skin healed. During such delays,
however, they were not idle. When
physical labor became an impossible
ity they bent their energies toward
the theoretical portions of the proc
ess.
Finally the development reached
such a stage that there was no
longer any doubt Of success. Follow
ing the last experiment, the two in
vestigators produced diamonds rang
ing in weight from an infinitesimal
quantity to three-quarters of a carat.
At the same time, they were able to
produce stones of any color.
Even now the imperfect diamonds
produced by their process are on the
market. When it was found that the
stones had failed to crystalize in
practical shape, they were crushed
and sold as diamond dust.
Schulmeyer and Reitz first became
interested in the experiments by fol-
lowing the results obtained by
French investigators. These had
failed to produce stones that were
of heavy enough weight to prove of
practical value in the competition
with natures product.
Nevertheless their experiments
furnished the foundation for the sue
cess attained by the two Indianapolis
men. The French Investigators, aft
or first placing carbon in a cast iron
an intense heat. When the iron had
absorbed the carbon under this treat
ment it was removed from the blast
and immersed suddenly in bath of
molten lead. Through the contrac-
ton of the outside of the iron cruel
BILE tremendous force was brought
to bear on the melted carbon within.
AS rpSn1t of tho ha
carbon was crystallized and the dia-
monds, exactly on the principle of
their natural production, were
formed on the surface of the cooled
iron.
Schulmeyer and Reitz, however,
= discovered that this process was cap
able of producing only small stones.
eff there is to be any real practical
value in such discovery" they de-
clared, 'the gems must be of larger
size.'
Instead of the cast iron, Schulz
meyer produced an alloy that will
absorb carbon more quickly and
more thoroughly than any other
known substance. Reitz set to work
u oNcTcolue the pressure problem
He produced, as result of his ex-
periments, pumps that will bring tu
bear on every square inch of the sur.
face of the heated mass 10000 pounds
of pressure.
Under the heat in the electric fur
mace Schulmeyer's product was
brought to the proper temperature
and then submitted to treatment un.
der Reitz' enormous pressure ma
chimes. Instead of cooling the heat
ed mass suddenly, it was allowed a
week or ten days in which to cool
being maintained during this period
under the 40,000-pound pressure.
In this manner the large diamonds
were produced.
Not only can perfect stones be
manufactured by this process-stones
that are as much diamonds as the
original diamonds themselyes-but
by adding small amount of certain
metallic oxides at the beginning OF
the process, crystals of any color
can be obtained.
Mr.. Schulmeyer said few DAYS
ago:
The early experiments. covering q
period OF about five years, have cost
us in money at least $4,000, and il