The Tupelo journal., 1905-11-17
DIAMOND AS BAROMETER.
True Indicator of Commercial Con-
ditions-Some Gem I'm
pressions.

The representative of a commercial
agency said not long that he measured
the degree of universal prosperity in
this country by the sales of glue,
which entered so largely into business
affairs. We now read that the diamond
is "a true barometer Of commercial
conditions" Some acute observer told
a reporter of the New York Sun that
when business men are flush, and this
is especially true of the younger set,
they buy diamonds, because they know
they can always get their money back
if a pinch comes" He also said: "A
man with a good-sized diamond light
ing up his his path cuts more ice in
trade in nine cases out of ten than the
chap who wears pearl jewelry and puts
his money in the bank"
When we were young diamonds were
popularity supposed to be worn only by
gamblers, ome of large wealth, for
eign rulers and potentates and lords
and ladies of high degree. There were
here and there scrawls on window
panes or mirrors which provoked the
lines:
Whene'er you see a fellows name
Written on the glass,
You know he owns a diamond,
And his father owns ar ass.
For any man save an old one to
sport a diamond was a suspicious cir
cumstance in the yes of solid citizens.
1t is true that the diamond h been
reputed to be a charm against idle
thoughts, vain dreams and frantic i'm
aginations: and some have valued dia-
mond dust as an easy and mortal pois-
son to administer to inconvenient fell
low beings. Earrings have been worn
in New England by men as a remedy
for weak eyes. Opals have been
thought to bring bad luck. The anne
thyst by its very name has long been
regarded as a preventive of intoxlca-
tior-yet we have seen wearers OF anne
thysts in all stages Of drunkenness,
from that of the light working jag to
that of complete forgetfulness OF the
world and its cares and duties and re-
spo~nsibilities. Nearly every precious
stone has it's symbolism or its effica-
cious qualities. The diamond, unless
the wearer were born in the purple,
was long looked upon as the blazing
mark of vulgar ostentation. Diamonds
called attention to Overdressed wom-
en- at hotel tables, with BOTH hands
grasping thickly buttered ears of corn.
At one time they were ~inseparately as
sociated with dissolute sealskin sacks;
at another with violent or chemical
blends. The diamond is now, it seems,
"the true barometer of commercial,
conditions" yet we do not like to see
the stones flashing from a mans shirt
front or from male hands, even when
they are studiously manicured. Their
place is at the opera Or at a ceremony
of state, when a gorgeous woman
should ~outdazzle the chandelier. But
on man-even DR.. Holmes modest
wish:
One good-sized diamond in a pin
Some. not so large, in rings
is too much. Still, there are men who
have sets of precious stones, who select
from them to suit the brightness of
the day, the color of the thoughtfully
considered cravat, the nature of the
occasion. There are some who delight
in carrying gems loose in a pocket and
showing them carelessly at the club.
There is a barbaric extravaganza in
this that commends itself to tired
jewellers in a drab town; but the Bos-
tonian, unlike the oriental in the i'm
mortal tales, does not say to the gap
ers Take one" The barometer of
commercial conditions does not yet in
dictate such bland and prevailing
weather.