Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-07-10
scriptural kings and millionaires nc

prising explorers into the wilderness,
and 1t is perhaps true that they have
been discovered. An intrepid Ger
man explorer named Carl Mauch In
| 1871 discovered an extraordinary lot
Of ruins in Zimbabwe, and gold fields
closely adjacent to them. These have
been called the ruined cities of Mash
onaland. Unfortunately for his cred
1t as an archaeologist, Mauch insisted
that an old building on a hill was a
copy of King Solomon's temple on
Mount Moriah, and that the lower
ruins reproduced the palace inhabited
by the Queen of Sheba during her
stay Of several years in Jerusalem.
This does not impair, however, the
probable accuracy Of his main conten-
ton, that he had revealed a part Of
the ancient workings Of the people
who furnished the gold to Arabia and
Judea in the days Of Solomon.
without going into the varied re-
searches it may be observed that
Ophir was not the source of the gold,
but a port on the south coast Of Ara
bia, through which the flow of gold
came by sea. Havilah was the land
whence came the gold Of Ophlr,
great tract in Southeastern Africa,
largely identified with modern Rhode
sia The ancient gold workings Of
this region were first opened by South
Nrabian Himyarites who were follow
ed (but not before the time Of Solo
mon) by the Phoenicians, and these
very much later by Moslem Arabs.
Tharshish was the outlet for the pre-
cious metals and stones of Havilah,
and stood probably on the present site
of Sofala. The Queen Of Sheba came
! by land. and not over the seas, to the
court of Solomon. Her kingdom was
| Yemen, Arabia, where our mocha
coffee comes from.
"The South African diamond fields
have contributed over four hundred
million dollars worth to the worlds
stock of gems" continued Mr.. Will
liams, "yet the demand has kept pace
with the production, and fancy and
fashion have not been diverted. The
value Of the plunder carried away from
Delhi, the Mogul capital, by Nadir
Shah, a Persian invader, In 1888, has
been estimated at $300,000,000, and
great share of this was precious
stones. There may never again be
such collection in the hands Of any
monarch or nabob as the store
amassed by the Great Moguls, but the
crown Jewels and private treasures of
the leading courts of Europe today
are of immense value and are growing
greater.
Crown Jewels of the World.
"The crown Jewels Of France were
estimated at $6,OOO,000 more than
hundred years ago. and even this
great amount is far exceeded by the
value of the Russian crown jewels.
The crown of Ivan Alexiowitch con-
tained ss1 brilliants; the Empress
Catherine had 1856 brilliants in her
crown and the purchases Of the sue
ceeding czars have been enormous.
The British crown jewels do not equal
the Russian in number or value,
though there are several magnificent
gems among them besides the Kohl
nor. The crown, especially made for
the coronation of Queen Victoria In
1888, was regarded as a superb show
ing of the art Of the leading jewellers
of London, as we'll as Of the gems dis
played. 1t Is fashioned Of hoops OF
silver enclosing a cap of deep bfue
velvet. Precious stones completely
incase the hoops, which are sur
mounted by a ball covered with dia-
monds and bearing Maltese cross OF
brilliants with a splendid sapphire as
the central jewel. The rim OF the
crown is clustered with brilliants and
Maltese crosses. On the cross at the
front Of the crown Is set the magnih-
cent heart-shaped ruby which was
worn by Edward, the Black Prince,
and beneath this ruby I'm a circular
rim, Is an oblong sapphire Of extra
ordinary size and beauty. Clusters
OF drop pearls add to the resplendent
effect of the massing Of the diamonds
rubies, emeralds and sapphires.
'It Is scarcely to be expected that
any private collection Of gems should
rival the treasures Of sovereigns
whose crown jewels may be the dis
play of centuries Of accumulation, but
some Of the noble families Of Europe
and other wealthy owners, have gems
that any monarch in the world might
covet. There are a considerable num-
Der of collections ranging In value
over a million dollars. In the United
States It Is estimated that there are at
least half a dozen such collections, one
| of which contains a necklace valued
at $4,000. At every court reception
or grand ball or opera the display OF
Jewels may be measured In millions
| If dollars, and the diffusion Of gems
Is constantly spreading with the ex-
| tension of wealth.
Though many Europeans have De-
| ,ome skillful workers at the trade,
| the most successful lapidaries have
been Of Hebrew stock. The Jews had
at one time the monopoly Of diamond
| cutting in Portugal and their special
centre Of business was Lisbon. But
unfortunately for Portugal and for
the Jews, religious bigotry kindled
the fires Of persecution against this
ancient people, and they were expell-
| ed from the kingdom. Hospitable
little Holland opened her doors to re-
ceive the exiled merchants and lapi-
daries, and Amsterdam has since been
the central market for the diamond
merchant and his comrade, the dla-
mond cutter. Out of $4,000 Jews
who reside there, at least third are
engaged in one department or anoth-
er of the diamond industry. -Wil-
liam f. Curtis in Chicago Record
Herald.
WHERE LINCOLN PUT THE WHEr-
sToNE.-It Is related that at one time
President Lincoln was conversing with
an aristocratic American lady about
| the United States, when she remark
ed: II love my country, of course. but
| ~ ,,,nob oriayad that there are so