The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-11-24
The Episode of the
German Professor

That winter in town, my respected
brother-in-Iaw had little time on his
hands to bother himself about trifles
like Colonel Clay. A thunderclap burst
upon him. He saw his chief interest
in south Africa threatened by a SER
ious. an Unprecedented and a crushing
danger.
Charles does a little in gold. and a
little in land; but his principal opera
lions have always lain in the direction
OF diamonds. Only once in my life,
indeed, have 1 seen him pay the slight
est attention to poetry, and that was
when 1 happened one day to recite the
lines:
Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean
bear.
He rubbed his hands at once and
murmured, enthusiastically. I never
thought of that. We might get up an
Atlantic Exploration Syndicate, Linn
tied" So attached is he to diamonds.
You may gather. therefore, what
shock 1T was to that gigantic brain to
learn that science was rapidly reach
ing a point where his favorite gems
might become all at once a mere drug
in the market. Depreciation is the one
bugbear that perpetually torments Sir
Charles soul; that winter ne stood
within measurab BILE distance of so APP
palling a calamity.
It happened after this manner,
We were strolling along Piccadilly
towards Charles club one afternoon
he is a prominent member of the
Croesus, in Pail Mall-when, near Bur
lington house, whom should we happen
to knock up against but Sir Adolphus
Cordery, the famous mineralOgtst, and
leading spirit of the Royal society?
He nodded to us pleasantly. "HallOa,
Vandrift," he cried, in bis peculiarly
loud and piercing voice, you're the
very man. l wanted to meet today.
Good morning. Wentworth. Well, now
about diamonds now, Sir GOrgiIs?
You'll have TO sing small. It's all up
with you Midases. Heard about this
marvellous new discovery of Schleier-
macheT's? It's calculated to make you
diamond kings squirm like an eel in a
frying pam.
] could see Charles Wriggle inside his
clothes. He was most uncomfortable.
That a man like COrdery should say
such things in so loud a voice, on no
matter how little foundation, openly in
Piccadilly, was enough i'm itself to
make a sensitive barometer such as
CloetdOrp ColcOndas so down point
or two.
Hush, hushr' Charles said solemnly
in that awed tone if voice which he al
ways assumes when money is bias
phemed against. please don't talk
quite so loud! All London can hear
YOU.
Sir Adolphus ran his arm through
Charles most amicahly. II ere's moth
ing Charles hates ike having his arm
taken.
Come along with me 70 the Athen-
aeum,' he went on. in the same stem
torian voice. and I'll tell you all about
it. Most interesting discovery. Makes
diamonds cheap as dirt. Calculated to
supersede South Africa altogether"
Charles allowed himself to be drag
ged along. There was nothing else pos
sible. Sir AGolphus continued, IN a
somewhat lower key, induced upon him
by Charles mute look of protest. It
was a disquieting story. He told it
with gleeful JUNCTION. 1t seems that
Professor Schleiermacher of Jena, the
greatest living authority on the chem
istry of gems" he said. had lately in
vented. or claimed to have invented.
system for artificially producing dia-
monds which had yielded most sur
prising and UneXceptionable results.
Charles lips cuTled slightly. ooh. I
know the sort of thing" he said. I've
heard of it before. Very inferior stones.
quite small and worthless, produced at
immense cost and even then not
worth looking at. I'm an old bird you
know, COrdery; not to be caught with
chaff. Tell me q better ONE
Sir Adolphus produced a small cut
gem from his pocket ''HOw's that for
the first Water?" he inquired, passing
it across. with a bread smile. to The
skeptic. Made under my own eyes
and quite inexpensively."
Charles examined il closely, stopping
short against the ratings in ST. James
square to look at il with his pocket
lens. There was no denying the truth. !
1t was a capital small gem of the fin /
est quality.
Made under your own eyes?" he ex- |
claimed, still increduloUs. Where. nv /
dear Sir?-at Jena?"
The answer was 4 thunderbOlt from
a clear sky. ''No, here i'm London; last /
night as ever was; before myself and
DR.. Gray; and about to be exhibited bv
the president himself at a meeting of |
fellows if the Royal society