Arizona republican., 1908-01-19

tary circles.
 Society will soon have to discover something new in the way of jewels If diamonds continue to be the drug
 on the market which the panic has
 made therI. As things go at present.
 the demand for diamonds Is almost
 at standstill. and as for prices, about all that is necessary to obtain
 stone is to name your own price Nobody wants to buy diamonds and the seriousness of the situation in this
 regard. which has already brought
 about the failure of several large dia-
 mond houses simply because trade was dead. is instanced by the fact
 that the importations of these gems
 was nearly s12,0O0.O00 less than in
 1906 when prosperity was so much in
 evidence. Diamonds which can not be
 sold are just like so much unproduc-
 tive capital. a fact strikingly illus
 trated by the inability of the firm in whose possession 1t Is to dispose of the world famous Hope blue diamond
 valued at $250.O00. A serious phase
 of this stagnation Is found in the
 pawn shops. But where pawn shop
 anywhere else in the country people
 of small means have acquired the
 habit of purchasing diamonds with their savings instead of banking them, on the theory which heretofore has always held good. that the stones would increase steadily in value, could always be sold at a profit and most
 important of all afforded a certain
 means of raising cash through the
 pawn shops. But where paw nshop men formerly lent nearly fifty per cent
 of its value on pledged stone. ten
 per cent Is now about the limit. Con-
 sequently those in New York who find themselves in possession of dia- monds are curiously enough the own- CTS of about the least profitable and most expensive luxury possible. Not the rich but the poor are those who have diamonds now
 One of the chief novelties of 1908 in New York Is a mild but interesting agitation for female suffrage Under yellow and black banners bearing the words, Votes for Women" various impassioned oratoresses grieving at the position to which woman Is rele- gated in this country. are featuring from soap boxes on crowded corners Just what specific ends this suffrag- cite fnvasion with demand for votes for women hopes to accomplish, mere man has sc far had considerable diff ficulty in determining. One of the more fiery oratoresses has announced that the country is in need of a moral revolution-whatever that may be- Another has taken for her theme the statement that as woman is the boss of the home. which is the greatest factor in the advance of the country. she ought logically to be boss of ev- erything else. Still others advocate the abolishment of rents. IL is notice able that about ninety-nine per cent of the street corner audiences are composed of men who grin cheerfully, the remaining one per cent being made up of women who are extremely dis dainful. One man. apparently of Eng fish extraction. found himself in con- danger of serious fight for shouting. No petticoat government for Hamerica." Various requests were made that he give the women a chance to talk" and matters looked stormy until he explained that he had left England on just that account. No local Countess of Warwick has yet to champion the cause and the movement. while it at- tracts interest by its novelty, is not | taken seriously.