The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1908-03-06
PRECIOUS GEMS



It's trade in precious stones, In tn
course OF q year the company use
many thousand dollars worth Of dia
monds aud sapphires which are bein
constantly shipped in from Australia
Holland, London, Paris, Brazil an,
New Zealand,
| True, the diamonds taken separate
ly are not worth so very much MS the,
are small, and the sapphires are wort
even less, Nevertheless. the quantit,
used in aggregate cost amounts 10
large sum as It takes but small tub,
an inch long to hold $500 worth,
The stones are used for bearings |,
electric meters such as are employc,
to register the number Of kilowa,,
hours Of energy used in the home
In order that the meters shall be ac,
curate there must be practically nc
friction in the bearings, The mech
anism OF a meter turns in proportion
to the amount Of lights burned OF
energy used. The wearing parts
must be as hard as possible that con.
slant use will not wear and create
additional friction. consequently dia-
monds and sapphires have to be used
in the shafts bearings, The diamond
is the hardest substance in the world
and the sapphire ranks close second.
The bearings made OF these precious
stones have a very long life and
though they originally cost more,
they are cheapest in the long run.
II is the electric company and not the
customer that loses when the meter
registers inaccurately. so in the large
meters for factories. stores, etc, the
diamonds are used for all the bearings
and the common house meter bear
ings are made from sapphires. As
hard as the sapphires are they will
begin TO wear after a few years.
The General Electric Company re-
ceives its sapphires BY express sewn
up in a stout canvas sack. They are
sent in the rough just as they come
from the ground in far away ceylon.
The sapphires in the rough are al
ways six sided and the first task is to
cut them down to the proper shape
Tor the meter bearings. OF course
the only thing that will cut sapphire
IS a diamond, so the sapphire are
stuck fast to a smooth surface and
hen held against fast revolving
wheel. The rim Of this wheel is ham
nered full of small particles OF dia.
nonds. Each side of the sapphire
S polished until it is perfectly smooth
md the size is much reduced. A |
mall cup is made in one side and the
rem is ready for its duties in the
:lectric meter.
Before the diamonds reach the
ompany they are polished on one
ide. This work is usually done in
Holland where the stones are first
hipped from the mines in Africa and
Sew Zealand The cup is made in
his side with the use OF delicate ma
hines and diamond dust
The work Of preparing the precious
tones is very delicate and requires
he service OF the most skilled work.
men. Scores OF employees in a large
DOM sit before the machines getting |
he diamonds and sapphires ready
or use. Each workman is given 100
tones and after he has polished and
upped them he hands the stones to
n inspector. The inspector takes
inc needle and powerful magnify
1g glass and carefully examines each
ne. II he finds the slightest scratch
r flaw the stone is sent back to the
. be finished over. The cup must be
bsolutely perfect so that il will not
etard the meter shaft and cause in
ccuracies in the statement of cur
ent used. The inspectors sense of
ouch must be acurate and his eye
aimed to note the most infnitesimal
II 20 out Of a hundred
tones are perfect the employee, who
oes his wark by the piece, is lucky,
he rest are worked over until they
re also right
Visitors to this department always
SIX If the diamonds are not occasion
lily stolen by the employees. In the
rst place the workmen are honest,
killed and tried men. Secondly, it
'ould be quite impossible for them to
ct away with a single stone so care
lily is the system kept. Each one
{ the gems is kept track of by a
ard system. The head OF each de-
artment knows just how many
ones were turned over to him and
as to account for every one. He in