Evening star., 1909-06-13
Wizard EmphaticaIIy Declares
That Mercury Does Trick.
GRIEVES At TELLING HOW
Produces High Internal Pressure,
Similar to Natural Force.
COURT SHOWS SKEPTICISM
Inventor Confesses Former I'm
prisonment for Forgery-Purpose-
ly Filed Deceptive Formula.

Special Cablegram to The Star
PARIS, June 12.-Skepticism and ironi
cal amusement prevailed in the correc
! tional court at Paris at the preliminar.
hearing. when Henri Lemoine. th
Diamond Wizard" at the commence
ment of his retrial, revealed his allege,
secret formula for making diamonds.
Lemoine was sentenced by default OF
February 1 last to ten years imprison
nent and to pay fine of 5000 for fraud
ulently obtaining over $4,000 from ST
julius Wernher and others by represent
ing that he had discovered a method o
making diamonds. The proceedings wer
the outcome of the objections raised I,
this sentence by the accused after hi
arrest on his return to France.
Sir julius Wernher and Mr.. Felden
heimer were in court. Dressed in fash
ionable morning coat and wearing ligh
new gloves, the prisoner appeared in per
feet health. He was accompanied by hi
advocate, NJ. Labori.
Lemoine Admits Old Crime.
Lemoine announced that he came t,
Paris at the age of nineteen, and was
civil engineer by profession. Som,
searching questions, however, soor
showed that his chief experience as en-
gineer had consisted in erecting wooder
boardings for a bill-posting company fol
which he had worked.
Then it was ELECTED that in the early
part OF his career he had been sentenced
by the Paris court to four years i'm
prisonment for forgery and the use OF
forged documents. After admitting tha,
he had once served four years imprison-
ment for forgery, Lemoine threw up his
hands and exclaimed dramatically:
That was my Calvary. Every inven-
tor has a Calvary to climb and 1 have
climbed mine. But. thank Heaven,
have succeeded in. my invention, as
shall be able to show to the court"
In 1880. Lemoine discovered that his
natural avocation" was to be an In
ventor, and devoted his time to the
manufacturing of artificial diamonds
He induced various people to lend him
capital. among them an English woman
named Clarke. who gave him 500. With
this aid he set out to discover the secret
of making artificial diamonds.
AS the audience and the judge smiled,
Lemoine. red In the face. shouted:
But I tell you l have found It,
shall prove it to you"
Then he related how he went to Eng
land, was introduced to Sir Julius Wern-
her. whom he succeeded in convincing
that he could manufacture bort and
diamonds.
What did you give Sir Julius for the
large sums he paid you?" asked the
judge.
Il gave him value for his money" re.
piled Lemoine, amid laughter.
Declares He Made Diamonds.
AS to the experiments which had beer
made in the presence of Sir julius, the
prisoner evaded every awkward question
by saying that he would reveal his pro
cess later on With regard to an expert
ment, made in 1906 in the presence of Mr.
Oats. representing the De Beers Company
Lemoine said:
THE fifty-two diamonds taken from the
crucibles were my work, although tina,
may appear to be rather astounding"
He explained that second experimen,
had failed because electric current of the
proper power was not available.
do you know" interposed the judge
that during the third experiment Sir
Julius. unknown to you, slipped q dia.
mond into the crucible and that the dia.
mond was afterward found?"
THAT is absolutely untrue, was the
answer.
Lemoine admitted that the iImous for.
mula deposited with the Union of London
and Smiths Bank in London was worth
less from the scientific point of view. He
had purposely put it in the terms he had
he declared so that his secret might no,
be revealed.
Where are your diamonds?" asked the
judge.
The accused replied that he. would tell
everything if the court would grant him
ID five-minute adjournment The request
was granted. On resumption Lemoine re-
marked that his explanations would be OF
very scientific character" He contin.
ued
Il am not joking. but am going to sound
the death knell Of the diamond"
Mercury His Secret.
struction of his furnace. he went on:
This apparatus does not include a cru
chile. The composition .of the product is
simple. Into my furnace you put some
iron filings, sugar carbons and mercury
In this way the constituent elements of
the diamond are combined.
Mercury" shouted Lemoine. That Is
my secret which l wanted to keep. 1t Is
mercury which produces In amalgamation
the high internal pressure similar to the
pressure that was only produced in the
mine
Then Lemoine went on to say that he
took precautions when doing the expert
ments in front of Sir Julius Wernher in
of mercury.
Tomorrow inventors will get hold OF
my process. They will all pretend to have
discovered 1t. 1 am sorry / have been
obliged to reveal it,
The case was adjourned until June II.