The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-06-06
WORLDS GREATEST DIAMOND.
Story of the Discovery of the Magnif-
 cent CulIinan Stone.

George F Kunz in the June Century.
 On January 25, 1905, the greatest dia- mond known in the world was found in open working No. 2 of the Premier mine, in the Transvaal Colony. South Africa, and from the finding to the cutting of this magnificent stone and it's final disposal, its history is a most romantic one.
 The days work at the mine wsa over, and MT. Frederick Wells, the surface manager was making his usual rounds. Glancing along one side of the deep ex- cavation his eye suddenly caught the gleam of a brilliant object far up on the bank He lost no time in climbing up to the spot where he had noted the glint of light. He had not been mistaken; it was really brilliant crystal. He tried to pull 1t out with his fingers and as this proved impossible, he sought to pry 1t out with the blade of his pen knife. To his sur prise the knife blade broke without caus- ing the stone to yield. Confident now that the crystal must be very large one, he dug out the earth about it, think ing for a moment that contrary to all experience n the mine, the stone might be attached to piece of the primitive rock. When he discovered that this was not the case, he began to doubt that the object was really diamond. He said afterward:
 
 stuck there in the side of the pit 1t sud- denly flashed across me that had gone insane-that the whole thing was imag- mary. I knew it could not be a da- mond. All at once another solution dawned upon me. The boys often play
 jokes on one another. Some practical joker, thought, has planted this huge chunk of glass here for me to find 1t. He thinks I will make a fool of myself by bringing it into the office in a great state of excitement, and the story will be told far and wide in South Africa" Determined to test the stone on the spot, before proceeding further, Wells rubbed off the dirt from one of it's faces with his fingers, and soon convinced him. self that 1t was not a. lump of glass, but a diamond crystal, apparently of excep- tional whiteness and purity. With the aid of larger blade of his knife he finally succeeded In prying out the stone, and bore it away with him to the office of the mine Here it was cleaned and, to the astonishment of all, was found to have weight of 3024a4 carats, more than three times that of any other diamond that has been discovered. Before many hours had passed the telegraph carried tidings to all parts of the world that the great est diamond of this or any other age had been brought to light. MT. Wells Is said to have received a reward of $10,000 from | the company for his discovery. MT. T.. M. Cullinan, founder and chairman of the Premier company and one of the great prize winners in the lottery of South African speculation, named the dia- mond after himself others have called 1t the Premier, and several different names have been proposed.
 The package containing the diamond was transported to England on the Union Castle steamer Wentworth. and was im- mediately placed in the vaults of the Standard Bank of South Africa. As King Edward expressed desire to inspect the great crystal, it was taken to Buclxing- ham palace and for the snort time 1t was out of the bank-only an hour or two-a special policy of insurance for s2. 100000 was taken out at cost of SIPS. After examining the diamond minutely, holding 1t up to the light to note its ra- diance. King Izdward handed 1t back to its guardian, remarlking. This is great curiosity; but I should have kicked 1t aside as a lump of glass if I had seen if in the road.'