The enterprise-recorder. (Madison, Fla.) 1908-1933, 1910-03-17

top Of the cabinet is open and there is
gallery overlooking it. Perhaps
there is no one, armed with an opera
glas, watching you from that gallery
but then, again, there might be some
one.
You ask to see another paper or tray
OF stones. The salesman retires with
the first paper, and just to make sure
that YOU have not distracted or sub
stituted a gem despite his vigilance
weighs the lot and finds whether 1t
tallies to a hair with its previous
weight. You may dress like a mill
lionaire and look like a bishop, but
II is the duty of the salesman to as
sumo that you are crook. In fact,
there is extra suspicion against the
opulent or episcopal types, for in such
( guise Jewel thieves often masquerade.
At the employees entrance on the
side street you may see heavy metal
doors like those of bank, only larger,
/ 70 permit the passage of the firms de-
livery motor cars. These delivery
cars, in which valuables are conveyed,
are entirely Enclosed and well locked
in the rear. They are loaded and un-
loaded in the basement Of the build
ing, being carried down or up on an
interior elevator.
The Workers Are Gagged.
If you could pass two or three
watchmen and timekeepers who eye
you through peepholes in locked doors
and ascend to the jewelry workshops
Of certain large concern at the top
Of the building you would see some
interesting precautions. There is a
cage Of steel bars in which girls are
sorting and stringlng pearls. Other
smaller cages contain individual work
men or small groups Of workmen en-
gagged in mounting gems, hammering
and engraving ornaments of gold and
the more previous metal, platinum.
The method Of caging workmen is
said to be new and not practised out
side of this particular establishment.
Here there are not only cages, but
all persons on the floor not confined in
them are warned TO keep away from
them, Employees from other depart
ments may not enter the floor without
having special business. The weight
Of gems and gold received by each
workman is credited to him, and the
valuable material is locked up at night
in a safe equipped with a burglar
alarm device. In the case Of a $4,000
necklace the weight Of material may
be checked up daily, with a calcu-
lated allowance for waste. In any
event there is checking up when the
job is finished.
The water in which jewelry workers
wash their hands and faces is too val
liable to be allowed to run directly
into the sewer. 1t Is carried off into
sluices, like those used in places min
ing, and the rifles catch not little
dust, diamond chips andydiamond dust.
Even the aprons of the workers hold
enough gold dust to make it worth
while to burn them periodically and
extract the precious metal.
A few years ago a building in New
ark, N. j., which is a jewelry manufac-
turing centre, was to be replaced with
a new structure. II had long housed |
jewelry concerns and its woodwork
was believed to be impregnated with |
gold dust. All the floors, beams and
window frames were carefully burned
in special furnace, and the ashes |
yielded $4,000 worth of gold.
The estimate of average waste on !.
job only prevents large thefts on
the part Of a dishonest workman.
While placing stone in its setting
the man may gouge out several dol
lars worth of gold or platinum from
the interior Of the setting and keep
that much material for himself.
The greatest opportunity for dis
honesty, however, is in the substitu-
ton OF inferior or lower weight gems.
In order to guard against substitution
some apprehensive customers who
have stones to be mounted or reset
patronize small shops where they can
watch the workman handle their
gems, or at least where they can walt
for the job to be done in few hours
time.
The employer himself is often baf-
fed by mysterious losses due to sub
stitution. There was a case of neck
lace broken up In order to use the
stones separately. On reweighing
stones and setting there was found
to be a considerable shortage. The
same thing happened again with an
other necklace. Yet the stones seemed
to be all there, and there was no EVIL.