Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1910-01-09

tuiuS LoDpchcN dStHi W. Al "hSNNN'
necklace. Yet the stones seemed to
he all there, and there was no evil
dence on which to proceed against
the workman Involved.
| Substitution. which is absolutely
undetectible. is possible in The first
stage Of manufacturing rough dia-
monds, which is cleaying or splitting
them. after which they are cut and
polished. Most of the $4,000 900 TO
$50. 000.00 OF rough diamonds i'm
ported yearly in this country are
handled in seven factories in New
York and Brooklyn. When cleaver
receives large stone to split it is
possible for him to substitute for e
piece thereof stone of his own and
thereby gain one quarter to one half
of cara. valued between s25 and
500 The nose expert can rarely
tell whether a split stone Is the pro-
duct Of one particular rough diamond,
and IL Is quite impossible to identify
cut and polished gem with its rough
original.
| About 25 per cen. OF the weight OF
the stones is allowed for waste in
manufacture, and the pilferings of one
or two workmen might go on indefi-
nitely without raising the general
average of waste and thereby exclt-
ing suspicion. In div'dual checking
would in the long run discover a per-
sis.ent thief of weight, but 1t would
not prevent a cunning substituter
from replacing fawless stones Of
fine color with inferior gems.
Practically. their must be complete
reliance on the honesty of the dia-
mond workers, and they are known to
be as generally homes. as they are
skilled and intelligent. There are 400
diamond cutters in the New York dis
| .rict and their wages are from $50
to s65 a week. These are not the
kind of men who would submit to
being Gagged i'll factories or to being
searched, If they we're aware Of The
Halter fact. Many of them work at
home.
In enc of the Newark jeweiry fac
tories, where 1900 men and girls are
at present employed. some office boys
we're found a few years ago to be
| gathering up small bits of gold, sell
ling them collectively and enjoying the
proceeds in a club which they es-
ttablIshed. In one factory the gold
| given out to the girls is checked by
an equal weight of small lead shot in
! a bottle. the finished work and waste
gold being afterwards compared with
the bottle of shot. The worker does
mot know the precise weight OF her
raw material, and has less chance
of abstracting some Of the gold with
safety from detection. There is some
times a chance for dishonesty on the
ipar. of the man who makes the al
j,oys OF precious metals. He may put
a little less gold or little more silver
or copper into the furnace.
Is is easy to mislay or lose small
l,!eces of jewelry. Diamonds snap out
OF tweezers and disappear. They may
ify I'D 10 the picture moiding OF en-
ter a crack in The wall. A salesman
ont West was showing diamond to
customer when il slipped out OF
the tweezers and vanished After
little search he suddenly exclaimed IN
fun. Take it out OF your pocket
TIE customer to whom the command
was given confusedly put his hand in
his pocket and sure enough pulled
out the stone.
A crook in a jewelry store pokes
over a /. tray Of loose diamonds with
a waxed pencil, picks up small gems
with the point and scrapes them on
CASUALLY ia.o his vest pocket OF even
Into his ear. Once q man was look
ing over q paper OF diamonds and
Ipcking them about with losg-naiiec
luttIe finger. The salesman knew that
Hong nails we're correct in China, el'
he fet suspicious Of them when
won By an American He saw some
thing that made him remark quickly
Take tina. diamond out from unde'
your nail"
why, my dear sir protested the
customer. hui the other seized his
hand and extracted a Stable ston'
/ from beneath the finger nail There
1 vas room enough under the nal
which vas waxed, TO hold a half CARA
s.one valued at from SIS to 500