The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-09-04
The Price We Pay
for WOmen'S Van
ity, and Why 1t
Is Always Rising
Higher.

4 N9AAA~oA ANAadlh VI the AdAc AdhNCipH'
Lord Churchill. as he surveyed the De
Beers diamond mine-that literal hive of
industry. where from 5000 to 5000 blacks
and about 1900 whites are continually
boring farther and farther down into
the earth for the materials wherewith
the heart feminine gradfies its inordi-
nate love Of display.
/ In that precious circle" OF fve miles.
at Kimberley. all but a small fraction
Of the worlds diamonds are turned out.
says the Philadelphia North American.
/ The Germans have started a little syn
dicate Of their own and the Americans
are going down into Brazil 70 revive
the glories OF the Brasanzas. But it
is 70 South Africa that the vain women
and the foolish men must look for the
bulk Of these gems of ''purest ray Sc
rene"
To London goes the output. where a
| syndicate OF FIVE firms is in the control Of
80 per cent, OF whereabouts, of the earth s
total supply
Since the time Of Cecil Rhodes and the
eclipse of Barney Barnato the De Beers
syndicate has controlled the entire Afri-
can output. which Is farmed out 10 the
London firms at so much per carat.
Should these syndicates fall out. there
might be reduction in price. It's not
very probable but possible But for the
next hve years there's absolutely no
chance for cheap diamonds. Word has
/ but recently been received from abroad
that the syndicates have renewed their
agreements for five years That means
that the poor man Will have 20 go with
out diamonds for a while longer
Growth of Diamond Trade.
The growth and magnitude Of the
/ American diamond trade are little real
lied by the general public.
That a quarter OF a billion dollars
should have been expended on woman's
vanity in ten years is little less than
astounding. That is enough 10 keep the
American navy going for year, in
Guiding all new construction work, and
build a Dreacnought or two besides.
Furthermore. this terrific expenditure
FOR glittering gewgaws has been a mat
ter OF the last decade. It's another OF
/ those things that shows why America S
! Increase in wealth has been amazing the
world.
From the time the first figures were
collected, in 1867. until 1900. as the ac-
companying table shows. there were I'm
ported diamonds 10 the value OF S14s.Os2.-
754 In the ten following years the I'm
ports were nearly half again as great as
in all the decades proceeding.
Surely that's going some
| Steadily, from the civil war times, the
| American has shown that the minute ne
| gets rich and prosperous he goes in FOR
/ diamonds. Usually his wife gets them.
But at any rate. ne viii buy diamonds.
No way 10 stop him has yet been dis
covered.
4 The gambler OF old was quick TO dis
cover that diamonds denoted prosperity.
He splattered them over his shirt from,
and stuck them on such other parts OF
/ his apparel as he could find room.
/ AS the nation gained in culture and
| education. even the most prosperous man
/ did not care to place himself on a par
with the gambler by sporting" diamonds
! promiscuously. SO he satisfied his mania
for spending by investing in dog collars
and similar ornaments OF fabulous price
| and marvellous beauty.
/ IL was almost an asset in the finan-
cial world for the newspapers to blazon
/ forth the fact that Mrs. Newrich had
I managed to plaster the front OF her gown
With half a million worth Of gems and
had properly electrified the opera-goers
] ar,I 4-LA -
Newrlch, at London or some such place.
! had made royalty look cheap by the mag
nihcence OF her jewels.
! This kind Of press-agent work is not
| so common any more, because the gen
eral public has hardened to it. But it
used to go fine Dazzling royalty with
/ her diamonds meant that Mrs. Newrich
moved up a notch when she got back
| to America. That was why America took
about half Of the S6OO,O0O,OOO worth Of
gems that have been sent from South
Africa to London since 1867.
So 1t was. is. and probably always will
be. as long as women are vain The time
when they won't be is probably as far OF
as the stars whose light hasn't yet had
time to reach the earth.
Index to Prosperity.
But. to get back TO business. the dIa-
mond is still the truest index to pros
| perity, as a survey Of the imports fol-
lowing panic years will show For in
stance, IN 1898 the value Of the stones
brought in had been swelled. by boom
times, to $6,2s5,SS2. Along came the
panic. Next year the feminine vanity
was appeased by only s5.4ll.O76.
A survey OF the accompanying table
VIII show that the same thing happened
but recently, In 1907 the imports were
way UP. In 1908 they were way down
But the most ASTOUNDING fact is that the
low-water mark Of 1908. which was $ls, :
5S44l5, was almost UP to the high-water
mark Of 1885, which marked the apex Of
an era OF good times.
Not only are diamonds the best imam
cial weather vanes, but their importation.
cutting. and sale have formed ire
mendous business in the last decade.
or recent years New York has been
cutting most Of the diamonds of carat
or more that are sold in America. Il IS
said. in fact, that for real value and
beauty the American city has Amsterdam
and Antwerp backed of the map.
The Dutch towns are still employing
small armies OF men-l2.0O 900 or more. But
they are said to cut smaller quantity
Of fine, big gems than are turned out by
the 500 men employed in New York. That
is because the latter seldom touch a
stone that will fine down TO less than
three-quarters Of a carat, while in Hell
land the highest paid men are those who
can put ffty-six perfect facets on brill
liant so small that sixty OF them weigh