The Huttig news., 1912-02-24

"a speck Of Diamond Dust Could Not
Have Escaped U.s."
Americans; your religion, your poll
tics, your Gus oms, your women, YOUR
jewels, your boundless wealth. Every
thing you can tell me about India is
sure to interest our readers"
IF I am to tell you everything
about India said the Swami. we
may as we'll make ourselves comfort
allie"
He signed 70 Ali again. and, rising
with much dignity. he placed a chair
at the disposal of his visitor.
The East is pretty big subject"
said the Swami, and then he spent
many minutes sketching Oriental
ways and thoughts for the entertain.
ment of his visitor To follow him
would be to recapitulate the history
of Ripdostan from centuries before
the British invasion When he had
finished, Britt knew enough about In
dia to fill the pages of all the Sunday
papers of New York; hut this Vas not
what the detective wanted
Your women evidently lead a rret-
ty secluded life" he said, but | sup
pose they have their compensations-
their music, embroidery, dehcacies.
gems-by the way, Swami. Jewels fig
IRE largely in your religion. don't
they?"
The same inscrutable CLEAN again
flickered in the eyes of the scholar
TT would be difficult to make yon
understand in what way they DO. he
answered In the ordinary CONNER
cial sense, they do not We OF India
care less for the intrinsic value Of the
beautiful jewels which you OF the
West characterize as precious stones.
They are precious to us, but in diff
ferent way. We love them for their
loyeliness-not merely for their bril-
lance and cost. To us, there is
world of metaphysical meaning in the
lambent glow OF a ruby, or the I'M
prisoned rainbow of a diamond. An
emerald to us is the spirit of the sea
/ the spirit of the water itself; just
as the pearl suggests that other world
on the floor of the deep. Jewels, as
we see them, are the crystallized ex
preston of divine emotions Diamonds
are the tears of Buddha-pearls 50
many drops of wisdom from his lips.
and sapphires the heavenly aspira-
lions of his thoughts. What to the
Occident means profit, to us means
poetry"
- ali I
say, a great deal more important than
others: for example, the Kohinoor.
Has that no larger value than the or
binary stone in your eyes?'
only so far as it is connected with
the traditions of our faith said the
Swami Diamonds there are in In
dia, one hundred of which would not
make a Kohinoor. yet each thou
sand times more precious to true be
levers Wars have been fought.
races exterminated for gems less beau
tiful than those which many of the
minor women of your public stage can
boast They have a meaning impos-
sible of comprehension to the Western
mind"
And do Hindoos of your generation
set as much store by that sort oil
thing as your ancestors did," asked
Britt.
The faith of the East is immut.
able" the Swami replied. Centuries
roll by, but we change not. Nations
have broken themselves to shreds in
efforts to shake the stability of our
land and people. What was true be
fore your Prophet left the carpenter
/ bench is true to-day"
Now, do you know" said Britt. VI
vaciously, all this interests me very
much, and will make a cracking good
story for The Times. Fancy a whole
people-how many millions did you
say?-so wrapped up in gems that
would not fill a showcase in a Maiden
Lane jewelry shop, that they are will
ing to sacrifice their very lives for
! them!"
Britt threw all his skill as ques-
toner into drawing from the Swami
descriptions OF the more famous jew
els of India deity keeping the lire
4 of his interrosations on the subject
of diamonds. The Hindoo. his entn e