Evening star., 1921-10-30


it. the same day! How much do you
want for your silence?"
These words, published in the Paris
and London papers inJJanuary, 1908,
were generally credited as having
been truly pronounced by the life
governor of the De Beers Company.
The entire Paris jewel trade was
in excitement, equally with that OF
London. Men were already making
synlnetic rubies and sappnires-reai
ones-and the French government
pawn shops were refusing to advance
money on them.
"Ir; now, they manufacture dia-
monds," said Andre Falize, whose
firm were historical jewelers. to the
crown of France. great values Will
1ade away"
will the syndicates suppress the
secret, if there be one?" he was asked.
Alas" he answered. IF Lemoine
has found the secret, others will hnd
it,"
What, then, is your conclusion?
pearls will go up" he said, the
oyster keeps it's secret.
THE oyster did not keep its secret.
L You read only a few months ago
uproar by the appearance of "Japa-
nese pearls"-quite real ones-pro-
duced. by growth Of several years. In
the Improvement of an old trick. by
insertion of the mother-of-pearl nu-
cleus into the very liver of the living
oyster (Which protects itself by max
ing a pearl around iD-doing delib-
erately what happens accidently win
grains of sand for natural pearls.
And now again, diamonds
A mystery is showing the tip OF
its nose.
French chemist, was railroaded TO JAIL
| on charge of swindling-and. in fact.
making practically no defense at the
last moment-because he made dia-
monds" in the presence of hard-head-
| ed specialists and men of affairs ike
Sir julius WerNher, Jackson and Lord
| Armstrong, Oates, head chemist OF
| the De Beers company IN Lohdof. anu
| Andre Normandin, that other eminent
| chemist, who. having seen Lemoine
operate. persisted always that he dld
make diamonds. The prosecution let
! the story halfway out-and diamonds,
| after wabbling. seemed sa1e
| Pearls went up when diamonds wab-
bled, but in the great war these stories
| IL.
| Jewels went up, up, up-even the IN
| flux of bloodstained ''bolshevist stones
from Russia could not Saturate the
! free market.
! Then the oyster gave up its secret
| Pearls went tumbling and diamonds
profited.
| Yesterday.
| Today they talk of diamonds-and
Lemoine. Lemoine, mysterious chem
list, did his time in a French jail. He
passed out during the war into the
great world without fracas-and just
disappeared. Evidently he was moi
likely agairr>to propose to make dia'
monds'' for the life governor of the
De Beers company, or Oates. its heao
chemist in London.
Here breaks the new story. l tel
it as rumor. and cannot prove '1t-why
they could not prove it at Lemoine'
trial, after months of snooping ant
hundreds of thousands of expense
They say that Lemoine and new asso
ciates have been quietly flooding the
| world with diamondS-juSt as real as
any diamonds that come from the
| earth.
iXLyHILE Lemt inc awaited trial ir
w Paris there were those who doubt
ed how he could have "salted" cruel
bles of raw material in presence OF
diamond experts like Oates and Wern
her. Lemoine was absolutely naked
to prove his good faith. Oates an6
IWernher admitted that they handled
the empty crucibles.
They themselves put the "blacl
powder" into the crucibles, supposed
to be the raw material of diamonds
They closed the crucibles. They emp
tied them when fired. They treated
the burnt stuff with Lemoine's acid.
and they brought out large-sizet
diamonds!
What was the famous "blacl
Fare earths, etc., WHICH, dissolved
a crust: and when submitted to 5000
degrees centigrade the crust Nigh
diamonds without burning them-ir
case the heat be cut of soon enough
But would an expert diamond chem
black powder in his own hands be
fore putting 1t with his own hand
into the crucibles (Which he had ex
lamined with his own hands). permi
Jumps TO pass. which covered "salted
was looking for?,
Lord Armstrong himself insiste,
that lit was fine black powder.
ykad aT1ye ar1cbes ae% WITH to false hs dsa nns
of the same, such rare earths. Be
tween false lining and true crucibl
certain salted diamonds might b
burnea.ea burne away the Jewels would id be a' re-
vealed. And to vitrify. such earth
it would be necessary to "astonish
them (as porcelain makers say) b.
Ps f mas fae be- sFusRs sdmttad dto Mats'
an them. But-Wait!Sso t Ro did Moissen. soH T +
obtain pressure to make his true bu
tiny diamonds which nobody eve
Furthermore. at Lemoine's trial. ex
perts testified that both these salt
ing" explanations were impossible
earths, ear but Of pure carbon.
. Carbon for electrodes. exclaime
; Francis Laur. Chemically it is yer
| elegant to have in contact with tn
diamond raw material carbon linin
that does not melt. but burns. littl
by little, furnishing the mixture wit
crystallizable carbon yapor to aei ne
make the diamonds-who knows?.
day?
-t~ouNT PESCHER is the most enig
, matical figure in Europe at thi
moment.
; Few know if he be Austrian, Ru
manian, Russian, German or French
| Many have met him. More have hear
about him. and there it ends. He ha
. been back and forth in Paris. long
|, There is a photograph alleged to b
his, and which looks like him, pose
on the interior stairway OF nignIi I.
en- while the building was entirel
, occupied by a notable restaurant. be
fore the club moved into IT?
, | nHl.a Co.,nfa de .PARchaH has fciend