Evening star., 1941-06-23
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory. Field
And Study
BIZ Thomas r. Henry.

After more than year Of study ex-
perts are ready to cut the worlds third
largest diamono-sne Presidente Vargas
discovered in Brazil four years ago.
The great gem, now the property of
New York jewel merchant, will be cut
into % smaller stones, ranging in size
from to so carats and worth about
$4,000 900, according to a report Just
issued by the United States Bureau of
Mines.
This will account for only half of It.
The rest, somewhat inferior in quality,
will be reduced to fine chips and dust
worth about $4,000 pound. A fortune
will depend on the first cleavage to be
made with bronze cutting disk fed
with olive oil, and with diamond dust.
The stone weighs 1855 carats.
The largest diamond yet found on
earth, the Bureau of Mines reports, was
the Cullinan, discovered in South Africa
and sent overseas by registered mail.
1t weights 3,024.75 carats, and was split
In two by Edward Asscher, Netherlands
gem expert after months of study. The
work had to be done in one stroke.
Asscher had two nurses and a doctor in
attendance on the fateful day. The one
stroke was successful. Immediately upon
making 1t he tainted and spent three
months in hospital recovering from a
nervous breakdown.
The Cullinan provided the Star Of
Africa, 5l6.5 carats: the Cullinan Sec
ond, 300 carats, and 1O3 smaller stones
The first two are the largest stones in
existence. All were presented to Edward
VII on November 81, 1908, and now form
part of the British crown jewels.
The second largest known diamond
was the Excelsior, found in 1898 in South
Africa. 1t also was cut In two by a
member Of AsScher's firm in Holland, and
later was cut into 10 stones ranging in
size from 13 to 68 carats.
Until the discovery of the Vargas, the
third largest diamond in the world was
the Jonker, discovered by Pretorian ma
tive in 1884. 1t was purchased for about
$750,0O0 by the same New York Jewel
merchant who now owns the Brazilian
stone and was sent to New York by reg
istered mail.
The merchant, according to a Bureau
of Mines report, hired a New York dia-
mond cutter named LaZare Kaplan for
the job, but some of the worlds foremost
experts were called in to determine how
this should be done. Edward Asscher,
supported by virtually all other Euro
pean experts, contended that it should
be split along one plane. Kaplan be-
heved the fateful blow should be struck
in quite another direction.
A fortune hung in the balance. If
the stone was hit across the grain it
would fly into small bits of little value,
probably fit only for diamond dust to
oe used In the industry. The owner
backed Kaplan. Guided by the opinion
OF all other experts, Lloyds refused to
insure the stone at any premium. 1t
split perfectly. From it was cut a gem
OF l43 carats-the third largest cut dia-
mond extant-and II smaller Jewels.
The Brazilian diamond was disooy-
cred in October, 1888, at Coromandel,
Brazil, by a peasant, and was named
after the president. BY prearrangement
with the farmer on whose land he was
prospecting, the digger was to have a
half share in everything found. He sold
his share, however, for $4,000, while the
farmer got $4,000 for his.
-
A stone which looks like slate. hardens
when 1t is heated, and can be sawed.
planed or nailed with ordinary carpen-
ter's tools has just been reported to the
United States Bureau of Mines.
This Is appropriately named wonder
stone" 1t is found only in the Transvaal
South Africa, and up to the present
has been practically unknown in this
| country.
Recent English studies, it is reported
show that while it never will replace
porcelain or bakelite as an insulating
material 1t is incompatible for some
uses In American industry, such as q
refractory material for resistance
formers and electric furnace mufaes.
1t is, the Bureau Of Mines experts
say, flexible, elastic, strong, acid proof
weather resistant, attractive in color
X
posure." Before exposure it can be turned
in a lathe, like wood. 1t is reported to
be we'll adapted for building purposes
such as facing walls, floor tile, roofing
switchboard panels. II there was an
abundance 1t would be an almost ideal
material for paving city streets.
| The stone looks, says the Bureau OF
Mines report, like slate, but does not
split with blow and does not crack o,
flake when heated. The crude materia
Is blush grey in color. but, upon heat.
ing, turns to greyish pink.
A use from which some of the mos
notable developments may be expected
according to the English report, is ir
making filter tubes to replace the present
porcelain filters employed in labora.
tories to separate from the blood stream
the filterable viruses, ultra-microscopit
living particles which are responsible
for some of the most dreaded human
and animal diseases.
1t Is described as a very ancient clay
now forming a very ne-grained, COM
pact rock. 1t resembles fire clay, used
for lining furnaces, in chemical compo-
sition. 1t has been transformed from
its normal clay structure, the experts
believe, by heat and pressure encoun-
tered in the depths of the earth-and
possibly by great age.
The strange stone was first heard oi
| T.