The Wyandotte herald. (Wyandotte, Mich.) 1879-1943, 1942-08-21
Asks for Check
OfCensinU. S.
Diamonds Needed to Give
Precision Required in
Modern War Engines.

WASHINGTON war has
made the diamond more precious
than ever.
Throughout history diamonds have
figured In romance, assassinations
and adventure. But it remained for
the current time to see them used
as a tool without which America
would find it hard to produce its
fighting material.
Enemy countries also need dia-
monds for war. And il the United
States can keep them from getting
them, it will handicap them almost
as much as though they were cut
off from steel or oil.
This is why the War Production
board is calling upon all Americans
having title to 10 carats or more
of rough diamonds to report their
holdings.
At present the order applies only
to rough diamonds. But a call may
eventually be expected for an inven-
tory of all stocks of the precious
stone.
Help War Drive.
Meanwhile, purchasers of engage
ment stones and other decorative
diamonds are helping the war effort.
For industrial diamonds would be
FIVE or six times as costly if they
were not a by-product of the mining
and cutting of more valuable gems.
The importance of this may be
judged from the fact that just one
war production plant in Detroit uses
industrial diamonds at the rate of
$2,000,000 worth annually.
Only the diamond has the hard
ness necessary to repeat the same
precision operation over and over
again, with never variation. Since
precision is an essential of assembly
line production, war factories with
out the diamond would have to fall
back on the old hit-and-misS meth
DDS of hand work.
Chief uses of the diamond in war
industry are to true super-hard
abrasive tools, turn delicate ma
chine parts, draw wire to precise
thickness, and to grind lenses for
bomb-sights, range-fnders and navi-
cation instruments.
Fortunately this country has an
abundance of gems. Between 1884
and l94l United States dealers i'm
ported S42, 753, SIT worth of industrial
diamonds alone. In addition, the
Union of South Africa, one of our
allies, produces 95 per cent of all
diamonds.
Other Sources Available.
Even should this source be cut off
however, Brazil is a large source OF
diamonds and diamonds of good in
dustrial quality have been found in
Arkansas.
Output of Africa was shut off to
Axis powers three years ago. AS a
result the Axis powers are so hard
pressed for industrial diamonds that
they are said to be using cut stones
in their factories.
The Japs also, repeatedly short
of diamonds when they entered the
war, may have their eye on the i'm
mense treasure chests of Indian
rajahs.
incidentally, the Germans greatly
augmented this country's diamond
supply without intending to. When
the Nazis invaded Belgium and Hol-
land, they had planned to seize the
huge stock of diamonds in Antwerp
and Amsterdam, centers Of the
world diamond cutting industry. But
the diamond cutters, two jumps
ahead, got their stocks aboard Brit
ish warships which had been lying
by for that purpose. On the ships
also fed some of the worlds most
famous diamond cutters.
Some of these cutters went to Lon
don; others are now in the United
States and have established Amer
icanized "streamlined" diamond
cutting establishments on West For
ty-seventh street, New York city,
the new center of Americas dia-
mond trade.