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DIAMONDS IN AMERICA.
Bait • Billion Dollar** Worth Owned
Aw>ftww| Rapidly Increasing*
In no country are there more dia
monds to be found than in the United
States, according to the population. It
is estimated by a leading Maiden lane
(New York) diamond dealer that there
are upward of 1500,000,000 worth of
diamonds in this country. Moreover,
this vast amount ia increasing year by
X«“-
Until quite recently diamonds were
rarely cut in this country, but Amer
ican inventors have developed a process
for diamond cutting which is vastly su
perior to that done abroad.
The loss in weight through cutting is
sometimes fully one-half, but the value
io increased probably more than two
fold.
The Dutch city of Amsterdam has
been the great diamond cutting center of
the world from time immemorial and
up to a few years ago over 13,000 peo
ple in that place were directly or indi
rectly dependent upon this trade.
But it was not reasonable to suppose
that Amsterdam should continue to hold
a monopoly of diamond cutting. As one
of the greatest importing cities of the
world, New York gradually offered in
ducements to diamond cutters, and an
industry has been gradually built up
here that is now very flourishing and
profitable. In 1858 Henry D. Morse of
Boston invented a machine for cutting
and polishing diamonds, and since then
improvements have been made upon it
that are very important The foreigners
* continue to polish their stones by hand,
but in this country machinery is large
ly used.
A famous gem .expert places the total
value of all the diamonds in the world
at over $1,000,000,000, of which $850,-
, 000,000 worth are in the hands of deal
ers, carried as stock. All of the other
diamonds are in the hands of private in
dividuals, and the question naturally
arises, who owns them? This is not so
easily answered, except in the case of
large and world famous gems.—Godey’s
Magazine.
PAYNE’S DESERTED TOMB.
Remlnlacenee* of the Author of “Home,
Sweat Home.”
The old Christian cemetery at Tunis
is one of the strangest sights in that
strange town. Just off a busy thorough
fare, under an ancient archway, is a
heavy wooden gate, much worn by the
lapse of time, thickly studded with fan
tastic nails and provided with a prodi
gious knocker. The latter, however, is
not needed, for the gate yields to an
energetic push, and you find yourself in
a large, walled inclosure, half garden,
half graveyard, where an Italian wom
an is hanging out clothes among the
gaunt white tombs. It is 13 years since
any one was buried here, and the place
is beginning to look neglected. The
modern cemetery is now outside the
walls, and its guardian told me that
many people came to him to inquire for
the monument of “an American poet”
or ‘‘an American consul, ” and he had
to send them to the old graveyard. The
monument in question is that of the
author of “Home, Sweet Home,’’ and
it bears the following inscription upon
its sides:
“In memory of John Howard Payn,
author of ’Home, Sweet Home.’ Born
June 9, 1791; died April 9, 1853.
Erected A. D. 1855.”
[American Arms—eagle surmounted
by motto “E Pluribus Unum. ”] “Died
at the American consulate in Tunis.
Aged 60 years and 10 months. ”
“In the tomb beneath this stone the
poet’s remains lay buried for 30 years.
On Jan. 5, 1888, they were disinterred
and taken away to his native land,
where they received honor and final
burial in the city of Washington June
9, 1888. ’Then be content, poor heart.* ”
“Sur* when thy gentle spirit fled
To realm* beyond the azure dome
With arms outstretched God’* angel said,
‘Welcome toheeven’* home, sweet home. * **
There is a certain appropriateness
about the fact that the author of the
exile’s most pathetic anthem should
have died so many thousand miles away
from home.—London Sketch.
Bough o« Solomon.
The following incident happened at
one of the “catecheesms” which are
held periodically in Scotland for all the
members of the kirk of a certain dis
trict.
“The lesson was in Ecclesiastes,” says
Mr. Johnston, “and one day they had
been discussing the verse in which Solo
mon says, ’Among a thousand men I
have found one, but among a thousand
women have I found not one,* meaning
one just and good and upright. And
an old Scotchwoman, when she had
listened in silence and heard the rest
accept it as present and gospel truth, got
her dander up and rose to her feet
“‘Hoot!’she said indignantly, her
eyes blazing. ‘Do you find why that
was? It was because nae dacent woman
wad be seen in his company. ’ ”—Mil
waukee Wisconsin.
Hmr, IuAmUT
She—Do you believe in platonic love?
He—l hardly know. Doyon?
She—Well, of course there may be
such a thing, but—but—well, between
two such people as you and—and—
He—No, not between you and me.
Ah, Helen, platonic love would not do
for me! I, must speak. Oan you—can
you—
She—Oh, Alfred, how did you guess
my secret?—Chicago Newa
A new invention is erne to make tele
graph wire out of paper. The interior
cable is lead covered, , and thin spirals
of paper are wound around each interior
wire. The cost is said to be one-fifteenth
of rubber insulated cablK
Beware Os the man who smiles when
he’s angry • he’s dangerous. And be-*
ware also of the man who looks glum
when he’s glad; he’s probably a humor-
ancientwcksTebs
QUEER CONJURING FEATS OF THE
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
Uttle experiment* In Which Boiling the
Head* Off tiring Animal* Waa a Nece*-
■ary Adjuact-How They Killed a Hor*c
and Cured Him Again.
Conjurers in ancient times were not
very respectable members of society—
when successful, they enjoyed the repu
tation of having sold their souls to the
evil one, and when of inferior ability
they gained notoriety by being either
drowned or burned. The medieval ma
gicians as well as the Egyptian magi
and the Chaldean sages were only a
strange mixture of chemist, conjurer
and charlatan, and as these gentlemen
were in the habit of using their sup
posed occult powers to theiftown advan
tage they were naturally unpopular.
The feats of jugglery performed by
these craftsmen were intended for the
mystification and not the amusement of
the public, and for centuries conjuring
had to it only a black side.
The amateur conjurer of today is not
always a popular individual, save with
children and the unsophlstocated yokel.
To the general public he is merely a
bore of greater or less magnitude, whose
performance is so obvious as to deceive
no one. It is hard to realize that this
person is no mere mushroom growth of
modern society, but in point of fact his
role is one of a respectable Antiquity,
for he is to be found treading close upon
the heels of the magicians and in the
days when witchcraft was still rampant.
This is significant of His reputation
even in those early times, for had any
one taken his tricks seriously he would
doubtless have been run to earth and
done to death as a wizard.
In the middle of the seventeenth cen
tury, in the earliest years of the res
toration, a number of tricks were pub
lished in one of those facetious books
which seem to have occupied the press
to a great extent at this time, but
which, owing to their popularity, have
for the most part perished. The chief
recommendation to the greater number
of these tricks is that no apparatus be
yond the utensils of everyday life is
necessary. Also it is suggested to the
performer that be can make some
small profit out of his entertainment by
prevailing on his audience to bet with
him on the result of the trick.
“To set a horse’s or an asse’s head
upon a man’s head and shoulders”
seems impossible out of the land of
Faery, but we are informed that by
boiling the head cut off from a living
animal, “the flesh boyl’d may runne
into oyle, ” and then by mingling the
1 hair beaten into powder with this oil
and anointing the heads of the standers
1 by, “they shall seem to have horses’ or
1 asses’ heads” —a costly experiment and
1 fearsome if successful.
But, besides this, one can ‘‘make peo
ple seem headlesse, ” and this without
bloodshed and by the following simple
receipt: “Break arsenick very fine, and
boyle it with sulphur in a cover’d pot,
> and kindle it with a new candle, and
the standers-by will seem to be head
lesse. ” Doubtless a strong imagination
is necessary for success.
1 Some of the tricks are such as would
nowadays cause the performer to be
disliked, to put it mildly. For instance,
! “have a nut filled with ink, and give
■ this unto another and bid him crack it
and see what he can find in that,”
which being done “will cause much
1 laughter. ”
“To keep a Tapster from frothing his
Pots” must have been an amusement to
the wags of the period, and for this
“provide in readinesse the skin of a red
1 Hering, and when the Tapster is absent
do but rub a little on the inside of his
pots, and he will not be able to froth
them, do what he can, in a good while
after.”
“To counterfeit a diamond with a
white saphir” is a most useful accom
plishment, but the fraud is likely in
these days to be discovered and is more
a chemical experiment than a trick.
Several tricks are recommended which
have animals as their subject and are
for the most part brutal to our modern
ideas. Perhaps the least objectionable
is “to seem to kill a Horse and cure him
again,” which may be thus accom
plished:
“Take the seed of henbane and give
it the Horse in his Provender, and it
will cast him into such a deep sleep
that he will seem dead. If you will re
cover him again, rub his Nostrils with
Vinegar, and he will seem to be re
vived.” The “seem to be revived”
sounds rather ominous, and it is to be
noted that the correct quantity of hen
bane is not mentioned, so that it might
be best to try this experiment on some
one else’s horse.
“To make a shoal of Goslings draw a
Timber logge” sounds interesting, but
unfortunately the directions are vague.
“To make a shoal of Goslings or a Gag
gle of Geese to seem to draw a Timber
logge is done by the verie means that
is us’d when a Oat draws a fool through
a Pond, but handled somewhat further
off from the Beholders.” London
fltandard.
Whitehead Torpedoes.
A Whitehead torpedo carries 220
pounds of wet gun cotton and weighs
ready for service 1,160 pounds. Its
maximum length is 16 feet 5 inches and
its greatest diameter is 17.7 inches. At
a speed of 28 knots per hour it has a
range of about 850 yards. The torpedo
is drived? by compressed air at a pressure
of 1,850 pounds per square inch, which
operates a three stage engine.
The men of Berlin* have an odd habit
of brushing and combing their hair and
whiskers in public. In the restaurants
and cases men pull out their implements
- and “spruce up” while waiting for
their orders to be filled. They do not
take the trouble to leave the table, ei-
WARSHIP wonpip.
HOW JACK “RIGS CHURCH” IN UNCLS i
SAM’S NAVY.
Divine Servtoe cu Sunday on Board a I
United State* Man-of-war and How It I*
Conducted The Church Eufin and Ita
Meaaina - The Chaplain.
When there is seen flying from the
gaff of a United States man-of-war a :
small, white triangular pennant, bear
ing on its field a blue Greek cross near ,
the pike or halyard, it is a signal that .
divine service is being held on board.
“Rig church I” is one of the regular na
val orders, issued usually at about 10:80
on Sunday morning.
Church is “rigged” in various peaces
according to the construction of the ves
sel and according to the weather condi
tions. If the day is fine and not too
cold, the quarter deck will probably be
selected, although in some ships it is
customary to hold the service on the
forward part of the gun deck. In stormy
weather the berth deck below, is used,
where the men may be under shelter,
though they are more cramped far room.
Assuming that the service is to be
held on the quarter deck, the arrange
ments for it will proceed about like
this: When the bugler gives the signal,
the “church ensign” is hoisted to the
gaff, and some of the men, under the
direction of an officer, bestir themselves
briskly in making the simple prepara
tions which are necessary.
A table or desk* covered With the
American flag, is placed at the end of
the quarter deck for the chaplain. A few
wardroom chairs are brought up from
below and ranged along the starboard
side, where the officers are to assemble,
and benches or capstan * bars resting on
buckets make seats for the crew on the
port side.
The organ—for every ship that has a
chaplain is provided with an instrument
of this nature—is put in a convenient
place. If there is a band, and its serv
ices are desired, a few musicians are se
lected and stationed near by. Then the
ship’s bell is tolled for about five min
utes, giving the officers and men, wher
ever they may be on board, sufficient
time to assemble, if they are so inclined.
The boatswain may call down the
hatchways “Silence, fore and aft, dur
ing divine service I” but it is well un
derstood by the entire crew that the
ship must be quiet now for about three
quarters of an hour. Finally the bell
stops, the captain, after a glance
around, makes a sign to the chaplain
that all is ready, and the service begins.
How it is conducted depends upon
the denomination to which the chaplain
belongs, and various sects are represent
ed among tho naval clergymen. The
singing, accompanied by the organ,
which is played either by an officer or
.by some musician among the crew, is
generally fine. The men enjoy it, and
their voices ring out strong and fresh in
the open air.
During the.prayers they are required
to remove their caps, but throughout
the rest of the service they may remain
covered. When it is over, the order to
“Pipe down!” is given, and church is
“unrigged.” Sometimes an evening
service is also held, but this is not the
general custom.
Attendance at church on the warships
is of course not compulsory, but the offi
cers are expected to attend byway of
furnishing an example, and most of
them usually do, accompanied by per
haps about half the crew—sometimes
more and sometimes less.
But by no means all the ships of the
navy are provided with chaplains. For
tho 60 or more war vessels now effective
for service there are fewer than 80
chaplains, or less than one for every
two ships. They are attached to the lar
gest and most important vessels, where
their ministrations may reach the great
est number of persons.
A queer incident happened a few
years ago, when one of the modem
cruisers was put into commission. It
had been intended that she should carry
a chaplain, but when the officers’ quar
ters were completed it was found that
his room had been entirely overlooked.
No accommodation for him thus being
available, the ship put to sea without a
chaplain and did not have one for at
least two years.
In an action the chaplain’s duties are
with the sick and wounded. Occasion
ally, however, his aid has been required
at the guns, and in many instances the
chaplains have proved themselves hero
ic fighters as well as good preachers. In
the old days of the navy the chaplain
wore the full uniform of his rank—lieu
tenant, lieutenant commander or com
mander—but it is now customary far
him to wear a suit of black or the regu
lar costume of whatever church he rep
resents, sometimes with the insignia of
his rank upon his sleeve.—New York
Tribune.
The Army Officer** Trunk.
The army officer’s trunk, which is an
article of limited but regular sale in
peace times, being sold chiefly to regu
lar army officers, is a stout, well made
trunk of rather generous proportions,
so divided inside as to afford spaces for
both military and civilian attire. There
is a place for an officer’s chapeau and
one for the silk hat of a civilian and
room for the different clothing, and the
trunk is large enough to admit a sword
laid diagonally. A trunk of this sort is
made not of sole leather, as might be
supposed, to withstand rough wear, but
with a rigid frame, so that it can be
roped or strapped on to a load or packed
with other things piled on it In the ex
igencies of wagon or other transporta
tion without being crushed or damaged.
—New York Sun.
Broadly speaking, the essential differ
ence between merchant ships and war
ships is that the former are designed to
amagtheir loads or principal portions
thereof low down in the hold, whereas
warsfSJaliave to carry their heavy bur
dens or armor and armament high up
cm their sides.
JAIL FOR STUDENTS.
QUEER PHASE OF LIFE AT HEIDEL
BERG UNIVERSITY.
Some of tho Marne* Which Adorn the
Prioon Register naff tho “Crime*" For
Which Their Owner* Wore Incarcerated.
The Rule* at tho PUee.
In England the student’s body is com
mitted to prison only by tbo civil au
thority. In Oxford, it ife true, the vice
chancellor deals with undergraduate
naughtiness, principally in the form of
debt and insubordination, for which he
may impose a mcmentary penalty, but
he does not deprive the defaulter of lib
erty. There is, or wa \ a legend that r
certain apartment under the old Olaren
don building was realty the university
“quod,” but for its authenticity it is
impossible to vouch.
Cambridge has its spinning house for
female offenders—not lady students, but
ladies who might prove a delusion and
a snare to the niaro male undergrad.
There, if we except tho irksome penalty
of “gating” (confinement to college or
lodgings after a stated hour), our aca
demic efforts at incarceration may be
said to end.
In Germany, however, the academio
dungeon is a very stern fact The Hei
delberg “caroer” is famous. Every read
er of Mark Twain will recall his enter
taining description of the place and
how he contrived to visit it, even unwit
tingly enlisting as his guide a “Herr
Professor." His pretext was to see a
young friend who had “got” 24 hours
and had conveniently arranged the day
to suit Mark—for the German student
convict goes to prison on the first suit
able day after conviction and sentence.
If Thursday is not convenient, he tells
the officer sent to hale him to jail that
ho will come on Friday or Saturday or
Sunday, as the case may bo. The officer
never doubts his word, and It is never
broken.
The prison is up three flights of stairs,
and is approached by a “zugang” as
richly decorated with the art work of
convicts as the cell itself. Tho apart
ment ia not roomy, but bigger than an
ordinary prison cell It has an iron
grated window, a small stove, two
wooden chairs, two old oak tables and
a narrow wooden bedstead.
Tho furniture is profusely ornament
ed with carving, the work of languish
ing captives, who have placed on record
their names, armorial bearings, their
crimes and the dates of their imprison
ment, together with quaint warnings
and denunciations. Walls and ceiling*
are covered with portraits and legends
executed in colored chalk and in soot,
the prison candle forming a handy pen
cil. Some of tho inscriptions are pa
thetic. One runs, “E. Glinioke, four
days for being too eager a spectator of
a row. ” If fouY days were meted out to
a mere spectator, what, one wonders,
had been the sentence of the participa
tors? It must have been a moving spec
tacle.
Another record (also quoted by Mr.
Clemens) has the savor of a great name
to it. Os course it is the son that is
meant, not the father. The legend is,
“F. Graf Bismarck, 27-29. H. ’74.”
This Mark Twain interprets as a record
of two days’ durance vile for Count Bis
marck in 1874. Had 1874 been leap
year one might have been inclined to
interpret the numeral ‘ ‘H” as February.
But the “29” makes this difficult. So
perhaps the humorist is right.
A third specimen is too tragic for
comment It simply says, “B. Diergandt
—for love—four days.” Ungenerous
successors to that sad chamber have
dealt harshly with their forerunners’
reputations by ingenious substitution of
heinous crimes, so that certain prison
ers go down to posterity as having been
punished for theft and murder.
The prisoner must supply his own
bedding and is subject to various
charges. On entering he pays about ten
pence, and on leaving a similar sum.
Every day in prison costs sixpence; fire
and light sixpence extra. The jailer
supplies coffee for a trifle. Meals may
be ordered from outside. Every prison
er leaves his carte de visite, which is
fixed with a multitude of others on the
door of the cell. This queer album is
glazed to protect the photographs.
Academic criminal procedure in Hei
delberg is curious. If tho city police ap
prehend a student, the captive shows
his matriculation card. He is then ask
ed for his address and set free, but will
hear more of the matter, for the civil
authority reports him to the university.
The Oxford regulation, by the way, is
in certain cases almost identical In
Heidelberg the university court try and
pass sentence, the civil power taking
no further concern with the offense. The
trial is very often conducted in the pris
oner’s absence, and he, poor wight, may
have forgotten all about his peccadillo
until the university constable appears
to conduct him to prison. But thither,
seeing he may choose his day, he always
repairs cheerfully.—London Sketch.
How We Use Our tore*.
If you are fond of such statistics,
read this table, drawn up by Gabriel Pei
gnot: A man of 50 years, of ordinary
health, of active life, of regular habit,.
comfortable in all circumstances of
money, should give out of 18,250 days
6,082 days to sleep, 550 to sickness,
1,522 to his meals, 5,582 to work, 671.
to exercise, to sports, the hunt, travel
8,808 days, and he should have con
sumed 27,080'potmds of bread, 6,080 of
meat, 4,675 of vegetables, eggs and*
fruit, 81,180 liters of wine, spirits and
water. —Boston Journal
It is estimated that more than 75,000
fishermen go out of New York* every
Sunday and that they spend on an
average of $2 each on the sport
Postal authorities have decided that
mail matter need not be delivered at
houses where vicious dogs are kept un
chained.
-■. ■ -
AN OPEN LETTER
To MOTHERS.
WE ARE ASSERTING IN THE COURTS OUR RIGHT TO THE
EXCLUSIVE USE OF THE WORD “CASTORIA,” AND
“ PITCHER’S CASTORIA,” AS OL’R TRADE MARK.
I, DR. SAMUEL PITCHER, qf Hyannis, Massachusetts,
was the originator of “PITCHER’S CASTORIA,” the same
that has borne and does now on eoery
bear the facsimile signature of wrapper.
This is the original “ PITCHER'S CASTORIA,” which has been
used in the homes of the Mothers of America for over thirty
years. LOOK CAREFULLY at the wrapper and see that it is
the kind you have always bought on the
and has the signature of wrap-
per. Ho one has authority from me to use my name ex
cept The Centaur Company of which Chas. H. Fletcher is
March 8,1897. n
Do Not Be Deceived.
Do not endanger the life of your child by accepting
a cheap substitute which some druggist offer yo”
(because he makes a few mere pennies LV the in
gredients of which even he does not know.
“The Kind You Have Always Bought”
BEARS THE FAC-SIMILE CrGNATURE GF
The Kind That Never Failed lou.
TH* C«HT*U* OMM.T, VT UUMIAT *TMCT. N*W T*M OITT.
SHOES, - SHOES I
IN MENS SHOES WE HAVE THE LATEST STYLES—COIN TOES,
GENUINE RUSSIA LEATHER CALF TANS, CHOCOLATES AND GREEN
AT $3 TO 83J50 PER PAIR.
IN LADIES OXFORDS WE HAVE COMPLETE LINE IN TAN, BLACK
AND CHOCOLATE, ALSO TAN AND BLACK SANDALS RANGING IN
PRICE FROM 75c TO $2.
ALSO TAN, CHOCOLATE AND BLACKL SANDALS AND OXFORDS IN
CHILDREN AND MISSES SIZES, AND CHILDREN AND MISSES TAN LACE
SHOES AND BLACK.
T'k 7 “EB T3‘r*\*Dl\.T ' LL 1
\AZ . JCr m -EXiQ rTvJ-sl JfaJ,
WE HAVE IN A LINE OF
SAMPLE STRAW HATS.
—GET YOUB —
JOB PRINTING
DONEAT
The Morning Call Office.
*
. We have Just aupplied our Job Office with a complete line of btat»ODery
kinds and can get up, on short notice, anything wanted ia the way <M
LETTER HEADS, BILL HEADS
STATEMENTS, IRCULARB,
ENVELOPES, NOTES, V
MORTGAGES, PROGRAMS
JARDS, POSTERS'
DODGERS, EktX, MA
We c*avy toe >wt luenf FNVEWFES ve? ; this trade.
Aa aUractive FOSTER cf aay size can be issued oa short notice.
Our prices for work of all kinds will compare favorably with those obtained
any office in the state. When you want Job printing oljany [description five a
call Satisfaction guaraateeu.
ALL WORK DONE
With Neatness and Dispatch.