ABOUT DIAMONDS.

Cromwell Argus, Volume XLI, Issue 2208, 15 August 1910, Page 7

ABOUT DIAMONDS.

Perhaps most readers know that the diamond, which is almost pure carbon, is the hardest substance in nature. In the first parcel of the white diamonds found in New South Wales which went to England the stones were found to be so much ! harder than South African diamonds I that it was at first feared they ! would be useless except for rock- ( boring purposes. The difficulty of j cutting them disappeared with imj proved appliances, and they are now .highly prized. Sir William Crookes : illustrates the intense hardness of the j diamond by -an experiment. On the ! flattened apex of a conical block of 1 steel place a diamond, and upon it bring down a second cone of steel. lOn forcing together the two steel cones by hydraulic pressure the stone is squeezed into the steel blocks without injuring it in thi'* slightest degree. PHOSPHORESCENCE OF DIAMONDS. After exposure for some time to thq sun many diamonds, Sir William * Crookes says, glow in a dark room. I Some diamonds are fluorescent, ap- ! pearing milky in sunlight. One j beautiful green diamond in Sir William’s possession, phosphorescing in j a good vacuum gives almost as much j light as a, candle, and one can easily 1 read by its rays. Mrs. Kunz, wife of | the well-known New York mineralo- : gist, possesses perhaps the most re- ! markable of all phosphorescing diaI monds. This prodigy will phosphorj esce in the dark for some minutes afi ter being exposed to a small pocket I electric light, and if rubbed ou a l piece of cloth a long streak of phosphorescence appears. THE ORIGIN OF DIAMONDS. Mr. Gardner Williams, who knows more about diamonds than any man living, has frequently been asked his theory of the original crystallisation of the diamond, and has to confess that he has none. All that he can say is that in some unknown manner carbon, which existed deep down in the internal regions of the earth, was changed from its black aud uninviting appearance to the most beautiful gem which ever saw the light of day. According to another hypothesis the so-called volcanic pipes in which the diamonds are found are simply holes bored in the solid earth by the impact of monstrous meteors —the larger masses boring the holes, while the. smaller masses, disintegrating in their fall, distributed diamonds broadcast. Bizarre as such a theory appears, Sir William Crookes is bound to say there are many circumstances which show that the action of the heaven raining diamonds is not impossible. A ZULU'S DEVOTION. j As showing the loyalty of the dia- j mond miners Sir William Crookes describes an amusing incident which came to his knowledge when at Klipdam. The Zulu had been superintending a gang of natives on a small claim at the river washings. It yielded but few stones, and the . owner sold the claim, handing over j the plant and small staff, the Zulu remaining to look after the business till the new owner took possession. In the course of a few months the purchaser became dissatisfied with the bargain, not a single diamond having turned up since the transfer. 1 One night the Zulu came to his old master in a mysterious manner, and, laying a handful of diamonds on the j table, said—“ There, Bass, are your j diamonds ; I was not going to let I the new man have any of them !” — I “Westminster Gazette.” j

When Josephine was six years old she was taken for the first time to see a trained-animal show, and went home much pleased with the performance. As she was at times slow to obey, her mother thought this a good time to teach her a lesson, so she said : “Don’t you think, Josephine, that if dogs and ponies and monkeys can learn to obey so well, a little girl like you, who knows much more than animals, should obey even more quickly ?” “Of fourse, 1 would, mother,” came the instant reply, "if I had only been so well trained as they have been.”

j Society Girl : "‘My dear Miss M’Siddons, how you must adore your art ! You seem perfectly wrapi ped up in it. I love to see you gaze | upwards in that soulful way of yours | when you come to particularly emotional passages. Are you seeking inspiration when you look like that ?” Emotional Actress : “Oh, no ; I am counting the receipts in the gallery.”