The Largest Diamond in the World.

Southland Times, Issue 19553, 6 May 1905, Page 1 (Supplement)

The Largest Diamond in the World.

A diamond that can claim tho distinction of being the largest in tho world deserves more than a passing reference ; but when it is remembqred that the mine from which it was obtained is in British territory, and is a comparatively new mine, an account of thisgiant of gems cannot fail to be of interest. It was found the other day at the Premier mine, near Johannesburg. It measures 4J inches long by 2| inches deep, is oblong in shape, and weighs 3032 carats. In weight alone it is over three times heavier than any stone of the. kind yet taken from the earth.' Before its discovery tho largest diamond wns the Excelsior, which wns found at Jagersfontein in 1893. It was as large as n hen’s egg, and weighed 970 carats. The Excelsior was valued at £1,000,000. Since its discovery it has been cut into nine exquisite stones To state the value of the Premier diamond is difficult, but there is not the slightest doubt Jhat it is a beautiful gem of far greater value. • is probably no more romantic story than

The 3032 cabat diamond, quabteb size. the discovery of diamonds in South Africa. It was all through a little Dutch boy, who was seen by a trader named John O’Rielly playing with a number of pretty stones on his father’s farm. O’Rielly, being struck with one of the pebbles, asked if be might be allowed to have it, promising the boy’s father to share the value of it with him, should it prove to be worth anything. The farmer told him to put it in his pocket, saying he could keep it. It turned out to be a diamond, and when the trader disposed of it he did not fail to reward the farmer. Shortly after this another trader, named Van Niekerk, bought a stone from a Hottentot for £4OO. He sold it a few weeks later in Cape Town for £lO,OOO. This stone was the famous diamond "Star of South Africa," now in -the possession of the Countess of Dudley, and said to be worth £25,000. Some three years later diamonds were discovered in the neighborhood of Kimberley, and the diamond industry in South Africa may be said to date from this period. Now diamonds to the value of £4,000,000 are extracted every year from the Kimberley mines alone. The Wailing Place of- the Jews.

One of the strangest of religious ceremonies is kept green by the Jews of the Sacred City. Though Jerusalem is under the dominion of the Sultan of Turkey there is still a Jewish population in Jerusalem, and every Friday numbers of them assemble at tho base of the wall which supports the west side of the Temple area. This is the “ wail-iim-place ” of the Jews, and a favorite scene for the curious among those who arc able to visit Jerusalem during a tour of the Holy

Land. And it is in no sense an idle ceremony which is held to lament the departed glory of the famous temple, ns an eminent writer declares that the fervor of those who “ wail ” is as pathetic as it is unmistakable. In past days the Jews have paid immense sums to their oppressors merely for the satisfaction of kissing the stones, and to-day it is no uncommon thing to hear a Jew or Jewess at the " wailing place ” beseeching God to restore the glories of the race. Ihe rule is to lament aloud, to recite various verses and to kiss the stones that formed part of the ancient Temple.

Ths Coachmen of St. Petersbui’g.

St. Petersburg Is noted for many things, and one thing is the coachman. There are a tremendous number of cabs and other vehicles in the city, and the drivers are distinguished both for their gaiety and their reckFesness. A very curious feature about them is their size, as nearly all are fat, and in many cases the bulk is the result of padding. For a Russian driver considers that he must look fat even if by nature he is a mere skeleton, and so in the latter case he pads his body by adding as many garments to cover it

as he can. The tradition that a coachman should look fat is not confined to Russia, but is shared in both England and Germany. In the days of Cruickshank the English coachman was invariably fat, but except in regard to bis calves he had little necessity to go°to the padding box. At the present time there are certain high officials in London who would not dream of employing a thin coach man, though it is not very likely that this somewhat barbarous prejudice will much longer survive. For example those who set the fashion from the King down, appear to be in favor now of coachmen just as nature made them, with a favoring eye on those who are neither too fat nor too thin.

The Palace of the Escurial, near Madrid, built by Felipe 11. tocommemorate his victoryover the French nt St. Quentin, is the only building of the kind in the world. It was dedicated to San Lorenzo, and Juan Baptista, the architect, took a gridiron for bis model. The bars were represented by rows of magnificently built buildings, and the handle by a superb church. The palace lias nearly two thousand rooms, over six. thousand windows and doors, eighty staircases, while seventy-three fountains and the contents of fortv-eight wine-cellars help to assuage the thirst of this monster gridiron’s occupiers.

The Bedouin Arabs are small eaters. Six or seven dates soaked in melted butter serve a man a whole day, with a very small quantity of coarse flour or a little ball of rice. Ireland’s bogs contains the equivalent of 5,000,000,000 tons of coal, according to the estimate of Sir Richard Sanbel.