Show 7 t I 1 DEALERS DAlR to LOSE A AS mAM D Dl SLUMP l Mr Year Records Decrease i iValue in Value of G Gems ms Output Output Output Out Out- put Is Restricted J jt t I 4 By Universal Service LONDON mO May 14 The H. The day clay ay o othe of ot f the diamond diamondis is all but at an end This remarkable remarkable statement was Wall made by one pf the leading figures in the diamond industry He made the assertion in a a. mom moment nt of impulse for no one woul would wish to d decry cry hl his own wares Yet it i is a fact Diamonds no longer long longo er cr stand for affluence As rare as a a. diamond is today as obsolete a saying as precious as a gem The following prices per carat for lor forthe forthe the rough uncut stones shows how the market has slumped within a year Early in 1920 45 46 End December 28 April 1921 17 17 The above prices supplied by a prominent diamond broker are the actual figures at which he disposed of ot small parcels of stones The slump in prices began about last June he said Today I c cannot can cannot can can- n- n not get for a parcel of stones for which I then refused Disaster to the diamond industry is being averted only through the thc efforts of ot the controlling syndicate which is able to to- stem the fall inthe Inthe in inthe the almost complete absence of trading ARE HARD HIT Many dealers as a's well as private speculators have been hard hit owing to their being unable to dispose dis pose of their large holdings except at a a. heavy loss For many years past diamonds have been the shrewd mans man's invest invest- ment The person with money to put away has looked for something more stable than government gov gov- I. I bonds less liable to market fluctuations than the finest brand of trustee stocks And lie tye found it as ashe ashe he thought in diamonds Diamonds were not only attractive and decorative decorative decorative decora decora- tive to look at but they represented cash and could be converted into ready money at any time probably with a profit to himself That at all events was how he reasoned and he was right right then Today however there is a very different different differ differ differ- ent tale to be told The vogue ogue in diamonds reached its climax in 1919 when there was was was' an absolute craze craze for tor diamonds People People People Peo Peo- who had been almost afraid to look in a jewellers jeweller's shop window before be beforE before be- be fore now bought ht at any price ce that dealers liked to ask Apparently it had been the tha- theone one wish of all 1111 the people people peo peo- pie to whom the war h rod had d brought wealth to possess diamonds and at their first moment of prosperity they rushed to the Jewelers The demand had a natural sequel prices soared and rose to as much as per cent above their previous value Buyers scoured the continent buying up Jewels of 01 Impoverished Russian Cerman German and Austrian noble families The craze spread to America and Japan Ja- Ja Japan Japan Ja Ja- pan nd this overseas demand contributed contributed contributed contrib contrib- to to keep gems at their fabulous price Sales of famous collections brought in unheard of sums Suddenly the picture changed and within a month jewels vels for lor which fortunes had been given were being offered for sale at almost any price DESPERATE EFFORTS The millionaire are making a desperate effort to right the balance by strenuously restricting the output Some of the most famous fa famous famous fa- fa mines in South Africa are partially partially partially par par- closed down and the output from the rest is only being put on I the market in minute quantities Experts Experts Experts Ex Ex- who had imagined that the value value val val- ue of the diamond could never drop to any appreciable extent have been dumfounded to see diamonds being actually exchanged for tor maize and meal round some of the wealthiest mines mine s in Sou South th Africa When one recalls the romantic histories histories his his- tories and tragedies connected with some of the worlds world's famous stones one is forced to ask asle were they worth it All the worlds world's greatest stones have stories stones attached to them which rival the wildest flights of fiction Most precious of all is th the e great Koh 1 Koh-i- Koh The great stone Is believed to be part of a still greater greate r diamond known as The Great Mogul Mogul Moul Mo Mo- gul ul which was shaped like half an egg and weighed nearly carats The other part of this is bell believed eyed to tobe tobe be the Orloff once in the Russ Russian an scepter and now heaven only knows where Probably it was part of the jewelry disposed of by the bolsheviks In their recent dealings JEWEL ROMANCES The Noor Koh passed through the hands of the one conqueror of or India to another until the legend grew that the possessor of the great diamond had a magic power of becoming ruler I of ot India It caused intertribal wars murders and intrigues for manly many years until in 1849 the British government government gov guv- to k possession of it It was shipped to J England with the greatest secrecy and the late lote Duke of Argyle Argyl used to relate that the Koh i once r reposed posed for six weeks weeks' in the waistcoat pocket of oR a viceroy where it narrowly escaped being sent to the wash The Pitt or Regent diamond was found by y a slave It passed from hand to hand with many adventures adventure until it was redeemed by Napoleon He wore it at nt Waterloo later It Jt be became became became be- be came part of the French crown jewels The Hope diamond with its ing stories of tragedy and ture is another of the gems of fabulous lous value which would only fetch a It fractional part of their former price if IC a purchaser could be found foune fo for r them today CHICAGO May Mayr ia 14 a athe at atthe atthe t the thirteenth annual congress returning from tours o of Europe Asia Africa and South America told of the spread of the Dahal Bahal movement Through said Dr JenabI Fazel azel formerly a professor professor professor pro pro- fessor in the Imperial University o of f Teheran Persia racial national an and d religious prejudices will be wiped away Instead of the United States of America there will spring up a United States State of ot the the- World |